Symbolism In The Rocking Horse Winner
A person would be wise to give little to no affectionate value towards materialistic items. When times get that in your facing life’s struggles it is the family and loved ones that will be there by your side until the end, not the big screen television or fancy diamond necklace. Placing too much value on items is a major problem that many people struggle with and ultimately it is the ones that care for these people who get hurt the most. In D. H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking Horse Winner,” the author develops the character Paul to symbolize his devotion and struggle to earn his mother’s love, in order to suggest a theme that love should not be materialistic.
Through viewpoint, the reader can tell that material possessions are highly …show more content…
valued over relationships in the family within “The Rocking Horse Winner” especially with the mother. Meeting the status quo to keep up with the higher class is a big issue within the family, “There was never enough money. The mother had a small income, and the father had a small income, but not nearly enough for the social position which they had to keep up,” (Lawerence). The family could never realistically keep up with their neighbors and the class that they wished to stay in. Having limited money put stress on the mother who believed that money and materialistic things would bring her love and happiness. “This story criticizes those who equate love with money, luck with happiness. The mother with her insatiable desire for material possessions believes that money will make her happy despite the obvious fact that so far it has no,” (Piedmont-Marton). The story mocks the idea of materialistic passion, and points out how it puts a ton of unnecessary stress on a person to strive for and obtain these materialistic things. Luck is brought up many times within the story and the mother calls herself unlucky. This is why Paul, the son, tries to be lucky and give his mom these materialistic things in exchange for her love. Lawrence portrays to the reader that to others outside the family, the mother is a good mother, “Everybody else said of her: ‘She is such a good mother. She adores her children.’ Only she herself, and her children themselves, knew it was not so. They read it in each other’s eyes.” (Lawrence). The mother puts on a sort of show when showing her love towards her children. This is why, to other people, it appears that she does not value materialistic things over love. Thornton addresses that “The omniscient author tells categorical things about the characters they could not realize about themselves, so here Lawrence apparently tells us about the inmost heart of the mother, how she really feels about her children, in spite of appearances and perhaps even self-deception,”(Weldon). The first paragraph within the story establishes the third person omniscient viewpoint giving us important information that the characters do not even know. This information is what the character feels in their innermost heart giving feelings they do not even know about including the mother's love for her son. Using viewpoint within the Rocking Horse Winner helps Lawrence establish the theme that love for materialistic things only can cause depression and stress within the family.
Furthermore, Paul’s innocent desire to earn money for the sake of his mother’s happiness leads to his tragic death. In the story the children, “would stop playing, to listen for a moment. They would look into each other’s eyes, to see if they had all heard. And each one saw in the eyes of the other two that they too had heard. ‘There must be more money! There must be more money!’” (Lawrence). Here we see the stress placed on Paul to continue to earn his mother more money. In Paul's eyes, this money is what will earn him his mother's love. To the family this tension is released as a pulse, which the children can sense. “All that Paul can do in response is to try harder, to transform yet more of that profound love he feels for his mother into luck,” (Weldon). Since the mother desires so much Paul's relentless stream of love cannot transform enough of that love into luck, the one thing the mother strives for. This causes a problem because Paul's desire is so strong that he will stop at nothing to bring his mother happiness. Paul after realizing the power he has says, “I’ve got to know for the Derby! I’ve got to know for the Derby!’ the child reiterated, his big blue eyes blazing with a sort of madness” (Lawrence). Paul's desire to achieve his mother's love soon turns into madness. This madness leads to a constant obsession to earn more and more money all while failing to gain his mother's love and ultimately leading to Paul's death. Weldon states in his article analyzing the story states, “Young Paul tells his mother he is lucky, and subsequent events certainly bear this out: anyone who is able to beat the odds at the races and consistently pick winners is indubitably lucky. What he really means by this, however, is that he loves his mother so much that he is sure he can put right whatever is wrong in their family, can provide whatever she needs. His final words to his mother—‘Mother, did I ever tell you? I am lucky!’” (Weldon). Paul's constant desire leads to his demise; all that he ever wanted was to give his mother everything yet he got nothing in return. Even in his last moments Paul tries to obtain closure by desperately proclaiming his love to his mother in hopes she will do the same. However, this is not the case and Paul’s innocent desire to make money for the sake of his mother’s happiness leads to his tragic death thus conveying the theme that materialistic love can have consequences.
Symbolism is apparent within the rocking horse winner using the rocking horse to symbolize Paul’s obsession to make his mother love him.
“He knew the horse could take him to where there was luck, if only he forced it. So he would mount again and start on his furious ride, hoping at last to get there,” (Lawrence). Lawrence uses the rocking horse and also his word choices to give the reader a deeper understanding of Paul’s obsession. Using words such as “mount” and “forced” gives a sexual connotation that is difficult to ignore in the Rocking Horse Winner. “In the writing and casting Pelissier opts for the latter, portraying a sensitive boy who is drawn into a dangerous relationship with his rocking-horse,”(Gillett). Although this theme was adapted into a movie, it still has the same underlying meaning. Directors of a movie that is adapted from a book have to pay great amounts of attention to the theme and symbols because it is harder to portray in movies than it is in writing. “Paul's secret of secrets was his wooden horse, that which had no name. Since he was emancipated from a nurse and a nursery-governess, he had had his rocking-horse removed to his own bedroom at the top of the house,” (Lawrence). Paul wants to keep his horse a secret and even goes so far as to move it up to his room, making it readily available to constantly fulfill his obsession. Obsession to ride his rocking horse is turning into an addiction, which is harmful for Paul. “It is impossible to ignore the allusions toward [self-pleasure]. In Paul's "secret of secrets" (especially in his death scene) if one recalls Lawrence's sentiments in his essay "Pornography and Obscenity": ‘[Self-pleasure] is the one thoroughly secret act of the human being.... The body remains, in a sense, a corpse, after the act of self-abuse,’” (Baker). This is not the first time that Lawrence has used sexual allusions within his work. The rocking horse symbolizes this self-pleasure and obsession. Getting his mother
to love him is the pleasure that Paul wants to achieve and riding the rocking horse is the act in which he will use to achieve his goal. The rocking horse is a unique symbol as it acts as a passageway to earn his mother's love however after not achieving that denied love, it turns into an obsession for Paul to see his mother’s sadness disappear.
Paul’s tragic and inevitable death is an ironic end to an innocent pursuit. A young man’s desperate attempt to fulfill his mother’s dreams exposes the irony of the situation, as he rides his horse to money and to death. Even on Paul’s deathbed, his uncle’s words to his mother reveal the irony: “My God, Hester, you’re eighty-odd thousand to the good, and a poor devil of a son to the bad. But, poor devil, poor devil, he’s best gone out of a life where he rides his rocking horse to find a winner” (Lawrence). D.H Lawrence does a phenomenal job at portraying a theme that love should not be materialistic through viewpoint characters and symbolism.
Through viewpoint, the reader can tell that material possessions are highly …show more content…
valued over relationships in the family within “The Rocking Horse Winner” especially with the mother. Meeting the status quo to keep up with the higher class is a big issue within the family, “There was never enough money. The mother had a small income, and the father had a small income, but not nearly enough for the social position which they had to keep up,” (Lawerence). The family could never realistically keep up with their neighbors and the class that they wished to stay in. Having limited money put stress on the mother who believed that money and materialistic things would bring her love and happiness. “This story criticizes those who equate love with money, luck with happiness. The mother with her insatiable desire for material possessions believes that money will make her happy despite the obvious fact that so far it has no,” (Piedmont-Marton). The story mocks the idea of materialistic passion, and points out how it puts a ton of unnecessary stress on a person to strive for and obtain these materialistic things. Luck is brought up many times within the story and the mother calls herself unlucky. This is why Paul, the son, tries to be lucky and give his mom these materialistic things in exchange for her love. Lawrence portrays to the reader that to others outside the family, the mother is a good mother, “Everybody else said of her: ‘She is such a good mother. She adores her children.’ Only she herself, and her children themselves, knew it was not so. They read it in each other’s eyes.” (Lawrence). The mother puts on a sort of show when showing her love towards her children. This is why, to other people, it appears that she does not value materialistic things over love. Thornton addresses that “The omniscient author tells categorical things about the characters they could not realize about themselves, so here Lawrence apparently tells us about the inmost heart of the mother, how she really feels about her children, in spite of appearances and perhaps even self-deception,”(Weldon). The first paragraph within the story establishes the third person omniscient viewpoint giving us important information that the characters do not even know. This information is what the character feels in their innermost heart giving feelings they do not even know about including the mother's love for her son. Using viewpoint within the Rocking Horse Winner helps Lawrence establish the theme that love for materialistic things only can cause depression and stress within the family.
Furthermore, Paul’s innocent desire to earn money for the sake of his mother’s happiness leads to his tragic death. In the story the children, “would stop playing, to listen for a moment. They would look into each other’s eyes, to see if they had all heard. And each one saw in the eyes of the other two that they too had heard. ‘There must be more money! There must be more money!’” (Lawrence). Here we see the stress placed on Paul to continue to earn his mother more money. In Paul's eyes, this money is what will earn him his mother's love. To the family this tension is released as a pulse, which the children can sense. “All that Paul can do in response is to try harder, to transform yet more of that profound love he feels for his mother into luck,” (Weldon). Since the mother desires so much Paul's relentless stream of love cannot transform enough of that love into luck, the one thing the mother strives for. This causes a problem because Paul's desire is so strong that he will stop at nothing to bring his mother happiness. Paul after realizing the power he has says, “I’ve got to know for the Derby! I’ve got to know for the Derby!’ the child reiterated, his big blue eyes blazing with a sort of madness” (Lawrence). Paul's desire to achieve his mother's love soon turns into madness. This madness leads to a constant obsession to earn more and more money all while failing to gain his mother's love and ultimately leading to Paul's death. Weldon states in his article analyzing the story states, “Young Paul tells his mother he is lucky, and subsequent events certainly bear this out: anyone who is able to beat the odds at the races and consistently pick winners is indubitably lucky. What he really means by this, however, is that he loves his mother so much that he is sure he can put right whatever is wrong in their family, can provide whatever she needs. His final words to his mother—‘Mother, did I ever tell you? I am lucky!’” (Weldon). Paul's constant desire leads to his demise; all that he ever wanted was to give his mother everything yet he got nothing in return. Even in his last moments Paul tries to obtain closure by desperately proclaiming his love to his mother in hopes she will do the same. However, this is not the case and Paul’s innocent desire to make money for the sake of his mother’s happiness leads to his tragic death thus conveying the theme that materialistic love can have consequences.
Symbolism is apparent within the rocking horse winner using the rocking horse to symbolize Paul’s obsession to make his mother love him.
“He knew the horse could take him to where there was luck, if only he forced it. So he would mount again and start on his furious ride, hoping at last to get there,” (Lawrence). Lawrence uses the rocking horse and also his word choices to give the reader a deeper understanding of Paul’s obsession. Using words such as “mount” and “forced” gives a sexual connotation that is difficult to ignore in the Rocking Horse Winner. “In the writing and casting Pelissier opts for the latter, portraying a sensitive boy who is drawn into a dangerous relationship with his rocking-horse,”(Gillett). Although this theme was adapted into a movie, it still has the same underlying meaning. Directors of a movie that is adapted from a book have to pay great amounts of attention to the theme and symbols because it is harder to portray in movies than it is in writing. “Paul's secret of secrets was his wooden horse, that which had no name. Since he was emancipated from a nurse and a nursery-governess, he had had his rocking-horse removed to his own bedroom at the top of the house,” (Lawrence). Paul wants to keep his horse a secret and even goes so far as to move it up to his room, making it readily available to constantly fulfill his obsession. Obsession to ride his rocking horse is turning into an addiction, which is harmful for Paul. “It is impossible to ignore the allusions toward [self-pleasure]. In Paul's "secret of secrets" (especially in his death scene) if one recalls Lawrence's sentiments in his essay "Pornography and Obscenity": ‘[Self-pleasure] is the one thoroughly secret act of the human being.... The body remains, in a sense, a corpse, after the act of self-abuse,’” (Baker). This is not the first time that Lawrence has used sexual allusions within his work. The rocking horse symbolizes this self-pleasure and obsession. Getting his mother
to love him is the pleasure that Paul wants to achieve and riding the rocking horse is the act in which he will use to achieve his goal. The rocking horse is a unique symbol as it acts as a passageway to earn his mother's love however after not achieving that denied love, it turns into an obsession for Paul to see his mother’s sadness disappear.
Paul’s tragic and inevitable death is an ironic end to an innocent pursuit. A young man’s desperate attempt to fulfill his mother’s dreams exposes the irony of the situation, as he rides his horse to money and to death. Even on Paul’s deathbed, his uncle’s words to his mother reveal the irony: “My God, Hester, you’re eighty-odd thousand to the good, and a poor devil of a son to the bad. But, poor devil, poor devil, he’s best gone out of a life where he rides his rocking horse to find a winner” (Lawrence). D.H Lawrence does a phenomenal job at portraying a theme that love should not be materialistic through viewpoint characters and symbolism.