The Rocking-Horse Winner
Materialism
The theme of materialism is found in D.H. Lawrence’s story, “The Rocking-Horse Winner”. Materialism, according to Meriam-Webster, is a doctrine that the only or the highest values or objectives lie in material well-being and in the furtherance of material progress (Merriam-Webster’s, 2018). There are two references within “The Rocking-Horse Winner” that exemplify the theme of materialism. The first reference to materialism is the advantages used to describe Paul’s family. D.H. Lawrence describes Paul’s mother, “There was a woman who was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck. She married for love, and the love turned to dust” (Lawrence, 1933). Paul’s family lived in a nice house with servants, but there …show more content…
The first consequence seen in this story was the loss of love. D.H. Lawrence writes, “She married for love, and the love turned to dust” (Lawrence, 1933). Paul’s family became so wrapped up in trying to obtain luck and money, that love was lost in the process. The second consequence seen is this story was that there was never enough money to please Paul’s family. D.H. Lawrence writes, “There was always the grinding sense of the shortage of money, though the style was always kept up” (Lawrence, 1933). Their love for the finer things of life led to a loss of money, which led to utter chaos and utter madness within the house as the family would hear “There must be more money” (Lawrence, 1933)! The third consequence seen in this story is disappointment when a certain goal to maintain money and status is not obtained. Paul’s mother tried to find something to make more money, but did not. The stress and disappointment showed and affected her physically (Lawrence, 1933). Along with the two themes showing the comparison between “The Prodigal Son” and “The Rocking-Horse Winner”, the purpose of “The Prodigal Son” can be contrasted with “The Rocking-Horse
The theme of materialism is found in D.H. Lawrence’s story, “The Rocking-Horse Winner”. Materialism, according to Meriam-Webster, is a doctrine that the only or the highest values or objectives lie in material well-being and in the furtherance of material progress (Merriam-Webster’s, 2018). There are two references within “The Rocking-Horse Winner” that exemplify the theme of materialism. The first reference to materialism is the advantages used to describe Paul’s family. D.H. Lawrence describes Paul’s mother, “There was a woman who was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck. She married for love, and the love turned to dust” (Lawrence, 1933). Paul’s family lived in a nice house with servants, but there …show more content…
The first consequence seen in this story was the loss of love. D.H. Lawrence writes, “She married for love, and the love turned to dust” (Lawrence, 1933). Paul’s family became so wrapped up in trying to obtain luck and money, that love was lost in the process. The second consequence seen is this story was that there was never enough money to please Paul’s family. D.H. Lawrence writes, “There was always the grinding sense of the shortage of money, though the style was always kept up” (Lawrence, 1933). Their love for the finer things of life led to a loss of money, which led to utter chaos and utter madness within the house as the family would hear “There must be more money” (Lawrence, 1933)! The third consequence seen in this story is disappointment when a certain goal to maintain money and status is not obtained. Paul’s mother tried to find something to make more money, but did not. The stress and disappointment showed and affected her physically (Lawrence, 1933). Along with the two themes showing the comparison between “The Prodigal Son” and “The Rocking-Horse Winner”, the purpose of “The Prodigal Son” can be contrasted with “The Rocking-Horse