The Rocking Horse Winner And The Gift Of The Magi

Money: A Tool for Evil Money is considered, by some people, to be the root of all evil, when in reality money is no more evil than any other object. Money is just an object that can be abused; however, the true evil is selfish greed and lust for power. “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence and “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry exemplify two different types of greed through gambling and sacrifice. It is safe to say that people would consider vehicles to be helpful, but would they assume cars evil because people die in car accidents? Likely not; likewise, money itself is not evil due to the intentions of certain people. The quote, “and so the house came to be haunted by the unspoken phrase: There must be more money” (Lawrence), portrays
Greed comes in many forms, in this case the form was money, but sometimes greed is seen through the love of power, food or notoriety. The idea of money and greed often get fused together; however, they are separate entities. Just because greed often accompanies money does not mean the money is inherently evil. For Paul, the moral code of his family and his upbringing caused his greed; money is only as evil as the person controlling it. “The Gift of the Magi” is similar in almost every way to “The Rocking Horse Winner”; how can this be possible? How can it possibly resemble Paul’s greed in “The Rocking Horse Winner”? The reality is that greed is not always a bad thing; greed can be used for good as well as evil. While “The Rocking Horse Winner” represents money for selfish greed, “The Gift of the Magi” money is represented through the lens of selfless giving and
Money has no influence in “The Gift of the Magi,” it is only an object that represents true love, money is used to display love for somebody else, rather than a love for self. Paul was greedy for the betterment of himself which caused the voices and situations to get worse, while Jim and Della used the emotions of greed for the betterment of their marriage. This is no accident, proving that the physical presence of money has no influence over the situation at all in either case, rather the situation is impacted by who has the money and their intentions. If money was the only common denominator than both stories would have ended the same, considering they did not makes one conclude that money can never be a