"The Rocking Horse Winner" is a story about a young Englishwoman that believes she has married an unlucky man therefore there is a lack of money. She has also been forced into the life of motherhood, something she didn't want and now resents her children because of that. Everyone on the outside looking in sees her as the perfect other but her kids can also sense her resentment and hatred for them. To fill the place that she feels is empty in her life instead of seeking love she seeks material things. Her oldest child, Paul, feels as though he can win her love by "finding luck", he also seems to be trying to fill a void his father has created and feels to compel her and satisfy her needs unlike his father. To find luck he gets on his rocking horse and rides the horse until he finds the winner for the next Derby race and bets on that horse. He ends up winning 80,000 pounds total from riding that horse.
Throughout this story you notice a misconstrued sense of values demonstrated by the mother as well as the uncle. The mother seemed to value material possessions over her own children, children she gave birth to and should feel some maternal instinct towards.
We feel that Paul only felt he needed to prove his love to her by showing that he had luck because of a lack of maternal love received and also to cease the house from whispering. After Paul gives his mom the five thousand pounds there does seem to be an increase in the amount of love she felt for him. Towards the end she starts to feel anxious, as though something were wrong with Paul, she just couldn't put her fingers on it. We think the money could have contributed to the increase of "love". There is also a pattern of greed, an obsession with money seen throughout the story. The house always whispered about more money and even after Pauls mother received the five thousand pounds the house seemed to scream for more. We think it was their greed for more rather than the actual need for it.
The lack of maternal love being given to her children can be seen in the first paragraph of the story. "“She had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them.” Her own children are resented because of a "hard, cold heart" as well as marrying young and falling in love so quickly it just seems to fizzle away. The lack of maternal love is stated in the first paragraph when it is stated, “She had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them.” There was a slight disconnect in the conversation between Paul and his mother when they were talking about luck. When Paul asked his mother why they didn't have a car she explained it was because of bad luck and misfortune. As the boy tried to explain God told him he had luck his mother seemed to waved it off.“The boy saw she did not believe him; or rather, that she paid no attention to his assertion. This angered him somewhere, and made him want to compel her attention. He went off by himself, vaguely, in a childish way, seeking for the clue to 'luck'. Absorbed, taking no heed of other people, he went about with a sort of stealth, seeking inwardly for luck. He wanted luck, he wanted it, he wanted it.”
We feel that Paul only felt he needed to prove his love to her by showing that he had luck because of a lack of maternal love received and also to cease the house from whispering."Of course," said the boy, "I started it for mother. She said she had no luck, because father is unlucky, so I thought if I was lucky, it might stop whispering." After he did win more money right before he died he told his mother, “I never told you, mother, that if I can ride my horse, and get there, then I'm absolutely sure - oh, absolutely! Mother, did I ever tell you? I am lucky!” At that point we feel had closure in the fact that he satisfied his mother's desires and needs.
We also noticed that after his mother received the large sum of money from him and satisfied her material desires there seemed to be a bond formed between she and Paul. Right before the Derby she began to feel sudden spells of uneasiness sweep of her about Paul. The night he died she felt really uneasy and called the house to check on him. "Two nights before the Derby, she was at a big party in town when one of her rushes of anxiety about her boy, her first born, griped her heart till she could hardly speak... She had to leave the dance and go downstairs to telephone to the country... 'Are all the children all right, Miss Wilmot?' 'Oh yes, they are all quite all right' 'Master Paul? Is he all right?'..." At this point you can notice a sudden burst of maternal instinct kick in that was not there before in the beginning of the story. Overall the story is about greed, a misplaced set of values, and "luck".
-Ashlyn and Justin
I agree that this story is centered around greed. You see how the expensive tastes of both the parents contribute to the unhappiness in the house. Not only are they in debt, but they both still need to keep their lifestyle.
ReplyDeletePaul shows that he is different from his parents. Although he is winning all of this money, he is only thinking about giving to his mother. Not only does this show his want of her affection, but his unselfishness for his family.
I also feel that the main theme in this story is the greed of Paul's family. I think the parents are showing their children bad work ethic in saying that only lucky people have money, and if they lose it and are truely lucky, they will get more money. I also think its is interesting how the family compares money to the breaths they take in life. On page 518, the narrator is talking about the house whispering about more money and says "The whisper was everywhere, and no one spoke it. Just as no one ever says: 'We're breathing!' in spite of the fact that breath is going on all the time." This shows that the family believes that money should come just as easy at life itself, even though both can be taken away in an instant. I also think Paul shows he is unselfish when he says, "I started it for monther. She said she has no luck."
ReplyDeleteI agree that in some ways this stories main theme is the families greed, in particular the mother. Some other aspects that I think are important are the skewed sense of the families values and the fact that they are never satisfied even when they receive more money.
ReplyDeleteI found it strange that in explaining why there isn't enough money in the family, the mother says its because they aren't lucky. She explained to Paul that luck wasn't something that could be changed, you either have it or you don't. Not once does she mention that handwork can earn you money as well. Luck is held in higher regard for this family than hard work.
Another interesting point is the fact that the mother isn't ever satisfied. She married someone she loved, but it faded. Her children don't seem ideal to her and when she does receive the sum from the lawyer instead of being satisfied she spends it which makes her need for money even greater. This is reflected in the increased whispers of the house.
I definitely agree with you both that this story is about greed, a misplaced set of values, and luck. But with the concept of luck, I think this story delves deeply into what exactly it is. Paul definitely has sympathy for his mother's apparent lack of luck, and so tries to have some himself to help her be happier; she cannot become lucky on her own now, because that went away permanently with her marriage, or so she claims. Paul's obsession with "searching inwardly for luck" is most likely a result of his love for his mother, and perhaps a striving to get beyond what he senses to be a puzzle in her disposition. Before he declares, "I'm a lucky person," Lawrence writes, "...he saw, by the lines of her mouth, that she was only trying to hide something from him." He senses something amiss, and he is not quite aware of what he senses though it must be his mother's lack of maternal affection for him.
ReplyDeleteThe reader is thus led to question just how much of Paul's obsession with finding luck in betting on the horse races is in fact because of that, and not because he secretly has a sense that his mother does not truly love him and, naturally, he wants her to, he wants to find a way of favor with her. But overall I liked your analysis!
I believe that the house in symbolic of the family as a whole. The house "whispers" to the children, even from a very young age. The question of money is put on their shoulders from birth. It then falls upon their oldest sons shoulders to keep the family in tact.
ReplyDeletePaul initially gives his mother a 5000 pound gift, which was sequencially spent on more materialistic things as opposed to paying off the current bills. Of course, Paul then feels it is his responsibility to obtain more money for his parents. He literally drives himself insane for the house, (which he had to be attached to through the rocking horse), and his insanity and death incurs 80,000 more pounds for his family. However, I predict that his death in fact will be in vain due to his family's careless spending beyond their means.
Greed is definitely part a theme in the story, as everyone thus far has mentioned. Paul is solely trying to find luck to ultimately please his mother.
ReplyDeleteI find it though ironic that Paul is able to be sure in picking the winning horse because there is nothing sure about gambling. There is no certainty in luck, but Paul clearly believes so.
To build on the points made, towards the end of the story uncle says, "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." I think it may serve as a sort of a moral of some sort, though harsh. Paul probably was better off dead, according to uncle, than to have gone mad riding a horse.
Great job!
ReplyDeleteThe saddest part to me about this story is how the children, specifically Paul, had to buy his mothers love. She wasn't a good mother, and her children did nothing wrong. I wonder at the end of the story if she was sorry that she lost Paul? Or was she sorry she lost her connection to money and material possessions?
I'm a firm believer in that YOU are in control of your attitude, and YOU are in control of your own happiness. Too bad the mom didn't think that.
Sarah Kirksey
I think your analysis did a wonderful job of pinpointing the main themes of greed, misplaced values, and luck. I also agree with the points you make. Something I did find odd was the fact that the children were the only ones who ever heard the house plead for more money and that they were able to sense their mother's discomfort around them. Also, Paul's ability to "supernaturally" uncover the names of winning horses in races that have yet to be run is very strange. It almost seems like the children have been driven mad by their parents' frivolity and lack of affection. It definitely seems like the author was warning readers about the importance of family virtue for the health and well being of the children.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your explanation. The book is full of repetition about greed, with the mother mostly.
ReplyDeleteShe is also very bitter towards her husband, for she says he has no luck. She explains this as the reason they have no money. In most of her comments about money and her husbands luck she sounds angry as though she regrets marrying him. When Paul asks her if she is lucky she says, "I used to think I was, before I married. Now I think I am very unlucky indeed."
It seems as though she regrets marrying him and feels she would have been better off without him.
I think the biggest Irony is that they refer to having money as being lucky and only if you're lucky you can get money. So in turn, they are teaching their children not only to be insufficient with what they have but also that the only way to get money and succeed is by luck, not working hard or being smart or having special abilities or talents like most people believe.
ReplyDeleteBecause of this you see Paul worried about winning all this money by betting on horses for his mother so their family would be happier-but it was never enough.
I agree that greed is plays a heavy role in this story and leads to a premature demise of a confused and lacking young man. As I read this story, I could not help but think of the story of Oedipus and his incestuous fate. It seems to me that the conversation Paul has with his mother about luck leads him to feel that he needs to be the "man of the house". After this conversation his father is not mentioned again, even when he begins to win the money. He then sets his sights on solely pleasing her. The only thing that he can see that will please her is more money. I believe that the voices he hears are hers. This may be way off-base but I also think, considering he is probably adolescent age, that Paul can feel some type of sexual pleasure from rocking on his horse to the sound of the "house mantra". I also believe he falls in love with his mother after he sees how pleased she is with the money he wins for he birthday. Paul seems to have a level head on his shoulders so he decides to "ration" the money to his mother so that she will always be in a satisfied state, however she demands it all and he says without worry that she can have it because he will provide for her. This is the role of a husband and father. He has lost his innocence and entered into adult hood at a dangerously fast- pace all at the expense of pleasing his mother. He succumbs to an early death due to the desire to please his mother and show her love that she never showed him.
ReplyDelete