"The Rocking-Horse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence

Essay by OoZyHigh School, 12th grade July 2007

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In the short story of "The Rocking-Horse Winner", a boy named Paul is gifted in picking the winners in horse races. He currently is concerned about obtaining money to earn his mom's love. The moral of this story is about luck and money. Paul's mother introduces her speech about how lucky people are always rich. Afterwards, in the end, Paul tells her he is a lucky one. There are four elements from this passage that reveals foreshadowing, the revelation of character, suspense and atmosphere. D.H. Lawrence, the author, reveals that Paul has the ability to obtain luck through his rocking horse.

The advancement of the plot is shown when the author says, "Absorbed, taking no heed of other people, he went about with a sort of stealth, seeking inwardly for luck." This phrase demonstrates that Paul secretly wants to ride the rocking horse for money.

This event foreshadows the future horse winner that Bassett and Uncle Oscar are going to bet on. For this money he has earned, all Paul wanted was his mother's attention and to be worthy in her eyes.

This passage also includes the revelation of Paul's character. His obsession with luck or so he identifies "lucre", has become such a huge impact, he gets sick mentally and physically, as well as alienating himself from society. "He wanted luck, he wanted it, he wanted it." Paul's obsession has driven him into madness and insanity as he continues to try harder than ever to be lucky.

The passage identifies suspense as Paul creates tension to search for luck. The main conflict in this story is greed. Paul's mother does not care about her children, only the amount of money she carries in her pocket. "He would sit on his big...