In "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner and "The Rocking Horse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence, both short stories portray the theme that"Humans cannot bear too much reality."

Imaginary Worlds

"Humans cannot bear too much reality. In fact, imaginary worlds are needed to live well"

"A Rose for Emily" by the author William Faulkner and "The Rocking-Horse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence both show the key characters creating imaginary worlds to enable them to maintain an outward appearance against reality.

Both Emily and the mother in The Rocking- Horse winner have to have the best. Both women have been raised to expect the best, Emily by her father and the community. The mother was beautiful and expected the best house containing the best things, even though she could not afford it. Neither woman could accept the reality that they were without love and short of money, (Emily seemed unable to pay her taxes). .

In " The Rocking-Horse Winner" the mother cannot bear too much reality. The reality is that she has less money than she needs to pay for her expensive lifestyle, which is her expectation.

English: William Faulkner's signature

English: Emily Rose

English: Emily Rose

She blames a lack of luck for herself and her husband, rather than the reality, which is the lack of ability to earn money. She tells her oldest son, that luck is "what causes you to have money", and that his father is un-lucky, so he assumes that this is why she does not love him. Paul then believes that you must have luck to bring you money, and the reason he desires money so much is so that his mother will love him. He hears the constant whispering which come from the house, echoing, "There must be more money!"

The fantasy world created by the boy named Paul allows him to have a goal in life, which is to get luck and in turn to by loved by his mother who is unable to provide this need.