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The Rocking Horse Winner by Lawrence
Critical Commentary
The Rocking Horse Winner
first published in 1926 by D.H. Lawrence is considered to be an example of
modernist prose. It is his hatred towards growing consumerism, crass
materialism and affection-less parenting style of English people.
It presents the ironic tone
to moralize on the value of love and dangers of money by using the
devices of fairy tale and symbolism.
The protagonist; Paul,
attempts hard, though futile, to please his mother and get her love and
attention by being lucky. For him, being lucky means to possess much money. So
he uses his instinct to predict the name of winning horse in a froth coming
horse race. For this he has to ride madly in his wooden rocking horse, and
knows the name of the horse that will win in the race. With the help of his
maternal uncle, he bets on the horse and starts collecting the money and
secretly sends to mother. He cannot find the desired happiness in his mother’s
face as she wants more and more. So, he tries harder this time, he wins the
bet, but he has to pay a high cost; he dies.
This story criticizes those
English people who then equate love with money and luck with happiness. Here
the mother stands for the unfulfilled desires and Paul, the son, stands for the
desperate search for values in a cash culture. Through the tragic story the
writer develops a theme, that is, extreme desire for money and social status
ultimately leads to destruction: destruction of relationships and moral values.
Lawrence uses symbols and relationships to cater the theme in the story. He
uses the symbol of “wooden rocking horse” and “the whispering”.
“The wooden rocking horse”
employs the meaning of the supernatural. It is the place where Paul can predict
the name of winning horse in the race. It is where he loses himself and gets
extraordinary power to foresee the future. Paul is too determined to uplift his
social status and he has to find the winners. So he says, “now, take me to
where there is luck!” But sadly he is taken to death by extreme pressure both
on physical and psychological aspects. “The whispering” in the house “There
must be more money!” symbolizes the desires to live in upper class of the
society. Paul’s mother always grumbles for not having more money or for being
unlucky after getting married. So, Paul feels more pressured to make his mother
happy and content. But all his efforts go in vain. His mother never becomes
happy because she wants more and more.
Lawrence with the use of
dramatic relationships implies the theme of the story. The never ending lust
for money and social status ruins the relationships and brings shadows on the
love of family members. Paul’s mother has a hunger for money. She thinks she
was lucky but after getting married to Paul’s father, she becomes unlucky
and she clearly mentions that she is not happy with her husband. With such a
family background, Paul wants to be lucky and for him to be lucky means to have
money. He wants to get love and attention of mother by being lucky. In this
quest, he loses himself. He earns some money for the mother, but destroys his
life. In the name of being lucky for mother, the son distances himself from
mother eternally. The mother too gives high value for money and status than the
love and family bond. The relationships become stronger if there is more money
for the mother. All these relationships of father – mother, mother- son clearly
depicts the theme that the lust for money and social status destroys love, life
and happiness.
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