The rocking-house winner Themes

The rocking-house winner Themes *Themes In “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” a young boy, Paul, perceives that there is never enough money in his family, he sets out to find a way to get money through luck. He discovers that if he rides his rocking-horse fast enough, he will somehow “know” the name of the winning horse in the next race. He begins to make money and secretly funnel this money to his mother, but the desire for more money only grows more intense instead of going away. He finally rides his rocking-horse so furiously in order to discover the winner of the Derby that he falls into illness and dies, just as the winning horse earns his family an enormous fortune. Responsibility The obsession with wealth and material items is pitted against the responsibilities of parenting in “The Rocking-Horse Winner.” It is the responsibility of the parents to provide for the children in a family. It is also the responsibility of the parents to spend money wisely and budget carefully, so that the bills are paid and no one goes without food, clothing, or shelter. However, in this story, Lawrence turns this on its ear, making the parents complete failures at financial dealings and their son Paul incredibly gifted at making money, albeit by gambling. The parents in the story drift from one thing to another, never really finding anything they can do to provide for the family. The mother “tried this thing and the other, but could not find anything successful.” The father, whose main talents are having expensive tastes and being handsome, “seemed as if he would never be able to do anything worth doing.” When Paul gives his mother 5,000 pounds from his winnings, rather than paying off debts and saving for the future, she spends all of it on material things, causing an even more urgent need for more money. Generosity and Greed The disparity between Paul‟s generosity and his mother‟s greed is another theme of “The Rocking-Horse Winner.” Paul generously offers all his winnings to the family, in order to relieve the family‟s dire need for money. He seems to have no needs of his own and is motivated solely by the desire to help his mother. Paul‟s unselfish generosity is contrasted starkly with the mother‟s greed and selfishness. When the mother first receives the news from the lawyer that she has “inherited” 5,000 pounds from a long-lost relative which will be paid out to her in yearly increments of 1,000 pounds (a scheme dreamed up by Paul), she does not inform the family of their good fortune. Instead, she goes immediately to the lawyer and asks to receive the entire amount right away. Paul agrees, and the money is spent foolishly on more material things for the house. Instead of relieving the family‟s need for money, Paul‟s plan backfires and thus there is a need for even more money. Paul and his mother are complete opposites. Paul, in his childish innocence, gives and gives to the family, without any desire for thanks and without any desire to keep any of the money for himself. He ultimately gives the most precious gift of all: his life. Hester, Paul‟s mother, has no idea where all this money is coming from and does not seem to care. Hester has become so obsessed with wealth that her heart turns completely to stone; she cannot even feel sad when her son dies. Oedipus Complex Paul‟s desire to earn money for the family can be said to be an unconscious desire to take his father‟s place, a concept that psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud termed the “Oedipus complex.” This is a reference to the story from ancient Greece in which Oedipus, who was raised away from his parents, accidently kills his father and marries his mother. Freud suggested that all boys go through a stage where they want to take their father‟s place. Paul‟s desire to take care of the family‟s needs is Oedipal. Since the main way of earning this money — the rocking horse — is also bound up in sexual imagery, it seems clear that Lawrence intentionally characterizes Paul this way. Characters the mother -- a cold, unfeeling, grasping, materialistic woman disguised in the cover of a loving mother and wife; the husband -- more or less a non-entity, who has an office „somewhere‟, and who went to Eton. Young Paul -- innocent, sensitive, intelligent, being prepared to go to Eton as well, an upper class preparatory school in England. This is a family which is upwardly grasping, will never become members of the aristocracy, but Paul is being groomed to climb the next rung of the social ladder. English gardener -- he is passive, loyal, a little bit afraid of his superiors, and somewhat greedy to the extent he participates in Paul‟s winnings at the track. Uncle Oscar -- a bit of what the British call a „bounder‟, an unscrupulous man who takes advantage of his nephew‟s supernatural talents to his own advantage, without considering for a moment the pressures such activity may place upon the young boy. Neglect In her preoccupation with material things, Hester neglects to provide Paul the love he needs to develop into a normal, mentally stable child. Faulty Sense of Values Hester makes stylish living the chief goal of her marriage. Consequently, her relationship with her husband and the care and nurture of her children—in particular, Paul—stagnate. Whenever money becomes available, she spends beyond her means. Though she and her husband rear their children in a "pleasant house" with servants and a nurse, they seem to regard them as objects for display, like the furnishings in the home. Hester's spending and indebtedness create anxiety that haunts the house and personifies itself by repeatedly whispering the phrase: "There must be more money." Obsession Lust for material objects, stylish living, and money so obsesses Paul's mother that she neglects Paul and his sisters. Paul then "inherits" her obsession. But he wants to win money for his mother, not for himself, in order to prove that he has the luck that his father lacks. Having luck and money will make him lovable to his mother, he apparently believes, and silence the house voices. When he discovers that the five thousand pounds he sets aside for her is not enough to achieve his goals, he becomes obsessed with winning more. His mania ultimately kills him. Opportunism Oscar Creswell acknowledges that Paul's wagering makes him nervous. But rather than take steps to stop Paul, he encourages him and asks for tips on winning horses. When Paul lies deathly ill muttering the name of his pick for the Derby, Oscar runs off "in spite of himself" and places a bet on the horse at fourteen to one odds. Quest Paul rides his rocking horse like a knight on a quest. He seeks a great prize, luck, that will enable him to win money wagering on horses. His winnings will free his mother from a great monster, indebtedness, that consumes all of her attention. Once free, she will be able to turn her attention to Paul and give him the greatest prize of all: love. Deceit In the first paragraph of the story, the narrator says Hester does not love her children. Nevertheless, outwardly she pretends to love them, and people say, "She is a good mother. She adores her children." *Summary This whole story is about, being lucky. A boy named Paul who asked her mother why they are not rich. His mother said this is because your father has no luck. However, Paul was convinced that he could find his own luck. His drive to find luck was fueled by the whispers that he heard throughout the house there must be more money. He thought that if he found luck he would be able to make the whispers stop. Therefore, Paul would ride like crazy on an old rocking horse he had in his bedroom. He thought that if he rode long enough he would eventually find luck. Then he developed a habit of betting on horse races with his partner, Bassett. Paul said that all he did was ride his rocking horse until something in his head told him who the winner would be; therefore, his uncle got closer to him. When the biggest race of the year came around he rode his horse all night like a madman, for that is what he had become. He eventually knew who would win but ended up dying during the night without having been able to enjoy the eight thousand pounds that he had won for being lucky. Theme—Self-Knowledge “The Rocking-Horse Winner” is about a family whose parents are so confused about their own values, about the relative importance of love and money. They have committed their lives to the external world and money. For example, Hester, the mother, is pathetically superficial. She thinks that she is unable to love her children. (paragraph I—only she herself knew that at the centre…) However, in the end of the story, we could tell that she loves Paul as other mothers love their children. (the last page) According to Lawrence‟s definition, the way to live is according to what you are, not what you think you should be made over into; knowing yourself, not external standards. The mother, refusing to clarify what her emotions really are (dare not to admit her love to the children), hopes to control herself and her world by acting “gentle and anxious for her children.” She tries to act what she thinks she should be, not taking adequate notice of what she is and needs. Till the end, Paul collapses. Some deep source of her affection has been released. Similarly, Paul has a need for affection which he cannot understand and manage. Thus, he attempts to cover this lack of self-knowledge with knowledge about the external world (horse racing?making money?pleases his mother) which he hopes will bring him the love he needs. Lawrence says: “The real way of living is to answer to one‟s wants.” Nevertheless, both Paul and his mother ignore their true feelings and become the slaves of the external standards. They bring themselves miserable ending. Love=Luck=Lucre=Sperm ?? As we know, Lawrence mentions sex in most of his works. There is no exception in “The Rocking-Horse Winner.” From the first paragraph (she had bonny children,…) , the rhyming verb thrust has suggested us that Hester‟s dissatisfaction is, in large part, sexual. In the story, the money is a symbolic substitute for love and affection, and ultimately for sperm (精液). To Paul, showing his mother that he has luck which his father doesn‟t have is the only way to win his mother‟s affection and release the whispering around the house. He must have the lucre which comes of luck. When he sends his mother the birthday present of five thousand pounds hoping to alleviate her problems, his present only makes her colder and more luxurious. At the same time, the house is throughout the voice of his mother‟s ideal sexual craving: “There must be more money…” (p. 315). This passage is a mimetic representation of a woman in the throes (掙扎) of sexual climax. However, it is a climax which only titillates (使興奮) without fulfilling. His mother‟s lust for lucre is greedy; for fulfilling her appetite, Paul has to drive his luck harder and die exhaustedly after all. Riding Horse=Masturbating? •The act of riding a horse is an obvious symbol for the sex movement. And riding the rocking-horse is the imitation of the sex act for a child. Lawrence says “Sex must go somewhere, especially in young people. So, in our glorious civilization, it goes in masturbation. And the mass of our popular literature, the bulk of our popular amusements just exists to provoke masturbation.” To Lawrence, masturbation is chiefly as a substitute for some sort of intercourse. As a result, we can be easily convinced that Paul‟s mysterious ecstasy might be onanism. That is Paul‟s “secret of secrets—the wooden horse” (p. 317). We probably can get some clues by the conversation between Paul and his mother. (pp. 310, 317) •Later on, Paul draws back from his family gradually. He takes the rocking-horse to the top of the house and is isolated from his sisters and parents. Lawrence believes that man‟s isolation is an unavoidable part of his definition as a human being. He says in “Pornography and Obscenity”—And this is masturbation‟s result. Enclosed within the vicious circle of the self, with no vital contacts outside, the self becomes emptier and emptier, till it is almost a nothingness….The great danger of masturbation lies in its merely exhaustive nature. In sexual intercourse, there is a give and take. A new stimulus enters as the native stimulus departs….And this is so in all sexual intercourse where two creatures are concerned.... There is no reciprocity (相互性). There is merely the spending away of a certain force, and no return. The body remains, in a sense, a corpse, after the act of self-abuse. A corpse—that is what Paul becomes after the last riding of the rocking-horse. Money and Capitalism “The Rocking Horse Winner” is a story about the devastating effects that money can have on a family, and further that Lawrence‟s specific objections in the story are not to money abstractly conceived, but to money as it is understood and valued by capitalist culture. The story is a mordant commentary on the distorted and self-destructive values of the upper middle-class and of many of us living in a capitalist, money dominated society. Money The house is haunted by the ghost of money, whispering repeatedly the terrible command, “There must be more money!” Money is the symbolic substitutes for love and affection. To Paul, money isn‟t a good in itself—it is only a way to win his mother‟s affection. “The boy saw him did not believe him… and made him want to compel her affection.” Paul is driven to his death by the inflexible money mindedness of his parents. The Love of money somehow interferes with the life process. Capitalism •Capitalist: Paul, as a handicapper, he invests money, betting on a profitable return on his investment, and In this sense, he is a capitalist. Indeed, his betting is the sign of the economic relations controlling the world of the story. But at the same time, for what he is investing, in real terms is himself, selling his skills to generate wealth that he is not free to possess. •Laborer: Young Paul exemplified vividly the sort of work that arises under capital. Simply put, he is a laborer of hid mother. •Exploitation: Exploitation is the necessary element under the capitalistic society. “The essential meaning of exploitation is that a surplus is seized from the working population for the benefit of a superior class. Paul is exploited by the capitalistic society and the economic pressure that is passed down by his mother. •Alienation: In capitalistic and money- dominated society, people are aloof and isolated from one another. Alienation is one of the component of Capitalism. Paul is isolated from his parents, his sisters and even the world. Religion •The presence of Christianity in the story is set forth most readily, of course, in the depiction of the young Paul as a Christ figure: not only is he referred to repeatedly as “son”, but he also possesses a seemingly magical power that comes form heaven. •The most telling example is Paul himself, who willingly sacrifices himself to save the world into which he was born. His death gives his family the financial independence possible, even while it appears holy and pure, is in fact devilish. Family Relationship “Although they lived in style, they felt always an anxiety in the house. There was never enough money. The mother had a small income, and the father had a small income, but not nearly enough for the social position which they had to keep up. The father went into town to some office. But though he had good prospects, these prospects never materialized. There was always the grinding sense of the shortage of money, though the style was always kept up. ” Family Relationship The relationship between parents and children is quite indifferent. The parents are too busy in keeping their fame, profits, and social position to take care of their children. Nevertheless, children, especially at the age of Paul, need the love and care from parents. Thus, Paul, in order to attract his mother’s attention and piece together the whole family, gambles the horse-racing and gives the money reward to his mother. However, his mother is not satisfied with the money, she wants more and more and finally causes the death of Paul. Family Relationship Family and Society