The Rocking-Horse Winner

By D.H. Lawrence

Book Overview

"The Rocking-Horse Winner" is a short story by D. H. Lawrence. The story describes a young middle-class Englishwoman who "had no luck." Though outwardly successful, she is haunted by a sense of failure; her husband is a ne'er-do-well and her work as a commercial artist doesn't earn as much as she'd like. The family's lifestyle exceeds its income and unspoken anxiety about money permeates the household. Her children, a son Paul and his two sisters, sense this anxiety; moreover, the kids even claim they can hear the house whispering "There must be more money." Paul tells his Uncle Oscar Cresswell about betting on horse races with Bassett, the gardener. He's been placing bets using his pocket money and has won and saved three hundred twenty pounds. Sometimes he says he is "sure" of a winner for an upcoming race, and the horses he names do in fact win, sometimes at remarkable odds. Uncle Oscar and Bassett both place large bets on the horses Paul names. After further winning, Paul and Oscar arrange to give the mother a gift of five thousand pounds, but the gift only lets her spend more. Disappointed, Paul tries harder than ever to be "lucky". As the Derby approaches, Paul is determined to learn the winner. Concerned about his health, his mother rushes home from a party and discovers his secret. He has been spending hours riding his rocking horse, sometimes all night long, until he "gets there", into a clairvoyant state where he can be sure of the winner's name. Paul remains ill through the day of the Derby. Informed by Cresswell, Bassett has placed Paul's bet on Malabar, at fourteen to one. When he is informed by Bassett that he now has 80,000 pounds, Paul says to 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 " "No, you never did," said his mother. The boy dies in the night and his mother hears her brother say, "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."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1493682814
• ISBN13: 9781493682812
• Release Date: November 2013
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Satisfying

What D.H. Lawrence did so well in this short story was how he fully depicts the potent yet unverbalized influences on the psyche of the boy, as well as the subsequent changes in his feeling and behavior. If I were asked to explain the story to a third person, I would say, "Read it!"

A poetic Injustice

This story is one of tragedy, and loss. A boy doing anything to gain his mothers approval in one way or another. As some would say it revolves around lust, but those are the few whom...nevermind. This would be a very complex story for almost everyone on a mature level. Though some score this story pretty low I give it a 5 out of 5. So if I were you (but i'm not) I would pick this story up and analyze it for all its worth I swear you will see everything in a new light and feel what so many others do.