British Liturature ( THE ROCKING HORSE THE HAPPY PRINCE MR KNOW ALL)

 One day, Paul's mother and Uncle Oscar watch as he rides on his rocking horse..  Paul's mother comments that he is too old to be riding a rocking horse, but Uncle Oscar isamused that

THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER

I SUMMARY

1

"The Rocking-Horse Winner" introduces us to Hester, a woman who dreams of living aluxurious lifestyle she cannot afford She lives in a modest house with her husband and herthree children, two girls and a boy Although she and her husband never mention theirfinancial woes, the children sense that their house and everything inside of it whisperabout the need for more money Kind of creepy, huh? Hester attempts to make money atvarious jobs, but she is not very successful at any of them

One day Hester's son Paul asks her what makes some people lucky She tells him thatpeople with luck are the ones who make lots of money; Paul's father is unlucky because nomatter how hard he tries, he can not make enough money This makes Paul determined toprove that he is lucky to his mother

Paul discovers that when he rides his rocking horse long enough, he is somehow able to

"know" what the winning racehorse will be Using this knowledge, he asks Bassett, thefamily gardener, to help him place bets and hold onto his winnings Eventually, UncleOscar discovers Paul's gambling scheme and joins in as a partner too Paul arranges tohave a lawyer send his mother five thousand pounds with the money he's won, which shepromptly spends on all kinds of luxuries

Meanwhile, unaware of her son's gambling habit, Hester grows concerned about Paul'shealth She plans to send Paul to the seaside to recover, but Paul convinces her to let himstay until after the Derby Stakes race One evening while out at a party, Hester isovercome with anxiety over Paul When she returns home, she discovers that he is stillriding his rocking horse Paul collapses with a brain fever, but not before he utters thename of the Derby Stakes winner Now that's what we call a dramatic finish

With this information, Uncle Oscar and Bassett go ahead and place their bets and make offwith a hefty winning when the Derby Stakes winner is announced On hearing this news,Paul dies later that night

 The children also sense their mother's desire for more wealth They can hear the housewhispering about money.

 One day, the son, Paul, asks his mother why they don't have a car of their own like theiruncle Oscar

 The mother explains that Paul's father has no luck, and is unable to make as much money

 Paul declares that he has luck

 Paul starts to spend a lot of time riding his rocking horse He believes that if he rides thehorse long enough, it will tell him where he can find luck

 Paul's sister, Joan and his nanny are annoyed by his rocking horse habit

 One day, Paul's mother and Uncle Oscar watch as he rides on his rocking horse

 Paul's mother comments that he is too old to be riding a rocking horse, but Uncle Oscar isamused that Paul names his horse after winning racehorses

 Uncle Oscar asks Bassett, the family's gardener, whether he's been talking abouthorseracing with Paul, and whether he puts any money on horses for Paul Bassetthesitates

 Uncle Oscar then asks Paul whether he puts money on the horses

 Paul tells his Uncle Oscar that he has been winning a lot of money betting on horses—getting his start with a ten-shilling note that was a gift from Uncle Oscar He alwayskeeps twenty pounds in reserve, and has plans to bet three hundred pounds on a horsenamed Daffodil at the next race

 Uncle Oscar humors Paul, and offers to put five pounds on a horse for him Paul asks themoney be put on Daffodil

 Daffodil wins

 Uncle Oscar still doesn't believe Paul when Paul says that he now has fifteen hundredpounds, with twenty in reserve and twenty more won using Uncle Oscar's five pounds

 Uncle Oscar confronts Bassett about the money

 Bassett reveals he and Paul have been partners Bassett has been holding Paul's money forhim

 Paul explains that when he's absolutely sure about a horse, it's a sure win If he feels even

a little uncertain about a horse, they usually lose

 Uncle Oscar decides to be a partner as well

 For the next big race, Paul predicts that a horse named Lively Spark is going to win Paulplaces a thousand pounds on the horse, Bassett places five hundred, and Uncle Oscar twohundred

 Lively Spark wins at 10-1 odds, meaning that Paul wins ten thousand pounds, Bassett winsfive thousand pounds, and Uncle Oscar two thousand pounds

 Paul wants to give the money to his mother, but doesn't want his mother to know that it'sfrom him or how he's made the money

 Uncle Oscar arranges for a lawyer to send a letter to his mother, informing her that arelative has left her five thousand pounds to be distributed over five years, that is, onethousand pounds per year on her birthday

 When his mother's birthday approaches, it seems that the house has been whispering moreabout money than usual Paul now has meals with his parents; he is too old for a nanny.

 When his mother receives the letter about the thousand pounds, she visits the lawyer andasks for five thousand pounds all at once Paul agrees, and Uncle Oscar arranges to havethe whole five thousand pounds given to Paul's mother

 Paul's mother spends the five thousand pounds on home décor and an expensive new tutorfor Paul But with all the money, the house begins to whisper even louder that there must

 By this time, Paul has had the rocking horse moved from the nursery into his room

 Two days before the Derby, Paul's parents are at a big party in town Hester suddenlybecomes worried about Paul and calls the governess, who reassures her everything isalright

 Paul's parents return home after midnight Paul's mother discovers that Paul is still ridinghis rocking horse in his room

 Paul collapses with a brain fever, screaming, "Malabar!"

 For three days, Paul lies ill and unconscious in his room with his mother at his bedside.Meanwhile, Oscar and Bassett have put their money on Malabar

 On the third day, Bassett visits Paul, and informs Paul that Malabar has won Paul hasmade over seventy thousand pounds on the race, with his total race winnings at eightythousand pounds

 Paul is overjoyed, but the excitement is too much for him and he dies that night Oscarcomforts Paul's mother

II THEMES

1 Family:

You know what's scary? Your mom

No, seriously—mother-son relationships have proved to be a rich source of horror overthe years (Sophocles, Hamlet, Freud's Oedipal complex, Psycho—do we really need to goon?)

The mother-son relationship in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" is a mess of unfulfilleddesire, anxiety, hostility, and terror Paul's father is virtually absent from the story—wenever learn his name—while his mother frantically tries to make up for all the luxuries her

husband can't provide by trying to taken on the role of breadwinner, a role traditionallyreserved for the husband (Note: We at Shmoop do not condone strict adherence totraditional gender norms, so go Hester) The only thing is, Hester's own sense ofinsufficiency spills over onto Paul, who is driven mad by his ever more desperate attempts

to please her and earn her love

Questions About Family

How does Hester feel about her children? Do you think she loves them? Why or why not?How do the children feel about Hester? What kind of relationship does Paul have with hismother—do they seem close?

What role do male figures such as the father, Uncle Oscar, and Bassett play in the story?Who do you think has the most influence on Paul, and why?

Quote #2

The children could hear it all the time, though nobody ever said it aloud (5)

=>The children can sense their parents' constant anxiety over money, even though theadults try to cover it up with expensive toys Too bad the house is such a blabber,whispering to the kids and all

"I started it for mother She said she had no luck, because father is unlucky, so I thought if

I was lucky, it might stop whispering." (149)

=>This is the smoking gun: Paul begins to bet on horses for his mother It's all an effort towin his mother's love

Quote #5

When there were no visitors, Paul now took his meals with his parents, as he was beyondthe nursery control (170)

=>The family dynamic shifts here when Paul finally grows out of the nursery He's taking

a seat at the table, next to his mother and father, suggesting he hold a more equal status intheir eyes Technically, he's pulling in a lot of money and supporting them, although theydon't know it yet

"What does he mean by Malabar?" asked the heart-frozen mother

"I don't know," said the father, stonily (230-1)

=>These are the only words spoken by his father, and the word "stonily" suggests that he

is not in touch with his human emotions Is he even human, or is he denser?

2 Wealth:

At its core, "The Rocking-Horse Winner" is a story about the psychological traumainflicted by the desperate attempt to keep-up-with-the-Joneses The mother and father in thestory are not wealthy, yet they aspire to a social standing and an elegant lifestyle that theycan't afford Money becomes the quantitative value for everything in their lives Dad can'tbring home the bacon? He's useless Mom can't succeed in any of the different jobs she triesout? Better send her back as defective Are the children a financial burden? Then it'sprobably better if they go unloved, maybe that'll save a few bucks Everything from self-worth to love is measured by money in this family, and the resulting emotionalimpoverishment has devastating effects on the children

Questions About Wealth

Who are the wealthy characters in the story? Who are the not-so-wealthy characters? Howdoes having or lacking money affect their personalities?

What is the relationship between luck and money? What about love and money? Do youthink the characters would rather have love or money? Why or why not?

At the beginning of the story, it seems that not having money makes the family unhappy,but when Paul starts raking in the big bucks through gambling, the family is still unhappy.Why?

Quote #3

"Oh!" said Paul vaguely I thought when Uncle Oscar said filthy lucker it meant money."

"Filthy lucre does mean money," said the mother "But it's lucre, not luck" (15-6)

=>The pun on luck/lucre here suggests that luck is equated with wealth

Then something very curious happened The voices in the house suddenly went mad, like achorus of frogs on a spring evening There were certain new furnishings, and Paul had atutor (181)

=>Poor Paul His earnings haven't helped the money situation at home at all; it's onlyspurred more expensive tastes and made the voices louder

Quote #10

And in spite of himself, Oscar Cresswell spoke to Bassett, and himself put a thousand onMalabar, at fourteen to one (234)

=>Money is too powerful to resist for Oscar, who bets on his nephew's dying words

3 Life consciousness and existence; luck:

In Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner," everyone and everything seems to exist in

an entirely different psychic wavelength People can read each other's minds, toys andhouses whisper incessantly, and a boy can predict horse-race winners by riding on hisrocking horse We're never quite sure if this magical world is real or not, and even thecharacters themselves don't seem too sure God may be absent from the picture here, butsome characters suspect that other supernatural forces are at work in the boy's luck, forcesthat may not be all that benevolent

Questions about Life, Consciousness, and Existence; Luck

What are the supernatural or magical elements of the story? Do you think theseelements are real? For example, does the boy really have a magicalgift—or is it just asymbolic one?

Do you think the boy's gift for identifying winning racehorses is a blessing or a curse?Explain

Take a look at the instances where the characters experience extreme mental states:Depression, anxiety, madness, even euphoria What drives them into these extreme states

of mind? What are the effects of these psychological states on their perception of reality—

for example, when Paul goes mad, is he able to keep his grip on reality, or does he lose hismind?

Quote #1

They looked at her coldly, as if they were finding fault with her And hurriedly, she feltshe must cover up some fault in herself Yet what it was that she must cover up, she neverknew (1)

=>The family often communicates with each other in unspoken ways—and it can getdownright creepy We're talking telekinesis a la Carrie here, people

"Don't they? Nobody at all? Does nobody know?"

"Perhaps God! But he never tells." (24-5)

=>"God" is used ironically here, as Hester clearly values luck and greed over moralintegrity

Quote #4

"It's as if he had it from heaven, Sir!" Bassett reiterated (141)

=>In contrast with the mother's cynicism, Bassett truly believes that the boy has a divinegift

Quote #5

"Look here, Son," he said "This sort of thing makes me nervous." (146)

=>In contrast with Bassett, Uncle Oscar finds something sinister in Paul's abilities—but heexploits Paul for gambling tips anyway Surely there can be no harm in encouraging hisyoung nephew to gamble

"But you know you needn't worry, Mother, don't you?" the boy repeated

"I should be awfully glad to know it," she said wearily (199-200)

=> "Know" is another ironic term in the text, as it refers only to that which the charactersare already conscious of The stuff they really need to know to help solve their problems isall the unconscious stuff: Paul's madness, the desire for money, the weird mother-sondynamic

Quote #8

Paul's secret of secrets was his wooden horse, that which had no name (203)

=>Paul's rocking horse is another object in the house that has magical properties to it Wewonder what kind of magic…

=>Here's another part where a character isn't in tune with the unconscious truth It'sanother instance where "God" is referenced ironically

4 Gender

The protagonist of "The Rocking-Horse Winner" is a boy who is barely on the cusp ofmanhood Over the course of the story, he transitions from being under a nanny's care tostudying Greek and Latin with a tutor and dining with his parents

It's a pretty confusing period for any boy to begin with, but it doesn't help any that Paul'sparents give him such conflicting messages about what manhood is His father isn't exactly

a role model, and his mother seems to take on many traditional male roles, such as makingsure the family has enough money to spend In fact, it's his mother who constantly prodshim to grow up, to leave off his childish attachment to his toys, including the rockinghorse, and to start getting ready to go to Eton so he can be more like his father

Yet, in the end, Paul is perhaps most like his mother, inheriting her insatiable intensity andher belief in luck

Questions about Gender

Does Hester fit into traditional roles for women? How does her status as a wife and motheraffect her ability to be professionally successful orfinancially independent?

Compare the men in the novel: the unnamed father, Bassett, and Uncle Oscar How doeseach character represent some aspect of manhood or masculinity? How does eachcharacter measure up to certain qualities associated with manhood, such as wealth,physical strength, or professional success,?

In what ways are the children—Paul and his sisters—preparing to assume the gender rolesthey'll be expected to assume as adults? Which adult characters do you think Paul is mostsimilar to?

As the story goes on, Paul transitions from a child in the care of a female nanny to an olderboy tutored by a male tutor to go to his father's elite school Do you think Paul "grows up"over the course of the story? Or do you think he's too stuck in childhood, as his mothercomplains?

Quote #1

There was a woman who was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had noluck She married for love, and the love turned to dust She had bonny children, yet shefelt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them (1)

=>Hester is described as a woman who is dissatisfied with all the traditional feminineroles

Quote #3

"[…] And aren't you lucky, Mother?"

"I can't be, if I married an unlucky husband." (26-7)

=>Hester defines herself in relation to her husband As a married woman and a mother,she has few options

"Surely, you're too big for a rocking horse!" his mother had remonstrated.

"Well, you see, Mother, till I can have a real horse, I like to have some sort of animalabout." (204-5)

=>Paul deflects his mother's concerns by making the rocking horse appear as a substitutefor the real horse that he will have as an adult

With so much emotion bubbling inside him, you have to wonder how long Paul's youngmind can take it all Not very long, as it turns out

Why is Paul so intense? In contrast to the rest of the characters, from his mother down tohumble old Bassett, Paul is the only one in the story who seems to feel anything at all It's

as if he has to generate all this emotion to make up for the fact that there is so littlegenuine feeling in his life

This need to compensate is a critical feature of his relationship with his mother Learningthat his mother isn't satisfied with his father since he has none of this mysterious thingcalled "luck," Paul is eager to step in and fill his father's shoes

But Paul is just a boy, and boys aren't emotionally equipped to replace a father in amother's affections nor are they prepared to take on the responsibilities of supporting ahousehold Tragically, Paul's young mind can't contain his outsized emotions, leading tohis untimely death

PAUL TIMELINE AND SUMMARY

o Paul receives a rocking horse for Christmas

o Paul talks to his mother about luck

o Paul is caught riding on his rocking horse by Uncle Oscar and his mother

o Paul reveals his and Bassett's gambling to Uncle Oscar, who joins in their scheme

o Uncle Oscar helps Paul get a lawyer to send five thousand pounds to his mother for herbirthday in November, with a thousand to be doled out each birthday over five years

o When Paul is told that his mother wants the whole five thousand at once, he agrees

o Paul wants to win money even more urgently now He has his rocking horse moved to hisroom, although he now takes meals with his parents, and not in the nursery with hisnanny You know things are getting serious now

o After losing some money, Paul is desperate to win at the Derby Stakes His anxiety begins

to take a toll on his health Who would have known horses could be so stressful?

o Paul promises Hester that he will take a breather at the seaside after the Derby Stakes

o While his parents are away at a party, he rides his rocking horse furiously Hey, we allhave our secrets At least he didn't drink milk straight out of the carton

o When his mother catches him riding his rocking horse, he collapses in a brain fever, butonly after announcing that Malabar will win the Derby Stakes

o Three days later, Bassett informs Paul that Malabar has indeed won That night, Paul dies

2 Hester:

For much of the story, we only know Hester as a "woman" or "mother," which is quitefitting for a character that spends much of the story struggling to find an identity distinctfrom traditional female roles

Unhappy with her husband, who can't provide the luxurious life she desires, Hester triesout various occupations, including a job as an illustrator The thing is, she isn't verysuccessful at any of them Hester may appear to be a devoted mother, but her childrenknow how she chafes at her responsibilities Hester senses that her children see her as a

"lack," someone who is constantly defining herself by the way others perceive her, andHester seems to internalize her children's judgment on her

What are the consequences of this "lack"? On the one hand, it would be easy to judgeHester as a superficial and indifferent mother—how could she be so cold toward her ownchildren? We see the effects of her indifference on Paul, who craves her attention

Why can't Hester be satisfied with what she has? Let's not forget, she lives a prettycomfortable life—she's not exactly wallowing in poverty On the other hand, Hester might

be viewed more sympathetically as an ordinary woman caught in a time when it wasdifficult for women to break free of traditional roles, particularly if they were married andhad children

By the end of the story, it seems that Hester is warming to her son—she begins togenuinely care for him and is troubled by his illness and death Or is she really? There areenough ambiguities in the text for us to wonder whether Hester actually experiences anykind of transformation over the course of the story, or whether she's doomed to be defined

by her lack…and her greed

HESTER TIMELINE AND SUMMARY

o Hester tries to make more money to support the lavish lifestyle she desires, but she can'tseem to succeed at anything

o Hester has a conversation with Paul about luck

o Hester and Uncle Oscar catch Paul riding on his rocking horse

o Hester tries her hand as a drapery illustrator, but she still isn't making enough money

o On her birthday, Hester receives a letter from a lawyer notifying her that she inherited fivethousand pounds, which is to be doled out in one-thousand-pound sums over the course offive years

o Hester visits the lawyer and asks to be given all of the money at once She gets her wish,and spends the money on home décor and a tutor for Paul

o Hester grows concerned over Paul's deteriorating health, and wants to send him to theseaside for some rest Paul convinces Hester to let him stay until after the Derby Stakes

o At a party, Hester is suddenly overcome with anxiety about Paul She calls the governess,who wasn't very good at her job, and reassures her that Paul is okay

o When Hester returns late that night, she goes up to Paul's room and discovers that he isriding his rocking horse

o Hester tends to Paul while he suffers from his brain fever

o Hester is comforted by Uncle Oscar once Paul passes away

3 Oscar Cresswell

Paul's Uncle Oscar is a somewhat sinister figure in the story, just not on the surface Heinitially appears to be a wealthy gentleman who is open-minded enough to humor Paul'sgambling, and decent enough to sense that maybe Paul's gambling isn't such a good idea—but he is not the surrogate father figure that Paul needs With his wealth, Uncle Oscarrepresents the luxurious lifestyle that Hester aspires to, but this same desire is what creates

so much misery in her family

Uncle Oscar also doesn't seem to have Paul's best interests at heart Even though he'saware that gambling may not be very healthy for Paul and his family, Uncle Oscarcontinues to let Paul have his way He even banks on a tip that Paul gave with his dyingbreath That's cold, right? It's not like he needed the money.

The virtual absence of Paul's father in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" leaves a gap in thefamily that Hester tries to fill with her attempts at making money and by guiding Paul'seducation, while Paul tries to fill the gap by gambling at the racetrack

IV ANALYSIS:

1 Symbolism, imagery, allegory:

a The rocking horse:

Let's tackle the elephant…er, rocking horse…in the room The "shiny modern rockinghorse" makes its entrance at Christmas, yet another expensive toy the family buys but can'tafford Lawrence's use of the words "shiny" and "modern" to describe the rocking horsehints that there is something unnatural and sinister about it As the story goes on, we realizethat other objects that are described as shiny and modern (like the luxurious furnishingsHester is so fond of) are actually quite harmful and lead people to an unnatural attachment

to material goods In "The Rocking-Horse Winner," the rocking horse is the agent of Paul'sown death

We could also see the rocking horse as a symbol of Paul's anxieties over his buddingsexuality and approaching manhood His mother believes that he's too old for the rockinghorse, and we have to agree Even for a kid, Paul seems excessively fond of his horse As hegrows older, he squirrels it away in his room; it is his "secret of secrets," "that which had noname" (203) Now what, for a boy entering adolescence, could possibly be a namelesssecret that he has to hide in his bedroom, something that he would be too ashamed to talk tohis mom about? Hmmm…

b Love, luck and lucre:

At one point in the story, Paul mistakenly hears his Uncle Oscar say "filthy lucker,"instead of the idiomatic expression, "filthy lucre," which refers to money gained in adishonorable way (15-6)

Even though Paul misheard his uncle, his mistake seems to be a confusion that all the adultcharacters share Everyone in the story, from wealthy Uncle Oscar to the humble gardenerBassett, associates luck with money and wealth Starved for his mother's attention, Paul getsroped into this delusion too, and starts to associate money with earning his mother's love

Of course, nobody seems to associate hard work and money, since both Paul's father andBassett work but neither are wealthy Paul makes a lot of money gambling, but at the cost ofhis physical and mental well-being In "The Rocking-Horse Winner," money is the completeopposite of all that is human, including family affection and meaningful work

c Christian allegory:

Like many of D H Lawrence's works, Christian motifs appear throughout "The Horse Winner." Bassett, the half-comical figure and most religious of the characters, seems

Rocking-to view Paul as a messenger from God, perhaps a reference Rocking-to St Paul

Paul receives his fateful rocking horse on Christmas Day, and, like Judas, Uncle Oscarseems willing to sacrifice Paul for money

In an ironic twist, Paul becomes a Christ-like figure who does not rise from the dead afterthree days, but rather, dies after three days of being sick While Christ's death andresurrection signify moral redemption for Christians, Paul's death doesn't offer any kind ofredemption Just money

2 Setting:

An affluent neighborhood in 1920s England

While the year is never specified, references to World War I and actual racing horses ofthe time tell us that the story takes place in 1920s England

Like a classic ghost story, most of the action in the story takes place in a spooky house:The home where Hester lives with her husband and children It's located in a nice-ish

neighborhood, but it's got a major inferiority complex about not being in an even nicer one.Instead of being a domestic space where the family is sheltered from the rest of the world,the house is infiltrated with the shallow, material values of society The walls literallywhisper, "There must be more money, there must be more money."

The home is also a carefully ordered space where the children spend their time in thenursery with the governess, and Hester and her husband eat their meals and conduct theiradult lives separately, in a different part of the house When Hester finally goes up the stairs

to her son's room, way up at the top of the house, the tone is so suspenseful that we'd thinkshe was breaking a major taboo, or something Not just climbing the stairs in her house

3 Narrator point of view:

Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?

Third Person/Omniscient

The story sounds mythical and fable-like with its use of the third person/omniscient Eventhe opening of the story sounds like a fairy tale: "There was a woman who was beautiful,who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck" (1) You almost expect the story

to go on to tell you about Cinderella or Snow White or any of the other unlucky, beautifulprincesses that litter folklore This narrative technique is fitting for a story that walks theline between social realism and the supernatural

4 Genre:

Modernism, Family Drama, Horror or Gothic Fiction

D H Lawrence is considered one of the big Modernists of his era

Like many Modernists, he was heavily influenced by Freud's writings on human sexuality

"The Rocking-Horse Winner" reveals this Freudian influence in the love triangleLawrence creates between Hester, Paul, and the unnamed father, where Paul ends uptaking his father's place as the breadwinner of the family and tries to take on qualities thatHester wished her husband had

This family drama is central to the general creepiness of the story Like classic Gothicfiction, the house is a reflection of the characters' twisted and tormented minds Death andevil lurk right around the corner, with Paul's perhaps diabolical gift for naming winningracehorses leading so quickly to his instant, tragic death

5 Tone:

Take a story's temperature by studying its tone Is it hopeful? Cynical? Snarky? Playful?

Ironic, Sympathetic