D. H. Lawrence
(1885-1930)
D. H. Lawrence
 English novelist, short
story writer, critic, poet,
and painter
 Son of a heavy- drinking
coal miner
 Childhood was dominated
by poverty and friction
between his parents
Lady Chatterley's
Lover (1928)
tells of the love affair
between a wealthy,
married woman, and a
man who works on her
husband's estate.
The book was banned
for a time in both UK
and the US as
pornographic
Sons and Lovers (1911)
autobiographical novel
detailing the difficulties of
his childhood
Kangaroo(1923)
is strongly autobiographical, reflecting
the almost daily flow of
Lawrence's thoughts and
impressions while in
Australia
The Plumed Serpent
(1926)
was a vivid evocation of
Mexico and its ancient
Aztec religion.
The Man Who Died
(1929)
is a bold story of
Christ's Resurrection.
The End
Rocking horse winner
characters
Paul:
the main character in the story. He believes that he is
a lucky person and with the gift when riding his
rocking horse, he can know the winner of horse
races. In order to prove her mother that he can find
luck ;however, he does not realize there would be a
terrible price to pay.
Hester:
Paul’s mother. She is kind of material woman and
does not feel content what she has. She thinks
herself having no luck, because her husband is an
unlucky person.
characters
The father:
Paul’s father. A middle-aged dejection man - has no
luck.
Oscar Cresswell:
Paul’s uncle. When noticing that Paul is very lucky at
choosing whom the winner would be, he
approaches Paul about his lucky. After, he becomes
a partner with Paul.
Bassett:
He is a gardener and a partner with Paul.
Narrative perspective
3rd person omniscient
.......D. H. Lawrence wrote the story in omniscient third-person
point of view, enabling him to reveal the thoughts of the
characters.
Paul's mother only made several hundreds, and she was again
dissatisfied. She so wanted to be first in something, and she
did not succeed, even in making sketches for drapery
advertisements.
His mother had sudden strange seizures of uneasiness about
him. Sometimes, for half an hour, she would feel a sudden
anxiety about him that was almost anguish. She wanted to
rush to him at once, and know he was safe.
She had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon
her, and she could not love them. They looked at her coldly,
as if they were finding fault with her. And hurriedly she felt
she must cover up some fault in herself.
Themes
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.“
Themes
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.
Themes
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."
Themes
Materialism vs Unconditional familial love
When financial wealth and security are placed above the open
expression of unconditional love, a destructive and
dysfunctional family dynamic is created.
Destructive power of obsession
Dedicating oneself obsessively to achieving a goal can create an
unhealthy imbalance in the mind, emotions, and / or body.
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 capitalism Simply put, he is a laborer of
his 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 components 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.
Atmosphere/mood
“And so the house came to be haunted by the
unspoken phrase: There must be more money!
There must be more money!”
Repetition reinforces the impact of personification .
Objects– the rocking horse, doll and puppy hear the
secret whisper: “There must be more money~”
metaphor
 The child had never been to a race-meeting before,
and his eyes were blue fire.(Comparison of the eyes
to fire)
simile
 “Bassett was serious as a church.”
 And yet the voices in the house . . . simply trilled and
screamed in a sort of ecstasy: "There must be more money! ”
 “His eyes blazed at her for one strange and senseless second,
as he ceased urging his wooden horse.”
 “The voices in the house suddenly went mad, like a chorus of
frogs on a spring evening.” (Comparison of the voices to
frogs)
 “He neither slept nor regained consciousness, and his eyes
were like blue stones.” (Comparison of the Paul's eyes to
stones)
Figurative language
Filthy Lucre/Lucker
Verbal irony—lucre (money) and luck are
essentially the same thing in the mother’s and
the boy’s minds.
symbolism
House
Wealth
Superiority
Superficiality
Empty of love like the
mother
Rocking Horse
Fake
Materialistic values
Wooden dream
Going nowhere
Mother’s job
sketching furs
Like the rocking
horse, this is a
mockery of the
reality she wishes
for
Eye imagery
D. H. Lawrence's attention to the eyes helps to convey
the inmost feelings of characters in some instances.
(characterization)
In fact a good deal of communication between human
beings is nonverbal and glaring eyes, frowns, furrowed
brows, and shrugs can sometimes communicate more
meaning than words.
It enhances the mysterious and sometimes unsettling
atmosphere of the story by leaving open to question
what a gaze or a stare means. (atmosphere/mood)
Eye imagery examples
“Only she herself, and her children themselves, knew it was not so. They
read it in each other’s eyes.”
“the boy watched her with unsure eyes.”
“his eyes had a strange glare in them. The little girls dared not speak to
him.” (establishing character)
Referring to the RH “its big eye was wide and glassy-bright.” link to Paul
and the horse
“The boy gazed at his uncle from those big, hot, blue eyes, set rather close
together. The uncle stirred and laughed uneasily. “ (establishing mood)
“The boy watched him with big blue eyes, that had an uncanny cold fire in
them, and he said never a word.” (notice the author hear lets
allusion
 English novelist, short story writer, critic, poet,
and painter
 Son of a heavy- drinking coal miner
 Most famous novel - Lady Chatterley's Lover
(1928)
alliteration
“Now!” he would silently command the snorting
steed.”
foreshadowing
Reference is made to the supernatural when Paul told his
mother that he was a lucky person.
“He stared at her. He didn’t even know hwy he had said it.
“God told me,” he asserted…..He did mother!”
“We’re all right when we’re sure,” said Paul. “It’s when we’re not
quite sure that we go down.”
In relation to the continued whispering of the house. It was
said that “Paul could not bear up against it.”
Paul has his rocking horse moved to his own bedroom. His
irony
Tragic Irony:
 .......Paul picks the winning horse in the Epsom
Derby but loses his life. The fortune he had
amassed, eighty thousand pounds (the equivalent of
millions of dollars today), thus became his
misfortune.
oxymoron
 It was a soundless noise, yet rushing and powerful.
Cause/effect
No luck:
“It’s because your father has no luck,” said Paul’s
mother when asked why they were poor.
Family Relationship
Husband
Wife
The relationship between husband and wife is obviously
cold and boring. They married for love, but when the
passion of love passed away, their postnuptial life
become tedious. Besides, the husband doesn’t have a
good social position and miss the promotion in his job.
Therefore, the wife begins to complain about the
husband’s unlucky and pursues material needs. However,
they still keep the superficial harmony of the family.
“There was a woman who was beautiful, who started with
all the advantages, yet she had no luck. She married for
love but the love had turned to dust.”
“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
Parents
Children
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
(Oedipus Complex)
Paul
Romance -- Reality
(Rockinghorse) (Love)
Mother
Materialism
(Marriage)
(Money, Social
position.)
Luck
Father
Family and Society
Family = Society
Mother = Materialism
Paul = sacrifice
= civilized men
= spiritual life
Whispering = Desire