Rocking Horse Winner Materialism

In “The Necklace” and “The Rocking Horse Winner,” Mathilde and Hester are both characters that reflect the theme as they inevitably pay the price for their relentless desire for materialism. Hester’s unfulfilling need for money, caused by her dissatisfaction of her present life, drives Paul into an obsessive chase for money while harming himself in the process as he strives to satisfy his mother. This is evident as Hester found Paul “in his green pyjamas, madly surging on the rocking horse” when she returned from the party at about one o’clock (Lawrence 15). Paul’s obsession becomes his undoing as his “Eyes blazed at her… as he ceased urging his wooden horse. Then he fell with a crash to the ground” and upon his recovery, his mind was still

shrouded by his desire to make money rather than rest, which the author illustrates using “his eyes were like blue stones” (15, 16). In addition, in “The Necklace” Mathilde’s desire for materialistic goods is shown as the allure of a luxurious life caused Mathilde Loisel to plunge into a life of poverty for one radiant night at the Minister’s party. As her life descends into poverty, her suffering is illustrated by the author when she “dismissed their maid… rented a garret” and “washed the dirty linen… carried the garbage down the street every morning, and carried up the water, stopping at each landing to catch her breath” (de Maupassant 8). The quote shows the amount of suffering Madame Loisel had to endure in the following years for her grave error of losing the necklace and how she paid the ultimate price for the dazzling night at the party. Character is being developed as she pays for her mistake and learns to appreciate what she had prior to losing to the necklace. Similarly, Paul’s demise was a conduct of his mother’s inexorable lust for money as his physical health suffered from sleep deprivation, and was stressed out by his need for money as it constantly lingered in his mind. The chronic stress that Paul experiences became detrimental to his well-being as it affected his physical condition and brought upon his death which is shown as the author previously described that his eyes “blazed” and the simile that stated “his eyes were like blue stones.” Paul’s life can be compared to a dying fire as it burns out, so did Paul’s life as his mind was constantly preoccupied by a desire for money, and all that was left was the stones for the campfire as the fire diminishes. In conclusion, both of these characters’ suffering was brought upon their own greed, and shows the reader of how Mathilde and Hester’s character development and the impact of their actions.
In the two short stories, the authors use tropology to convey the extent of Mathilde Loisel and Hester’s greed for materialism.

In “the Rocking Horse Winner”, Hester wanted all five thousand at once and to fulfill her desire, as Paul thought, it only made Hester’s greed worse which is shown by the author using a simile. A simile is used to describe the voices, as “the voices in the house suddenly went mad, like a chorus of frogs on a spring evening” (Lawrence 12). Moreover, Madame Loisel’s happiness at the minister’s party originates from all the attention she had received by being vibrant when she was wearing the necklace which the author conveys with the use of a metaphor and imagery. A metaphor and imagery are used to illustrate Madame Loisel’s feelings as “she danced widely, with passion, drunk on pleasure, forgetting everything in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness” (de Maupassant 5) The use of imagery shows Madame Loisel’s feeling of delight as she attended an upper-class party while being the centre of attention. For example, the use of the phrases “glory of her success”, and “triumph of her beauty” gives the reader a representation of how Madame Loisel appears and shows the reader the sheer joy she felt that night. In addition, the metaphor “in a sort of cloud of happiness” makes an indirect comparison with her feeling of euphoria to floating on a cloud which allows the reader to imagine the joy she felt glistening with the diamond necklace in the crowd. The combination of a metaphor and imagery emphasizes the effect of the materialistic goods Madame Loisel had and how it became the source of her happiness. Correspondingly, the use of tropology with the simile shows Hester’s avarice as Paul initially thought that giving her all five thousand pounds would calm the voices. This simile compares “voices in the house” to a “chorus of frogs on a spring evening” which is accentuating how dire the need for money

became as Hester’s unwavering greed is shown by her yearning for more money. This is proven later in the story, as Hester immediately starts to spend the money and now requires more to maintain their lavish lifestyle, which places Paul under more pressure. This gives the reader an understanding of the suffering Paul is enduring and how his actions resulted in a counterintuitive effect. Comparisons can be made between both of these character’s need for money as they will only become satisfied with materialistic goods rather than appreciate what they currently have and the use of tropology reflects their hunger for money to fulfill their fantasies.