Societies craving of fortune always ends in misfortune

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Recommended: Money symbolism in 'The Rocking-Horse Winner' by D.H. Lawrence

Everybody has, at one point in their life, had a desire for more money. D. H. Lawrence uses many symbols in “The Rocking-Horse Winner” to convey the fact that the pursuit of happiness through monetary gain ends in tragedy. The main symbol is the rocking horse, representing how the protagonist Paul is trying to win the affection of his mother. Next is Paul’s mother who demonstrates materialistic views. Finally, the voices in the house symbolize greed and corruption. Lawrence effectively uses these symbols to show how money destroys lives.

Initially, the rocking horse seems to be Paul’s play-toy as he just rides it back and forth. But delving deeper into Lawrence’s story revels that it represents the method of how Paul hopes to win his mothers approval. He also wants her affection as well as winning back the family’s luck. Paul’s mother had never loved any of her children so Paul seeks his mothers validation in any manner possible. He questioned his mother about his fathers luck to which his mother responds with “[your] [father] [is] very unlucky (222)”. Paul realizes that this is a w...

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