The Characterization of the Mother in “The Rocking-Horse Winner”
In “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H.Lawrence, Paul’s mother is not an admirable woman in any way. She appears to be incapable of loving and has hardness deep within her. It is exactly her sense of frustrated expectations and “the grinding sense of the shortage of money” that make the house haunted by some “unspoken phrase”: “there must be more money! There must be more money!” This hardness and greed within the mother combined with her indifference towards her son cause Paul, in an attempt to gain her affection, to try to become “lucky” and gain money to please her. So the mother in “The Rocking-Horse Winner” is the main reason for the house’s whisper and Paul’s sacrifice. In other words, the mother is the representative of the unbridled greed for money in the story and the one who is to be blamed for Paul’s death. This paper will mainly focus on the mother’s personality and try to find out what did the author D.H.Lawrence want to express by creating such a character.
First, as a mother, she lives in a mess but does not know how to fix herself. They “lived in a style” and “felt themselves superior to anyone in the neighborhood”, they actually do not have enough income. So it is very hard for them to keep up their social position. Despite all of the facts, the mother still has “expensive” tastes. Although she makes up her mind to make money, she cannot find anything successful. She is clearly not a good mother, as she has to work hard just to feel “as if” she loves her children. …show more content…
The more money one has, the more money one wants. So the best way for a person is to be content with the present life and work hard to make the life better, and what’s more, love and beloved by families and
In “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H.Lawrence, Paul’s mother is not an admirable woman in any way. She appears to be incapable of loving and has hardness deep within her. It is exactly her sense of frustrated expectations and “the grinding sense of the shortage of money” that make the house haunted by some “unspoken phrase”: “there must be more money! There must be more money!” This hardness and greed within the mother combined with her indifference towards her son cause Paul, in an attempt to gain her affection, to try to become “lucky” and gain money to please her. So the mother in “The Rocking-Horse Winner” is the main reason for the house’s whisper and Paul’s sacrifice. In other words, the mother is the representative of the unbridled greed for money in the story and the one who is to be blamed for Paul’s death. This paper will mainly focus on the mother’s personality and try to find out what did the author D.H.Lawrence want to express by creating such a character.
First, as a mother, she lives in a mess but does not know how to fix herself. They “lived in a style” and “felt themselves superior to anyone in the neighborhood”, they actually do not have enough income. So it is very hard for them to keep up their social position. Despite all of the facts, the mother still has “expensive” tastes. Although she makes up her mind to make money, she cannot find anything successful. She is clearly not a good mother, as she has to work hard just to feel “as if” she loves her children. …show more content…
The more money one has, the more money one wants. So the best way for a person is to be content with the present life and work hard to make the life better, and what’s more, love and beloved by families and