The Rocking Horse Winner, a short story by D. H. Lawrence, employs the use of symbolism quite heavily in the form of a rocking horse. The story evolves around a little boy’s efforts to make his mother happy by providing her with income from his instinctive ability to ride his rocking horse wildly, a frenzied ride that produces foreknowledge of horse race winners. The horse is meant to symbolize the lack of love and nurturing in the boy’s, Paul’s, home environment.
Paul and his family have a decent lifestyle, but his mother and father are inadequate at earning an income that will keep both of them on the level of extravagance they are used to. Paul’s mother feels unlucky and makes no bones about informing him of this. She and her husband are unlucky. She because she married him, and he because he never has any luck making money. However, despite the fact that the environment is so anxiety-ridden over this constant desire for more money that the house speaks in a haunted whisper “There must be more money! There must be more money!”, neither the mother or father are willing to lower their standard of living or forget about superficial appearances (Lawrence 1). Even the toy rocking horse hears the whispers for more money.
After being subjected to a cool, unaffectionate mother, Paul determines he will do his best to become lucky, the one thing his mother tells him is more vital to acquiring money than even being born rich. Paul is often found riding wildly on his rocking horse. He seems to be in a trance-like state during these frenzied rides. He is basically communing with the one thing that seems capable of providing him with the affection and communion lacking in his relationship with his mother. During these frenzied rides, the rocking horse reveals to Paul the winners of the upcoming horse race. His uncle Oscar and Bassett the caretaker discover the secret and the b
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