This is known as the "mirror stage." As one reads the story, Paul is a beaming example of the child in Lacan's second stage of the Psychoanalytic Theory. In summarization of all three of Lacan's stages, the child's development is ultimately deeply affected by its sense of unity and even more specifically, the separation from the mother. .
"The Rocking-Horse Winner" is a story about a young boy who is desperately searching for luck and money in order to please his unhappy mother. One can easily view this story as a fairy tale in which Paul bargains with some force, and rides his horse in order to gain knowledge. This knowledge allows Paul to gamble on horse races. Later, Paul loses his bargain, for some reason, and pays the ultimate price. .
At the end of the story, Paul lies dead due to an illness seemingly brought on by exhaustion. He has ridden his rocking-horse for the last time, and earned a significant amount of money for his mother, thereby showing her that he is, in fact, lucky. Death in exchange for money, one must ask oneself, is it a fair trade? The last line of the story is Paul's uncle telling his mother, ".he's best gone out of a life where he rides a rocking-horse to find a winner." He is now free from himself and a life where he did not feel loved. Paul was placing all of his value on luck and money, and these are things which, in the grand scheme of life, are not very important. He is better off away from this material life where he didn't have the opportunity to simply be a happy child. .
In application to the Psychoanalytic Theory, the story significantly reflects Lacan's "mirror stage." The scary resemblance may cause one to believe that Lawrence was a strong believer in this theory. Not only from the Paul's obsession and eventual breakdown, but the relationship conveyed through the story of child and mother makes it clear that Lacan did have a large influence on the story.
?The Rocking-horse Winner? By D. H. Lawrence ?The Rocking-horse Winner? is a story based on a child who needed to be lucky. Throughout the story different point of view techniques were used which made the story much more believable and interesting. The author used these techniques often, a...
THE ROCKING-HORSE WINNER Every human being desires to rise in life or society; it's how we get there that determine our consequences, Greed has no boundaries with social inequality, however the innocent pay the maximum price. ... Paul rocking-horse, was the key element to getting his "luck". ... Uncle Oscar found the boy on one of his journeys on his horse, his uncle found out the boy's uncanny ability to predict the racehorse winner. ... Defeated, Paul's necessity to escape is apparent, his journey continued on the rocking- horse trying to get away and ye...
Lawrence's short story, "The Rocking-Horse Winner,"" we see a child with many problems. ... This is a definite theme in "The Rocking-Horse winner-, as the reason that Paul starts to gamble is to stop the house from whispering, "There must be more money!... Eventually, Paul decides that he has indeed found luck, and, when riding his rocking horse, is able to tell the winner of an upcoming horse race. ... One evening, after a party, Paul's mother returns to find her son "in his green pyjamas, madly surging on the rocking-horse- frantically seeking for the winner of the Derby. ... Upon ...
In the story "The Rocking-Horse Winner" he mostly used symbolism in the whole story. ... In this story the Lawrence describes the surroundings in sight, smell, noise and physical sense whereas The Rocking Horse Winner is only using a little sight, a little noise and emotional sense. ... For every time the exact phrase was heard the boy struggles to find an answer for it, so he always goes to his room and rides his rocking wooden horse. Paul rides a rocking-horse, until something somehow tells him the winner of a horse race. ...
In the short story "The Rocking-Horse Winner," D.H. ... He begins riding his wooden rocking horse to find the winner of the horse races. ... His anxiety about the winner kept him from sleeping that night, so he began riding the horse furiously. ... He rides a rocking horse to win wealth, and to silence the "whispering" of the house. ... In the end, Paul died of a brain fever brought on by his dissatisfaction and his obsession with riding his wooden rocking horse to find a winner. ...
"The Rocking-Horse Winner- is a short story written by D.H. ... On his last rocking horse ride, Paul screamed "Malabar! ... At first the "rocking-horse- was Paul's favorite toy; he "knew the horse could take him- wherever he needed to go. ... Paul did not care; he gained his inspiration for the horse races from his rides on the "rocking-horse."" ... He was always glaring with his "big blue eyes- to find the winner when he would ride his "rocking-horse."" ...
In "The Rocking-Horse Winner", Paul can be seen as a messianic figure, because he appears to become close to God when he rocks back and forth on his rocking-horse, and saves the house. ... Paul rides a rocking horse to become close to god, whereas the biblical figure of Saul/Paul was riding a horse into Damascus when he he encountered and became close to god. other references to this are the fact that the writer makes note of Paul's eyes, which in the bible Saul is struck blind briefly by god. ... In this story we can see that a rocking-horse can be used as a religious tool. Paul uses t...
Greed in The Rocking Horse Winner People need money to live, and enough to buy the basic goods one needs to survive, but everybody wants more money. ... The more money one has, the more money one wants, as is shown in the story, "The Rocking Horse Winner" by D. ... Paul, the child, knew that his family wanted money, and he knew that he was lucky, betting on the horses. ... He picked the horse, and the gardener placed the bet. ... (p. 169) The family, especially the mother, always wanted more money in the story "The Rocking Horse Winner" by D. ...
