Hester, Paul's mother, is at fault for choosing money rather than some other, more stable value; she inadvertently turns to money as her source of affection and happiness. Lawrence states, "She married for love, and the love turned to dust- however, if her mind had not been so heavily influenced by capitalism, the love for her husband and children would have not vanished in times of poor luck and lack of money. Paul, representing the masses, wanted to win as much money as he could in order to receive approval from his mother, who in this sense represents society as a whole. From Paul's view, happiness and love will come from his mother if he has money and luck. .
The money Paul wins from the horse races is not money to be theoretically thought of, it is to be regarded and valued as it is within a capitalist society. Watkins considers the story to be a "symbolic formulation of social life in the grip of capitalism- (295). .
This is one of Lawrence's most savage and compact critiques of what he elsewhere calls "the god-damn bourgeoisie- and of individuals who, despite their natural or potential goodness, "swallow culture bait- and hence become victims to the world they (wrongly) believe holds the key to human happiness (Watkins 295).
Paul clouded his mind with thoughts of luck and wealth in order to please his mother, this "establishes convincingly Lawrence's awareness of the intrusion of capitalism into every aspect of contemporary life- (Watkins 295). .
Many would say that part of success in capitalism replies on luck. According to Hester, money too relies on luck, "It's what causes you to have money. If you're lucky you have money-(Lawrence 149). The mother generates an enormous amount of anxiety on her and passes it down to Paul who then rides the rocking horse to alleviate his anxiety but obtaining the winning horses name thus being able to make money gambling on the races. In response to Paul's question of why they are poor, she says, "it's because your father has no luck- (Lawrence 149).
