D.H. Lawrence, a 20th century poet, used controversy as his main weapon, “Lawrence was revered for his brash controversy.” (Lawrence) His most celebrated work is his story Rocking Horse Winner, a text about gambling, greed and luck. The poem tackles subjects that are timeless, despite its creation at a time where all of these subjects were rather sever. Rocking Horse Winter is about a boy, who lives in an upper middle class family, who starts to gamble on horse races to win money for his greedy mother. Throughout Rocking Horse Winner, Lawrence toys with the ideas of greed, gambling, and luck. The first theme is greed. Rocking Horse Winter, a story about a boy trying to please his upset mother, is pivoted around the mother, despite her only being a secondary character. Paul, the young boy, is told by his angered mother that they have no luck, and no money. This drives him to physical limits when he tries to turn those things around. Once he actually achieves turning these things around, his mother isn’t happy with the money. “I’d rather have the whole thing” (1258) In the end, the mother's greed kills Paul. I believe Lawrence is trying to convey how greed is capable of …show more content…
Rocking Horse Winner’s driving plot point is gambling, seeing as how it’s about horse races. Paul becomes lucky enough to predict horse races, and from that wins huge amounts of money. Essentially he ruins his life by gambling. It’s unclear whether or not he’s addicted pleasing his mom, or to gambling, but Paul doesn’t stop riding his horse to predict races. At one point near the end of the story, Paul is convulsing while riding his horse, but all he cares about is the horse who will win. “It’s Malabar!” (1259) is all Paul can yell while he dies. Lawrence alludes to how addictive gambling is with this scene. He shows how gambling can completely take over one’s mind. “Gambling is comparable to substance abuse.” (Blanco) is a very reasonable quote about