The Rocking-Horse Winner
While money can't buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery. The short story “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H Lawrence had a fairy tale like structure, which made the reader believe that the ending would end happily. However, the short story had a lot of key characters which led to the suspenseful and unexpected ending where Paul dies. Some of the important characters in the story were Uncle Oscar, Paul, and Paul’s mother.
Later in the story, Uncle Oscar plays a key role in Paul’s life when he encourages Paul to gamble. Shallow and egotistic, Uncle Oscar does nothing to help Paul’s family through their financial difficulties. When he learns that Paul earns money through gambling, he takes advantage of the boy by betting on the winners that Paul selects. "That's right, son! ...Don't you stop till you get there", he tells Paul. Although Uncle Oscar acknowledges that Paul engages in the bizarre activity of compulsively rocking on a toy that he has outgrown, but he does not say anything to Paul's mother, “All right, son! We’ll manage it without her knowing.”. Also, rather than taking steps to stop Paul from gambling, he encourages him and asks him for tips on winning horses. Before Paul dies, he mutters the name of his pick for the Derby and Oscar runs off and places a bet on the horse. Through these actions, it shows how irresponsible he is.
Paul is the protagonist of this short story and he unexpectedly meets a tragic fate in the end of his journey. Since his mother always talks about luck and money, Paul “inherits” his mother’s obsessions and wishes that he could fulfill her desires. His winnings will free his mother from being in debt. Having luck and money will make him lovable to his mother and silence the house’s haunting voices. Paul rides his rocking horse like a knight on a quest to find what he needs;