The Failure of a Mother
What are the responsibilities of being a mother? And how do the actions of a mother affect her child’s future? In the short story, “The Rocking Horse Winner,” by D.H. Lawrence, we are introduced to a mother by the name of Hester, who lacks all maternal instincts and characteristics her children need and desire. Hester is a woman overwhelmed with greed and embraces a corrupt fixation of luck and money. Due to her materialistic and selfish needs, Hester fails her motherly duties of providing love, protection, and the ability to thrive to her children and ultimately, causes the death of her son Paul, who tried too hard to earn her affection by trying to prove he, himself, was not a failure.
When the story begins, Lawrence gives a vivid description of Hester’s true identity, a mother incapable of loving; “Only she herself knew that at the center of her heart was a hard little place that could not feel love, no, not for anybody.” Although she was externally beautiful and sustained a lavish lifestyle, her standards were never met due to the fact that she believed wealth and happiness was the result of luck, which she did not have. She was more concerned with her persona perceived by society rather than the feelings towards her children. Many described her as a “good mother who adores her children;” however, “only she herself, and her children themselves, knew it was not so. They read it in each other’s eyes.” Hester’s son Paul was determined to please his mother by proving he was lucky, and in turn gain her compassion; however it resulted in his untimely death caused by the callous actions of his own mother.
Hester was also unable to provide protection for her children. She was so consumed with the need for more money she lost sight of what truly mattered. She was blind when it came to looking out for her children, especially Paul and