Discussing Lawrence's The Rocking-Horse Winner

Number of posts : 14 Registration date : 2006-09-10

The relationship between the mother and the little boy in this story is sort of odd. It almost seems as if the mother is at fault for the boy's death because she begins to drive the little boy insane with her doubting him. The mother told the boy that their family was not lucky and that they did not have money. This made him want to keep winning money on the winning horses. It eventually lead him to become ill and insane, therefore, leading to his death.

Number of posts : 12 Registration date : 2006-09-10

6. I think the ending of this short story was extremely sad. All the boy wanted to do was earn more money for his mother so she would be happy. It wasn't for himself and the fact that he died performing this unselfish act for his mom was really touching. It's not what you classify as a typical "happy ending" but I think it was right for this story. It shocked the reader and created sympathy for the boy, and hatred toward the greedy mother for killing her son.

Number of posts : 12 Age : 35 Registration date : 2006-09-19

The ending of this story really surprised me because I expected it to have a typical happy ending. It seemed like the boy's luck was kicking in and that his family was starting to do well off financially. I felt sad because the boy struggled to make his mom pleased only to die in the end. Despite all of Paul's hard work, his family becomes burdened once more, emotionally, with his tragic death.

Number of posts : 12 Registration date : 2006-09-14

While the mother wants to love her children she truly does not and because her son is concious of this he attempts to win over her love by winning her money. The boy thinks that by buying his mother happiness he can also buy her love.

Although the mother does not love her son she still feels that it is her responsibility to care for him to the best of her capabilities. The worst side of their defected relationship is revealed when the mother first bitterly tells the boy about how unlucky his father is, and at the end right before the young boy falls asleep and dies. When Paul tells his mother, "...did i ever tell you? I am lucky" she merely replies "no you never did" instead of trying to tell him that he didn't have to be lucky for her to love him, even if it was a lie.