Gambling With a Life
"Poor Devil, poor devil, he's best gone out of a life where he rides his rocking horse to find a winner(Lawrence 803)." D. H. Lawrence ends The Rocking - Horse Winner, with such a profound statement. One has to ask the question, why such a profound statement? This story is about an unlucky family that substitutes their lust of money for love. The pressure for "more money"(793) is constant, intense and consumes the entire house. The children can feel the house calling out to them in a haunting way "There must be more money (793)." This pressure to acquire money is so great that eventually a mother's son loses his life, though, not before he makes his family rich. He achieves this wealth through gambling. Achieving wealth through gambling is risky, dangerous and costly. The mother of this story is described as having a hard, resentful heart because she was raised wealthy and through circumstances beyond her control, she has lost some of her wealth. She believes the family does not have money because her husband has become unlucky. The family has moderate wealth, but she never feels satisfied that they have enough wealth, although they employ servants. The children have a nurse to tend to their ne
Lawrence spins a story that shows a child getting involved with gambling to gain the love of his mother. The more money he wins, the more he has to have because the house still calls for more money. As the problem becomes more and more out of control it starts to affect his physical health and his very soul. This just sounds like numerous stories across America every day. Gambling is destructive. Many believe gambling destroys lives. Hence, Lawrence vividly illuminates how gambling destroys the lives of not only adults, but also children. He further shows how adults influence children. The Rocking- Horse Winner illustrates how a mother, preoccupied with wanting more money has unknowingly destroyed her own child. Jesus, one of the greatest philosophers of all time says, "...for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his own soul (Saint Mark 986)." Riconda, Andrew. Gambling. New York: H.W. Wilson Company, 1995. eds. This shows the family has some wealth. However, this moderate amount is not sufficient. Lawrence, D. H. The Rocking - Horse Winner. Trimmer, Joseph D. and Jennings, C. D.H. Lawrence crafts this story well, portraying a greater message. The dangers of gambling are rampant, life changing, addictive, and unpredictable. Currently the United States citizen spends 500 billion dollars a year on gambling. "Experts say that from 1 to 3 percent of all adult Americans have gambling problems Cozie and Winters 61)." This addiction is just as deadly as any drug in the world. Gambling wrecks lives, families, and causes loss of jobs. Story upon story can be recounted of families, mothers and fathers that have ruined their lives in the name of chance. Paul tries so hard to please his mother, but this makes things worse. The house screams for more money. The house demands more money and the pressure become insurmountable to Paul. He gro
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1318
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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