The Rocking-Horse Winner
The characters in the Rocking-Horse Winner are mostly static. Paul, however is a dynamic character. Paul's mother, Hester "was a woman who was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck. She married for love, and the love turned to dust.... when her children were present, she always felt the center of her heart go hard" (Gwynn 75). Paul, on the other hand is a boy who is always trying to gain the acceptance and approval of his mother. Paul knows that his mother has a hard heart, and it motivates him to be lucky. Paul's mother gives him the impression that to be lucky is to have money. When Paul asks "What is luck, mother?", his mother responds "It's what causes you to have money. If you're lucky you have money. That's why it's better to be born lucky than rich. If you're rich, you may lose your money. But if you're lucky, you will always get more money" (Gwynn 77). Both Paul's mother and his house seem to have an obsession with money. Paul! and his two sisters can always hear the house whispering "There must be more money! There must be more money" (Gwynn 76). Paul, like any normal child, wants his mother to accept and love him. Paul thinks that by being lucky o
The sadness comes from Paul's mother's attitude towards her children and Paul's death. Haster never feels that she loves her children. She feels as if her heart is made to stone. She also feels that her husband is unlucky, and she gives the sense that she is no longer in love with her husband. Perhaps Hester is unhappy in her marriage, and loves only herself. Paul spends his short life trying to gain the acceptance and love of his mother by getting her the money that she loves desperately wants. Perhaps Paul feels that his mother would love and accept him if he could prove to her that he really is lucky. As Paul lay dying, he tells his mother of his secret. "I never told you, mother, that if I can ride my horse, and get there, then I am absolutely sure-oh, absolutely! Mother, did I ever tell you? I am lucky" (Gwynn 87). Paul finally proves that he is lucky, but his mother remains a static character. Her heart never softens, it only remains of stone. Fiction edited by R.S. Gwynn. "The Rocking-Horse Winner". New York: Longman 1998. The tone of this story is one of greed, sadness, and seeking acceptance. Paul's mother is greedy in the sense that there never is enough
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Approximate Word count = 807
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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