The document provides an analysis of D.H. Lawrence's short story 'The Rocking Horse Winner,' discussing its plot structure, character development, themes, and literary devices. It outlines the protagonist, Paul, who is obsessed with winning money to please his mother, leading to tragic consequences. The document emphasizes themes of materialism, obsession, and the impacts of parental influence on children.

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2. Our Team
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Lê Hữu Thắng 18128157
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members

4. Table of contents
Introduction Plot
Quizz Game
Analysis
02
04
01
 Exposition
 Rising Action
 Climax
 Falling Action
 Resolution
 Characters
 Point of View
 Literary Devices
 Symbols
 Themes/Messages
03
 Review Questions
 D. H. Lawrence
 The Rocking Horse
Winner

5. Introduction
 D. H. Lawrence
 The Rocking Horse
Winner
01

6. D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an
English novelist, poet, playwright,
essayist, literary critic and painter who
published as D. H. Lawrence.
Lawrence's best-known short stories
include The Captain's Doll, The Fox, The
Ladybird, Odor of Chrysanthemums,
The Princess, The Rocking-Horse Winner
The Rocking
Horse Winner
It is a short story by D. H. Lawrence.
It was first published in July 1926 in
Harper’s Bazaar and subsequently
appeared in the first volume of
Lawrence’s collected short stories.
It was made into a film under the
same title in 1950.

7. The Rocking Horse Winner short summary

8.  Exposition
 Rising Action
 Climax
 Falling Action
 Resolution
02
Plot

9. Falling Action
Resolution
Exposition
Rising
Action
Climax

10. Setting: England, around
the 1920's
Paul discovers the lack of
money his family has and
his mother's desires of
wanting more.
He decides to find the "luck"
his mother never had.
Although she doesn't
believe that he will find any,
he is determined to prove
her wrong whilst still
seeking her approval in
doing so.
Exposition

11. Paul gets a rocking horse as
a Christmas present.
From there, he begins his
"furious" rocking horse rides,
meanwhile learning the
names of the winning
horses.
He places bets on the horses
with the help of Basset and
ends up winning every time.
His Uncle finds out about the
gambling, and ends up
joining Paul and their
gardener, Basset.
Rising Action

12. Hester comes into Paul's
room to check up him, only
to find him furiously riding
his rocking horse.
He shouts the name of one
of the horses before falling
off the horse and
collapsing on the floor.
He then becomes afflicted
with some sort of "brain-
fever."
Climax

13. Before Paul collapses, he
mentions the name of one of
the horses, "Malabar."
Basset and Oscar places
their bets on the said horse
and they end up winning
eighty-thousand pounds.
Paul stays in coma-like state
due to his illness getting
progressively worse.
Falling Action

14. Paul dies from the severity of
his illness and effects from
his seizure.
Uncle Oscar comforts Hester
about her sons death.
He tells her that even though
Paul may be dead, at least
she's eighty-thousand
pounds richer.
Resolution

15. Analysis
 Characters
 Point of View
 Literary Devices
 Symbols
 Themes/Messages
03

16. Paul
Paul is the protagonist, he is a round and a
static character.
He is only interested in making money to
appease his mother.
Paul grew up with the idea that there is a
strong relation between luck and
money.

17. Hester
She is a round character, and also static
Hester is incapable of loving others. (example:
her relationship with Paul. Paul feels he
isn't loved by Hester.
Resulting in Paul being obsessed with winning
money from horse racing bets in hopes of
pleasing Hester’s obsession with money

18. Static, flat character
He's already rich, but
when he realizes how
accurate Paul's
predictions are for
the horse races, he
uses it to his
advantage to get
more money
Oscar uses Paul's for predictions
to gain more money
He values money above
everything else
Example, he didn't really care
about Paul's death, cared more
about the winnings.
Oscar feels pity for the death of
Paul, but is still more interested
in the money Paul won from the
Derby.
Oscar

19. He is a flat and a static
character
He is the gardener at Paul's
house.
Bassett is Paul's betting
partner before Oscar find
about it, and he keeps the
money from Paul's
predictions.
He had an interest in horse
racing, and would talk to
Paul about it.
Paul developed an interest,
and asked to place bets
for him
Bassett

20. Point of View
The short story, the Rocking-Horse
Winner, is written in third person
omniscient point of view.

21. Big numbers catch your
audience’s attention
Literary Devices

22. Irony

23. the 1000 pounds each year for
5 years are meant to satisfy
his mother's greed
instead of satisfaction the
mother is angry
"Her face hardened and
became more
expressionless. Then a cold,
determined look came on
her mouth."
Birthday Gift

24. Paul attempts to stop the
house’s cries for money by
giving it more money
but with more money the cries
simply become louder and
louder until they are
unbearable
“whispering worse than ever
lately, and even in spite of
his luck, Paul could not bear
up against it”
Cries for Money

25. Uncle Oscar shows a caring
attitude to Paul
yet when Paul is dying - he
takes advantage of the
boys 'gift'
Oscar's Treatment
of Paul

26. only in death does he consider
himself lucky
it is only when he is dying that
his mother pays attention
to her son Paul
Paul's Death

27. Simile
- “And then the house whispers, like people
laughing at you behind your back.”

28. “The child had never been to a race-
meeting before, and his eyes were
blue fire.”
Metaphor

29. Symbol
:

30. S
y
m
b
o
l 01 02 03 04
• materialism of the
parents
• represents the
greed of Paul's
mother
• the mother's lust for
more money
• son's cry for more
love
• the more money -
the worse the
voices: greed
cannot be satisfied
inability to satisfy
greed and obtain
his mothers love
The House Paul’s Death
Whispering Voice
of The House
symbolic of
Paul's innocence
chasing his
dream (to get
money to
appease his
mother)
Rocking Horse

31. Conflicts
Man vs. Setting/
Environment
(Paul. vs. house)
Man vs. man
→ internal conflict
(Paul vs. Hester)
Man vs. himself
(Paul vs. his luck)

32. Themes

33. Responsibility:
Children are greatly influenced by their surrounding
environment, usually created by their parents.
● “She had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust
upon her, and she could not love them.”
● “Over eighty thousand pounds! I call that lucky, don’t you
mother?”

34. Obsession & materialism:
Pursuit of money often cannot be satisfied and there
is no end to one’s materialism.
● “He went off by himself, vaguely, in a childish way, seeking
for the clue to “luck”.”
● “It’s Malabar!” he screamed, in a powerful, strange voice.
“It’s Malabar.”’
● “Although they lived in style, they felt always an anxiety in
the house. There was never enough money.”
● “And yet the voices in the house, behind the sprays of
mimosa and almond blossom, and from under the piles
of iridescent cushions, simply trilled and screamed in a
sort of ecstasy: “There must be more money! Oh-h-h,
there must be more money. Oh, now, now-w! Now-w-w –
there must be more money! – more than ever! More than
ever!”

35. Greed:
Excessive greed can result in fatal consequence.
● “The boy watched him with big blue eyes that had an
uncanny cold fire in them, and he said never a word.”
● “He neither slept nor regained consciousness, and his
eyes were like blue stones.”

36. Messages
The story alarms us to be aware
of the blind worship of
extravagance and appreciate
what we own.
The story tells us even though
money is essential, we should
not let the greed for money take
over our lives.

37.  Review Question
04
Quizz Game

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