A Critical Analysis of "The Rocking-Horse Winner" and "The Destructors"

All these characters had different personalities and each character was lovable in their own way.

Graham Greene’s “The Destructor’s”, and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Rocking Horse Winner” (Both stories reprinted in Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 9th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth] 111-124, 285-298) are two short stories set in post-war England. Despite the similarities of both stories set in post-war eras of Great Britain, the mood and physical settings are vastly different. In fact, the stories each give differing amounts of details and clues about the setting. For instance, “The Destructors” setting is easily discernable, but in contrast, “The Rocking Horse Winner” gives only vague clues regarding the time and setting. Regardless of the differences in the amount of details given, the

The theme of “The Destructors” is the difference between classes in post-World War II London. The characters in “The Destructors” are twelve gang members who destroy a beautiful old house. The house represents the upper class society that was still present in this setting. One

I guess what all these characters have in common is that they were all real and sincere and that you could find these traits and stories in everyday people.

The love of wealth plagued man from the beginning of time and continues to today. Since the twentieth century in particular, materialism became increasingly common and cast in a positive light. Graham Greene and D.H. Lawrence, who were authors in this time period, addressed this tendency in their short stories. In “The Destructors” and “The Rocking Horse Winner” both authors utilize young boys from materialistic and prideful families to show the destructiveness of materialism, even for the seemingly innocent.

Whereas Paul “boy’s rocking” is lead to think luck is money and money is needed to keep the family in their social standing. For example, “He went off by himself, vaguely, in a childish way, seeking for the clue to “luck,” Absorbed, taking no heed of other people, he went about with a sort of stealth, seeking inwardly for luck. He wanted luck, he wanted it, he wanted it.” (Kennedy and Gioia, 2013, pp. 237). Paul uses his abilities to provide for the family. In doing this he tries to assume his father’s role in the attempt to please his mother and the household’s constant whispering the need for more money. “I started it for mother. She said she had no luck, because father is unlucky, so I thought if I was lucky, it might stop whispering” (Kennedy and Gioia, 2013, pp. 240). And even as Paul is dying he is still consumed with trying fill the role of a provider for his mother, “I never told you, mother, that if I can ride my horse and get there, then I’m absolutely sure – oh, absolutely! Mother, did I ever tell you? I am lucky! […] But the boy died in the night.” (Kennedy and Gioia, 2013, pp. 245). Paul’s death was a sacrifice to please his mother, who put her desires for money and material things above the love of her children.

knew his parents would not approve so he lied and told them he was a peacekeeper so they

D. H. Lawrence also shows conflict between Paul and his mother through a second level of secrecy. He writes the story using the style of story telling or a fantasy style of writing. "The Rocking-Horse Winner" starts off with "there 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" (Lawrence 524). According to Junkins "mother is the poor, unsatisfied fairy princess who yearns for happiness; Paul is the gallant knight on horseback who rides to her rescue" (88). Lawrence uses this form of story telling to show the reader the conflict Paul has when trying to win his mother's love by giving her riches.

Both stories “ The Destructors” and “The Rocking Horse Winner” were written by British authors, and set in England. “The Rocking Horse Winner” was set after WWI, meanwhile “The Destructors” was set after WWII. In this case, this shows us that both stories have similar living conditions. On the other hand, there are also differences in the two stories. Graham Greene’s “The Destructors” and D. H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking Horse Winner” have similar yet different uses of setting, greediness, emotions and themes of character.

Destruction of Innocence in "The Destructors" and "The Rocking Horse Winner" The story written by D. H. Lawrence, The Rocking-Horse Winner, opens on a negative tone describing a woman named Hester “who was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck” (Lawrence, D. H., 1933/2013, p. 235). Likewise, Trevor, of Graham Greene’s “The Destructors”, is a young man who once enjoyed the beautiful things in life and now desires only to destroy those beautiful things. Hester and Trevor’s social status causes them both to misdirect their focus on what is important in life. The stories both appear to be set after a major war where the aftermath and economic struggles are visible and experienced. Hester and Trevor did not focus on God’s word where he said “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

“The Rocking Horse Winner” is a short story written by D.H Lawrence that follows the short and tragic life of a boy named Paul, who assumes he has amazing luck after realizing he can predict racehorse winners by furiously riding his rocking horse until he reaches a trance-like state. Unfortunately, as his family takes advantage of his gift and starts gaining more money, Paul’s luck begins to kill him. Literally. Throughout the story, there are several themes evident, such as wealth, life, conscious, existence; luck, family, and greed. The conflicts displayed are man vs man, man vs self, and man vs. society. The rocking horse has become an obsession for paul and the potential benefits it would have on his family, ultimately not knowing the actual harm it will cause.

Because of Hester’s kindness to others, soon people refused to interpret the “A” on her chest for adultery,

A sudden storm of footsteps, then Paul’s bedroom door swung open. His father and Basset stood in the doorway and looked at his mother with alerting eyes. She pointed to the vigorously rocking rocking horse. They gandered at the horse and it spoke again in a cryptic

When Paul’s mother tells him that luck is needed to have money, Paul asserts that he is lucky. However, “[Paul] saw that she did not believe him; or rather, that she paid no attention to his assertion. This angered him somewhere, and made him want to compel her attention” (Lawerence 2). Paul’s mom had never been loving to her children. She had bought them luxury gifts to maintain their appearance, but she never gave them her endearment. Paul, as a young boy, wants the affection of his mother and is willing to do whatever he can to get it. He thinks that if he can show his mother that he has luck, she will finally love him. His high desire for his mother’s love shows that Paul has an oedipus complex, which is when a “. . . child desperately wants mother’s approval and love, child engages in highly secretive behavior involving frenetic, rhythmic activity that culminates in transporting loss of consciousness” (Foster 149). Part of Paul’s luck is riding the rocking horse, which becomes his secret as he becomes older and his family starts deeming it as weird that he still rides a child’s rocking horse. Also, while riding the rocking horse, Paul has a loss of consciousness as his eyes make him a new person as he rides

guts and that he wanted to survive. In return for his favor of helping the guard,