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Essay on Luck and Fate in The Rocking Horse Winner

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Luck and Fate in The Rocking Horse Winner



The Rocking Horse Winner, by D.H. Lawrence, is an informative story about luck and one's own fortune. In this story, Lawrence attempts to illustrate how one can guide one's own fate, instead of allowing things to happen by chance. He believes that the only person that affects what happens to someone, is really that person himself. "Everything is what you make of it," is Lawrence's message to the reader. By his use of characterization, instructional images, and irony in The Rocking Horse Winner, D.H. Lawrence attempts to convey to the reader that success and luck are not something that one simply waits for to arrive, but things that one must works to achieve. …show more content…



Lawrence also uses a few well placed images to show the reader the difference between working for one's money and then investing it wisely, and squandering money that one does not know the value of. The first set of images include Paul furiously rocking away at his riding the wooden horse, to find "where there is luck." Paul understood that if he was to succeed, he would have to work, despite what people said about his work. This knowledge also gave him a sense of the value of any money he collected. Another of the first group of images include Paul's method of investment of his gains. Because of the effort he had to expend, he was not about to spend his money unwisely. Instead, he invested it in sure deals, always being cautious when he was "not quite sure." He even kept a reserve in case of the unthinkable. The second set of images include Hester, who receives her money without having to work for it, getting no sense of it's worth. Upon gaining the five thousand Paul leaves aside for her, she immediately spends it on superfluous things, causing the voices in the walls to "simply trill and scream in a sort of ecstasy."

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