The Rocking Horse Winner By F. H. Lawrence, And The Lottery

“The Rocking-Horse Winner” is a short story by the English novelist, essayist and literary critic D.H. Lawrence. It represents how the author cautions about the negative effects of materialism, as it can never fully satisfy the human need and will eventually end in tragedy and unhappiness. Lawrence does so through the archetypes of the terrible mother, the hero, and the anti-wise old man.

Accordingly, "The Lottery" is a tale that is difficult to set aside. It is a story that every reader might feel both love and hatred. The story has the inner power that would probably create an emotion to everyone who plans to read it. In this analysis we will be able to know what figurative language that the author used and the unique theme of the story.

In both “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the authors take critical aim at two staples of mainstream values, materialism and tradition respectively. Both authors approach these themes through several different literary devices such as personification and symbolism; however, it is the authors' use of characterization that most develop their themes. We'll be taking a look at the parallel passages in the stories that advance their themes particularly when those passages involve both of the authors' subtle character descriptions, and why this method of character development is so powerful in conveying the authors' messages.

THESIS: The themes of Shirley Jackson’s, “The Lottery” and D.H. Lawrence’s, “The Rocking-Horse Winner” demonstrate a very powerful and sinister aspect of fallen human nature. The characters in both of these stories are driven to what many would describe as insanity in the pursuit of a passion. Ultimately, these pursuits end in unimaginable tragedy and pain.

In “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” by D. H. Lawrence, and “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, the two authors illustrate symbols and themes throughout their stories in which one common idea is present: perhaps winning is not always positive.

The first of the two stories I chose to compare and contrast is titled “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and the second story is titled “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence. I will compare each of their themes, characters, and plot developments in which they are both similar and different. One of the strongest comparison would be that both stories deal with the subject of luck in one sense or another. The Lottery being considered a game of chance in which luck plays an important factor in being the chosen winner but Luck in the Lottery has a different twist of fate because the winner of the Lottery is actually the

“The Lottery” and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” may have a few similarities, but when it comes to their conflict, plot, and structure, they differ for the majority.

Shirley Jackson is to be considered one of the best authors of the 1900’s. Her style of writing reeled in readers from all different ages. She can be creepy, hilarious, and inspiring to the eyes that see her words. In Shirley Jackson’s short story, The Lottery, she keeps the reader on the edge of their seat wanting to continue reading beyond the final word. She uses literary devices to shape her story to grab her readers attention all throughout the story. By using these literary devices, Shirley Jackson shows off her dark and twisted side as well as her fantastic writing style to emphasize why she is one of the writers of her generation.

Nebeker, Helen E. “The Lottery’: Symbolic Touch De Force” Short Story Criticism, edited by Jenny Cromie, vol. 39, Gale Group, 2000, 75 vols, pp. 187-90. Originally published in American Literature, vol. 46, no. 1, March, 1974, pp. 100-07.

“The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence is an unpredictable, fairytale-like short story about a mother of three who constantly worries about her financial problems. She has a son who is fervent about figuring out a solution to her predicament. This story also has an abrupt ending that gives off strong emotion. Another short story, called “The Lottery”, has the same spectacle of ending the story with suspense. Written by Shirley Jackson, this story begins with a sunny day in a village, but miserably ends with the stoning of one of the villagers. “The Rocking-Horse Winner” and “The Lottery” are two sensational stories that have tragic ironies; however, they differ in tone

The point of view of tradition in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is the normal once of year gathering on the townspeople. This gathering is held in order to pick, via a lottery drawing, to decide who in the town is going to be stoned to death. “The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock; in some towns there were so many people the lottery took two days and had started on June 26th, but in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, and the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o’clock in morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner.” (Kennedy & Gioia, 2013, pp. 251). The fact

The atmosphere within the setting of “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” was also one of depression, stress, anxiety and fear. Although not all the symptoms were present in all of the characters, Paul’s mother was the one that had all the symptoms due to the lack of money. Paul and his other siblings had fear as on of their symptoms when that house started saying, “There must be more money,” one

This story is D. H. Lawrence's most grounded prosecution of realism and his most grounded exhibition of the contrariness of the adoration for cash and the affection for individuals. In Paul's troubled family, his folks' marriage is inadmissible. His mom is sexually baffled: "She had bonny youngsters, yet she felt they had been pushed onto her." Clearly, she feels not satisfied, but rather disregarded. The story tends to a couple of the subjects Lawrence is most exceptional for—well, some of them in any occasion. While it does exclude the same unequivocal sexuality that made Lawrence notorious in his day, much like Sons and Lovers, "The Rocking-Horse Winner" focuses an impressive sum on the association between a mother and her tyke. The

In the story The Rocking Horse Winner, D. H Lawrence expresses three major messages. Wealth is a major message in the story because the

Under these circumstances, “The Rocking-Horse Winner” elements fantasy through the conception of greed. The significance of money provides the toxic technicality that classifies the behavior of the young boy. For this reason he begins to depict a world filled with unpleasantry insight to the desire of money. As stated in the text, “It came whispering from the springs of the still-swaying rocking horse, and even the horse, bending his wooden, champing head, heard it. The big doll, sitting so pink and smirking all the more self-consciously because of it.” (Lawrence 296). In effect to the malicious