The Rocking-Horse Winner

By

D. H. Lawrence

Analyzing Details

Looking over your notes from reading “RHW”, confer with your team to discuss what you noticed about:

Diction that stands out Imagery that seems important Key details Symbolism in the text

Decide who “won” the conflict in the story or if the conflict is left unresolved and why.

Getting the Allusion

In order to understand many, and I mean many, allusions, you must have a basic understanding of Oedipus Rex and what an Oedipal Complex is:

Oedipus Rex is an ancient Greek drama where a king and queen are told by a blind seer that their son, who was just born, will kill the father and marry his mother. When the parents learn of this they send their son away to a place where he will never be able to return. Well, of course he does return as a man, with no idea who his parents are, and kills the king, marries the queen, has children with her, and then one day, the blind seer returns and tells Oedipus who his is and what he has done. Out of disgust and grief, Oedipus tears out his own eyes, wanders the countryside, and is later redeemed.

Foster and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” – Under the Surface “He wanted luck, he wanted it, he wanted it. When the

two girls were playing dolls in the nursery, he would sit on his big rocking horse, charging madly into space, with a frenzy that made the little girls peer at him uneasily. Wildly the horse careered, the waving dark hair of the boy tossed, the eyes had a strange glare in them. The girls dared not to speak to them…He knew the horse could take him to where there was luck, if only he forced it…At last he stopped forcing his horse into the mechanical gallop and slid down” ~ Lawrence

What might Foster say about this passage? How does the plot of “The Rocking-Horse Winner” allude to the story of Oedipus?

Theme

As a group, discuss the themes that are developed in the story.

As HW: Select a topic (symbolism, allusion, or theme)

Write a precise thesis (Topic + Debatable Opinion) and ToGo body paragraph (Topic, Gather Evidence, Organize which provides insight into this element.

Sample Frames for TOGO paragraphIf you are writing about symbolism, consider beginning like this:

D.H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking-Horse Winner” is rich with symbolism, the most important of which is ___. (Add CD/ CM/ CD/ CM/ CS)

If you are writing about allusion, consider beginning like this:

The most striking allusion in D.H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking-Horse Winner” is ___. (Add CD/ CM/ CD/ CM/ CS)

If you are writing about theme, consider beginning like this:

Although D.H. Lawrence develops several themes in his short story “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” the most prominent theme revolves around the idea of ___. (Add CD/ CM/ CD/ CM/ CS)