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Rocking-Horse Winner

1. Please try to understand and examine this complex story through the five important elements of fiction/short stories. setting chatacter plot conflict theme

Setting: The story happens in a middle- class family without love but desire for money. Character:

Paul: A young boy who notices that his mother doesn’t love him and his sisters, even though she “adores” them. When he receives a rocking horse for Christmas, he rides it often and comes to find that he can predict what horse is going to win the next big horse race.

Hester: Paul's mother. She becomes “dissatisfied with her marriage” when she finds that her husband is not lucky and doesn't make enough money.

Bassett: The family gardener and friend. Is the one who gets Paul into horse racing, and later becomes “betting partners”.

Oscar Creswell: Paul's uncle and his mother's brother. Provided the money that Paul used to make his first win at the horse race. Signed the lawyer papers in order for Paul's mother to receive “one thousand pounds at a time, on the mother's birthday, for the next five years”.[1] Oscar becomes partners with Paul and Bassett.

Plot: A young boy Paul can guess exactly about the winner in horseracing by riding on a wooden horse. He made a lot of money through this to satisfy his mother’s desire for money. However, his mother has never been satisfied. Finally, Paul died

Conflict: Mother vs. Paul ; Paul vs. Oscar Creswell; Paul vs. the Rocking-horse

Theme: 1. money twists people 2. the exploration of human nature

2. “There must be more money” has been mentioned over ten times in the story. Do you think the author has repeated it on purpose? What does the phrase symbolize?

Yes, it is mentioned on purpose. The phrase symbolizes the greed and avarice in human nature.

3. How would you like to portray the mother in the story?

First, she is an irresponsible mother because she only loves money and spares no love for her son, Paul.

Second, she is selfish and stony. When she has spare money in hand, she’ll buy luxuries to satisfy herself. There’s no room in her heart for other things except money.

4. In the story, one of the most mentioned word is “luck”. Discuss the implications of Paul’s confusing luck and lucre. How accurate is his mother’s definition of luck?

Paul’s confusing luck and lucre originates from the dialogue with her mother in his childhood. His mother told him that luck is what causes you to have money. At that time, Paul was innocent and vulnerable so it is easy for him to get confused about the definition.

His mother’s definition of money is narrow and goes extreme. In our life, luck includes much more thing besides money.

5. How would you explain Paul’s mother’s odd response after she read the letter from the lawyer? p.229

“As his mother read it, her face hardened and became more expressionless. Then a cold, determined look came on her mouth. She hid the letter under the pile of others, and said not a word about it.”

“Her voice cold and hard and absent.”

“She went away to town without saying more.”

First, we can see her mother’s desire for money has exceeds everything.

Second, she splashes money about and buys luxuries to satisfy herself, which also demonstrates that she is selfish.

Third, the mother said nothing to Paul about the birthday gift. When given the money, she started to think how to spend the money for her. We can see this from the following plot.

6. What changes have taken place in the family since Paul’s mother received her birthday gift— five thousand pounds?

There are more luxuries at home. Parties are held often.

The voices “There must be more money” is louder and louder.

7. How would you explain the saying that “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” in the first para. on page.230?

It implies that Paul should not take any risk and he should make sure that he must win the money instead of losing money.

8. In the first para. in page 232, what’s Paul’s “secret within a secret”? The first secret is that he makes money for love of his mother.

The second secret is that he rides the wooden horse to guess the outcome of every race and wins money.

9. What might be the direct cause for Paul’s death? And how do you understand Paul’s death? Direct cause: his mother’s love for money

I think Paul’s death is unavoidable. His mother is only concerned about money, however, he tries to gain her love, which is meaningless. And also the cold family relationship and the boundless desire for money pushed him to death.

10. Do you believe that the boy has achieved what he has been longing for? Explain it.

No, the boy did not get his mother’s love. At the end of the story, his mother becomes rich, however, she still has no love for him. Her mother does not deserve the love from Paul.

11. How would you interpret the title? How do you understand the relationship between the rocking horse and Paul?

The rocking horse is a medium in the story. It has the relationship with Paul and helps him to win the money. To some degree, it stands for luck. The word Winner in the title implies that Paul wins

money. However, there exists an irony. First, Paul’s never wins his mother’s love. Second, it is the rocking- horse that kills him at the end of the story.

12. Evaluate Oscar’s remarks, which end the story. Was Paul a “poor devil”? In what sense?

Paul is indeed a poor devil. He lives in a family with cold family relationship and no love. And Paul’s love for his mother never gets any warm response just cold shoulder. He tries his best to win money as much as possible to exchange for the his mother’s love, however, every attempt is in vain.