The Rocking Horse Winner

In the Poetics, Aristotle considers recognition and reversal the main elements of tragic action. Research these concepts and explore how they apply to “The Rocking Horse Winner.” Would you consider the story a tragedy in Aristotle’s sense?

“The Rocking Horse Winner” bears some earmarks of a fable—a short, folkloric story that conveys a moral. What are the “morals” of the story? Name at least two, detailing how the story communicates them. Your answers should address symbolism.

How important is the quest narrative to the structure of “The Rocking Horse Winner?”

Early on, Paul asks the question, “Then what is luck, mother?” (Paragraph 17). His mother tells him that luck is what brings wealth—but does the story as a whole support this definition? How does the story answer Paul’s question, and is Paul as lucky as he says he is? Cite three examples from the text to develop your answer.

What details presented in “The Rocking Horse Winner” suggest the setting is in England?

Bassett says Paul’s intuition seems to be “from heaven,” yet Uncle Oscar calls his nephew a “poor devil.” Is Paul’s prophecy a gift from God, or a bargain with the devil? Explain your position, using specific details from the text.

Did your reading of “The Rocking Horse Winner” provoke a re-assessment of your relationship with your mother or father? If so, which elements of the story caused you to see things differently? Which aspects of the parent-child relationship does Lawrence most illuminate?

Lawrence wrote “The Rocking Horse Winner” in 1926. Has the fear and anxiety about not enough money diminished or accelerated in our contemporary culture?