Who Is To Blame For The Rocking-Horse Winner

Words: 1076
Pages: 5
Open Document
What is the point of blaming someone for a tragic event? Does it somehow give justification or consolation? In the short story The Rocking-Horse Winner the young boy is driven insane by the concept of luck and by the end of the story he goes into a mad fit and after a few days he dies. The events that led up to his death contain a series of characters that may or may not have been responsible for the tragic death of Paul. While it does no good to point blame, if I had to choose (and I do) who would be to blame for the death of Paul would be all of them. The parents, Bassett, and the uncle. My reason for this is because they all contributed to his obsession with luck and not a single one of them goes without some responsibility. If it hadn't been for the father and mother whose love had been destroyed, causing her heart to grow cold, Paul might not have come across the concept of luck in the same fashion and it would not have mean the same thing. If Bassett hadn't allowed a child to place bets on horses in the races then perhaps Paul might have eventually lost interest since he wouldn't have been able to participate or even know as much about the races as he did. If the uncle had stopped his nephew from betting and had simply not taken him to the races it might …show more content…
There remains the question of whether Paul was insane before this whole thing began though since he did think the house was whispering and because he was able to go into such trances on his rocking-horse. After he discovered the concept of luck he merely incorporated that into his habits and it caused his to go more insane. So the blame belongs to everyone in that case because they all should have realized that there was something off about him. Both Oscar and his mother noticed the anxiety, but they thought nothing of it and if they had, perhaps they could have gotten the boy the help he
Show More

Related Documents: Who Is To Blame For The Rocking-Horse Winner

Symbolism In The Rocking Horse Winner

In what ways is a person considered lucky? In the Rocking-Horse Winner the mother explains her perspective on who is considered lucky and who is not per say. She explains that a person who has luck is wealthy and can live a lavish lifestyle. Her adolescent son named Paul tries to understand her point of view by stating, “is luck money, mother?” Paul is too young to make sense of his mother’s feeling of being “unlucky”. Paul yearns to be noticed by his mother in the same desire she wishes to be one…

Words 664 - Pages 3

English: Short Story and Mr. Adams Essay

Alexandria belisa English 255 9 October 2014 “The Lottery” and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” The theme of “sacrifice” is integral to the author’s purpose in both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence. While the two authors use the idea of sacrifice in very different ways, the importance of sacrifice is clearly delineated. However, Jackson and Lawrence approach the theme from separate angles and with two very unique purposes in mind. This paper will…

Words 1081 - Pages 5