Originally published September 26, 2010

As horses race around the racecourse, they begin to make forward progress in one direction, until all of a sudden they loop back around, never having an assured endpoint in sight. The theme of horse racing is an important one in the story The Rocking Horse Winner, by D.H. Lawrence, and this racecourse pattern is consistent with the patterns of two other major themes in the story, the family’s debt and the whisper of the house. One theme, however, was able to break this pattern, and that was the rocking horse itself. The rocking horse was so significant in this story because, unlike the debt and the whispers, it was the only thing that could reach that point of finality, and break the racecourse-like cycle.

        The family’s debt seemed, at points, to be making progress toward an end, but it would always turn back around and become an eminent threat again. The reason for the turn around was the mother’s immaturity and irresponsibility with money. This is demonstrated as we find out that “there was always a grinding shortage of money, though the style was kept up” and how at Christmas, “the expensive toys filled the nursery”(pg. 377) (pg. 383). This shows how the mother cared more about the family’s style and social reputation than the lack of money to fuel that kind of lifestyle. An example of the loop is when Paul gives his mother the 1,000 pounds of birthday money, and she asks to have “all five thousand advanced at once, as she was in debt” (pg. 383). At this point, it appears like the debt is making progress towards an end as the mother seems to want to use the money to settle her debts, but we soon find out that this is not the case. “There were certain new furnishings, and Paul had a tutor… and there was a blossoming of the luxury that Paul’s mother was used to” (pg. 384). Thus we see that the debt loop back around, and became further from its end, as the mother spends her newfound money irresponsibly.

        This newfound money causes not only the loop in the debt, but also in the house’s whispers. In the beginning of the story, the house whispered softly “there must be more money”(pg. 377). Eventually, these whispers drove Paul to the brink of madness, and he tried to satiate the house’s need for money by giving his mother the 1000 pounds of birthday money. Paul’s intention is to cause the whispering to cease, but instead his gift just exacerbates the whispers, fuels the houses addiction to money, and sends the whispering on another circuit.

        The one main element in this story that is not sent on additional circuits, and is able to achieve a conclusion, is the rocking horse. Paul rides the rocking horse as fast as he can before races, and although it does not go anywhere physically, mentally, it takes Paul on a trip to a point of certainty, and an end to the doubt of which horse will win. This is demonstrated as Paul frantically tells his mother, “if I can ride my horse, and get there, then I’m absolutely sure” (pg. 387). With this quote, we see how there is an end to any skepticism, and how a final conclusion has been reached.