“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life” -Steve Jobs. The protagonist in D.H Lawrence’s The Rocking Horse Winner and John Cheever’s The Enormous Radio suffer severely by by worrying too much about other people’s lives, at times even more then their own. The protagonist in The Rocking Horse Winner, Paul, wants nothing more in life then his mothers love. Paul’s endless quest to receive his mother’s love through economic success and his inability to think for himself, leads to his own demise. Quite similarly, the protagonist in The Enormous Radio, Irene, has great trouble in living her life on her own terms. Upon receiving a radio where she has the ability to listen into other people’s apartments, Irene becomes obsessed with other people lives and loses focus on her own. She knows it is immoral to listen to this radio, but she cannot stop. Additionally, the external conflicts of both Paul and Irene’s families need for money, weigh heavily on them. Paul and Irene both deal with many external and internal conflicts. They share many similarities and differences in their conflicts, yet they both lead lives where other people’s priorities come before their own. …show more content…
Internally Paul struggles with the need to find luck. At a young age Paul makes it clear he is determined to show his Mother that he is lucky, unlike his Father and the rest of his family. Paul’s quest to find luck leads him into the world of gambling. Paul becomes infatuated with horse racing and with the help of his gardener, Bassett, he begins to bet on races. Once Paul begins to gamble it takes over his life. “The derby was drawing near, and the boy grew more and more tense. He hardly heard what was spoken to him, he was very frail”(Lawrence,963). Paul worried about one thing and one thing only: horse racing. Paul’s need to find luck and to make his mother proud lead him to