The Rocking Horse Winner Comparison

Short stories and parables serve many industrious purposes in the modern world; even those written in past times. Two faintly similar, and yet parallel opposite short stories include “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence and “The Prodigal Son” by St Luke. Each has a common involvement of money, but with a unique theme and author’s purpose. One advantage of reading and understanding short stories is to learn from them, and both of these stories bring in a valuable lesson which is applicable to life. “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence is a slightly disturbing short story that has a general theme of money. In this story, there is a boy whose mother and father are both unlucky, and so they do not have enough money to cover their expensive tastes. The boy, Paul, becomes determined to be “lucky” and gets involved with horse races and betting with his gardener and uncle. Sometimes Paul just ‘knows’ which horse will win the races. He receives this knowledge from the rocking-horse that he had had sense he was a child. In the end of the story, Paul ends up riding his horse so vigorously that he gives himself a brain fever. In this story, the

In “The Rocking-Horse Winner” the antagonist who opposes Paul, sadly, is most likely his mother. It is because of her that he gets involved with the gambling so that he may become lucky for her. His own mother set him on the path that would ultimately lead to his death. In “The Prodigal Son”, the antagonist would, probable be the sons older brother, who opposes the fathers warm welcome home for his brother. It is the human thing to do to hold grudges and to want to withhold forgiveness. This is why the author’s purpose in “The Prodigal Son” is so unique. It highlights a Christian’s calling to be like the father and to love and forgive. Also, it reminds each person that they can always return home to the Lord and enjoy His endless