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Role Of Greed In D. H. Lawrence's The Rocking-Horse Winner

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To me, ambition and greed are very similar. They both push us to do and obtain more. However, the line that cuts the two terms appart is whether the urges to do or obtain are harmful. Simply put, greed is unhealthy and ambition is not. In the short story "The Rocking-Horse Winner", by D. H. Lawrence, the destructiveness of greed is showcased through a relationship between a mother and her son, named Hester and Paul respectively. Living in a pleasant house with a nice garden and servants, Hester and her family are quite well off. Even so, Hester feels unsatisfied with her current status as her neighbors live a life of higher class that she cannot meet due to her family’s income. This unsatisfaction results in a never ending greed for wealth as she became obsessed with materialistic wealth because it made her feel more rich. Her …show more content…

The form of greed Paul shows us is greed caused by his endless desperation for more money because he believed that if he had a lot of money, his mother would finally love him. Greed is commonly associated with selfishness the common idea of a greedy person is selfish. Paul shows us that greed can exist where selfishness does not. His actions have nothing to do with self gain but yet still demonstrate a form of greed which was rather unconventional. However, the events of the story demonstrate that even such a type of unselfish greed can be self harming as his desperation for more money resulted in his death, even if none of it was for himself. Greed can come in many forms, and I only discussed a very small handful of them. No matter what form it may be, greed is harmful if not controlled. "The Rocking-Horse Winner" perfectly demonstrates this by showcasing two forms of greed that are black and white to one another. Whether it be for only or no self gain, the destructiveness of greed is nothing to scoff

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