What Are The Similarities Between The Destructors And The Rocking Horse Winner

This essay will compare and contrast the themes in the short stories “The Destructors” by Graham Greene and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence. Both “The Destructors” and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” share similar themes; both of the stories explore relationships with money and materialism.
In “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence, the story centers around a young boy named Paul. But the story doesn’t begin with Paul, the protagonist of the story. The first character who is introduced is Paul’s mother, Hester. Hester is described to be beautiful and has come from a wealthy family. Hester becomes discontented in her marriage since she married a man who doesn’t make enough money to maintain the standard of living that she grew up

The boys spend their summer holidays pulling pranks and causing all kinds of mischief. They meet daily and play in an empty lot created by the bombs that dropped and destroyed the houses there during World War II. However, despite all the damage, there is still one house that still stands. The old, beautiful house stands alone, “like a jagged tooth”, though it was damaged during the war and is held up by wooden struts. The house is owned by Mr. Thomas, a somewhat cranky, elderly gentleman whom the boys call “Old Misery”. A boy named Trevor (The boys call him T.), the gang’s newest leader becomes interested in the house and asks Mr. Thomas for a tour (to which he agrees too willingly). That’s when he comes up with a perfect prank: he wants to destroy Mr. Thomas’ house while he is out of town. The gang puts it up to vote, and they all agree. The boys undertake the demolition task with zeal, destroying the house with sledgehammers, saws, and much more. The story ends with Mr. Thomas’ entire house collapsing, leaving Mr. Thomas distraught.
Both “The Rocking-Horse Winner” and “The Destructors” share very similar themes. Both of these stories explore relationships with money and materialism. Materialism, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, is “a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.” In “The Rocking-Horse Winner”, materialism can be found in Paul’s mother, which takes the form of greed; and in “The Destructors”, materialism can be found in Old Misery. Although, how materialism affects each person’s character is vastly