Dh Lawrence

Throughout "The Rocking Horse Winner" DH Lawrence evokes suspense by describing the internal anxieties of characters who primarily concern themselves with trivial, external problems. The very image of the rocking horse on which the young Paul rides to his death signifies a material idol out of which he hopes to extract an immaterial quality-luck.

Dark Irony and Lawrence's characteristic satire of the Britain's frivolous upper-middle class resonate throughout the story's narrative tone. "There was a young woman who was beautiful," Lawrence begins in a voice suited for a fairy tale, developing an incongruously rhythmic beat as he expounds upon her destitution. "She married for love, and the love turned to dust. She had bonny Children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them." Any use of the word 'bonny' in a narrative written after the 19th century forfeits all claim to solemnity even if the sentence refers to the indifference of a Mother; and the maudlin description of 'love turned to dust' correlates perfectly with, 'yet she felt they had been thrust.'

Contrasting tone with context evokes irony.

The most vivid quality of Lawrence narration resides in his capacity to externalize the internal anxieties of his characters through sound. Particularly the hushed whispering of house that expresses the character's increasing, unspoken consciousness of their debt. Without extensive use of onomatopoei, Lawrence illustrates the sounds of the story by describing the characters' reactions to them, and by this effect intensifies the anticipation of the readers.

"There was a strange, heavy and yet not loud noise. Her heart stood still." In this passage near the tragic conclusion, with only a few paragraphs left, we the readers anticipate that Paul's mother is about to discover the winning rocking horse. But the suspense of not knowing, but only suspecting and awaiting confirmation maintains a graphic presence as we visualize both Paul's Mother and the frantic swaying of the rocker beyond the doorway. "It was a soundless noise, yet rushing and powerful. Something huge, in violent, hushed motion. What was it? What in God's name was it?" We the readers know exactly what 'it' is."She ought to know. She felt that she knew the noise." She does not, but we do. "Yet she could not place it."

By the time Paul's Mother discovers the source of the noise, we the readers have supplemented her character for ourselves and our own expectations. We immediately rejoice upon the confirmation that our suspicions were indeed correct, the sound is coming from Paul's rocking chair, but then Lawrence debunks our pride. The boy has ridden himself into a delirium. The horse, the title of the story, the subject of our suspicion is an irrelevant object before the emotional turmoil of the child. And the true discovery is not his rocker but his collapse.