At its core, "The Rocking-Horse Winner" is a story about the psychological trauma inflicted by the desperate attempt to keep-up-with-the-Joneses. The mother and father in the story are not wealthy, yet they aspire to a social standing and an elegant lifestyle that they can't afford. Money becomes the quantitative value for everything in their lives. Dad can't bring home the bacon? He's useless. Mom can't succeed in any of the different jobs she tries out? Better send her back as defective. Are the children a financial burden? Then it's probably better if they go unloved, maybe that'll save a few bucks. Everything from self-worth to love is measured by money in this family, and the resulting emotional impoverishment has devastating effects on the children.
Questions About Wealth
- Who are the wealthy characters in the story? Who are the not-so-wealthy characters? How does having or lacking money affect their personalities?
- What is the relationship between luck and money? What about love and money? Do you think the characters would rather have love or money? Why or why not?
- At the beginning of the story, it seems that not having money makes the family unhappy, but when Paul starts raking in the big bucks through gambling, the family is still unhappy. Why?
Chew on This
Money is a dehumanizing force that deadens the characters, both literally and figuratively.
The desire for wealth is a catch-22: gaining wealth only spurs the desire for more wealth.