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‘The Rocking-horse Winner’ by D.H. Lawrence is the third chapter of the NCERT Class 11 English Woven Words textbook. This haunting short story explores the destructive effects of materialism through the tragic tale of a young boy, Paul. The narrative uses the rocking-horse as a powerful symbol of Paul’s obsessive quest. In this blog, we will offer you a summary, character sketches, themes, morals and literary devices of this story for quick revision. You can also download the free PDF of these notes for quick revision.
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NCERT Notes Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 3: The Rocking-horse Winner
Here we have provided the NCERT notes for Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 3: The Rocking-horse Winner, including author highlights, synopsis, character sketches, themes, and a detailed summary.
About the Author and Key Highlights
D.H. Lawrence, a renowned English writer, is known for his psychological depth and critiques of modern society’s materialism and emotional repression. The Rocking-horse Winner is a poignant tale set in an affluent but financially strained English household, where the constant whisper, “There must be more money,” drives the narrative. The story revolves around Paul, a young boy who obsessively rides his rocking-horse to predict horse-race winners, hoping to prove his luck and win his mother’s love. The narrative explores themes of materialism, familial dysfunction, and the tragic consequences of equating love with wealth, culminating in Paul’s death.
Synopsis of the Story
The Rocking-horse Winner is a tragic tale about a family haunted by financial discontent and a boy’s desperate attempt to alleviate it. The story centres on Hester, a mother who feels unloved by her children and is consumed by the family’s lack of money, despite their stylish lifestyle. Her son Paul, sensitive to the house’s whispering, “There must be more money,” seeks to prove his luck by riding his rocking-horse to predict horse-race winners. With the help of Bassett, the gardener, and his Uncle Oscar, Paul wins large sums through betting, secretly gifting five thousand pounds to his mother. However, her insatiable desire for more money intensifies the whispers, pushing Paul to ride his rocking-horse frantically to predict the Derby winner, Malabar. His obsession leads to a feverish collapse and death, leaving his mother with eighty thousand pounds but bereft of her son, highlighting the destructive cost of materialism.
Main Characters in the Story
Understand the key characters who drive the narrative:
- Paul: A sensitive, determined young boy with intense blue eyes, driven by a desire to stop the house’s whispering and win his mother’s love. His obsessive rides on the rocking-horse to find luck led to his tragic death.
- Hester (Paul’s Mother): A beautiful but emotionally distant woman who feels burdened by her children and is consumed by the family’s financial struggles. Her dissatisfaction fuels Paul’s desperate actions.
- Uncle Oscar Cresswell: Paul’s jovial uncle, who encourages his betting but becomes uneasy about his obsession. He facilitates Paul’s winnings but is complicit in the tragic outcome.
- Bassett: The family’s gardener and a former soldier, who partners with Paul in betting and treats his predictions with almost religious reverence, believing Paul’s luck comes “from heaven.”
- Paul’s Father: A minor character, described as handsome but unlucky, whose failure to provide financially exacerbates the family’s anxiety.
- Joan and the Younger Sister: Paul’s siblings, minor characters who notice his strange behaviour but are detached from his obsession.
Themes in the Story
The story explores several significant themes, explained below in simple terms:
- Materialism and Greed: The family’s obsession with money, symbolised by the house’s whisper, “There must be more money,” drives Paul’s destructive quest and highlights the emptiness of material pursuits.
- Luck vs. Wealth: Luck is equated with the ability to gain money, but Paul’s pursuit of luck to satisfy his mother leads to tragedy, showing its illusory nature.
- Familial Dysfunction: Hester’s inability to love her children and her fixation on wealth create emotional distance, pushing Paul to extreme measures to gain her approval.
- Obsession and Sacrifice: Paul’s obsessive riding of the rocking-horse to achieve luck reflects his willingness to sacrifice himself for his mother’s happiness, leading to his demise.
- Societal Pressure: The story critiques the societal expectation to maintain appearances, as the family’s stylish lifestyle masks their financial and emotional struggles.
Also Read: NCERT Solutions Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 1: The Portrait of a Lady (Free PDF)
Literary Devices in the Story
D.H. Lawrence employs various literary devices to enhance the narrative’s emotional and thematic depth:
- Symbolism: The rocking-horse symbolises Paul’s futile quest for luck and love, while the house’s whisper, “There must be more money,” represents societal pressure and greed.
- Irony: The tragic irony lies in Paul’s success in winning eighty thousand pounds, which fulfils his mother’s desire but costs his life, rendering the wealth meaningless.
- Foreshadowing: Paul’s intense, uncanny eyes and frenzied rides foreshadow his physical and mental collapse, building suspense toward the tragic climax.
- Imagery: Vivid descriptions, such as Paul’s “blazing blue eyes” and the “rushing, powerful” motion of the rocking-horse, convey his psychological turmoil and the story’s haunting atmosphere.
- Personification: The house’s whisper gives it a life-like presence, emphasising the pervasive anxiety that consumes the family.
- Repetition: The repeated phrase, “There must be more money,” reinforces the relentless pressure of materialism driving the narrative.
Chapter 3: The Rocking-horse Winner Summary
The Rocking-horse Winner by D.H. Lawrence is a tragic short story that critiques materialism through a boy’s desperate quest for luck. Below is a detailed summary of the key events in a clear and concise manner:
- Introduction to the Family’s Struggles: Hester, a beautiful but emotionally distant mother, feels burdened by her children and the family’s financial strain, despite their stylish lifestyle. The house is haunted by the unspoken whisper, “There must be more money,” reflecting their constant anxiety.
- Paul’s Quest for Luck: Paul, sensitive to the whisper, questions his mother about their poverty, learning that luck, not just money, is what they lack. Determined to prove his luck, he rides his rocking-horse frantically, believing it reveals winning horses’ names.
- Betting Success: Paul partners with Bassett, the gardener, and later Uncle Oscar, betting on horse races. His predictions, such as Daffodil and Lively Spark, yield significant winnings, accumulating fifteen thousand pounds. He secretly arranges to gift five thousand pounds to his mother through the family lawyer, to be paid as one thousand pounds annually on her birthday.
- Mother’s Dissatisfaction: On her birthday, Hester receives the first thousand pounds but, dissatisfied, demands the full five thousand immediately. The house’s whispers intensify, screaming for more money, and new luxuries like flowers and a tutor appear, escalating the pressure on Paul.
- Paul’s Obsession and Tragedy: Desperate to predict the Derby winner, Paul rides his rocking-horse with increasing frenzy, ignoring losses at the Grand National and Lincoln. Two nights before the Derby, his mother, gripped by anxiety, finds him riding and screaming “Malabar!” He collapses with brain fever, and though Malabar wins, yielding over eighty thousand pounds, Paul dies that night. Uncle Oscar remarks that Hester is “eighty-odd thousand to the good, and a poor devil of a son to the bad,” underscoring the tragic cost of her materialism.
Moral of the Story
Below are the key moral lessons from the story:
- The relentless pursuit of wealth and material success can destroy emotional bonds and lead to tragic consequences.
- Equating love with financial gain is futile and harmful, as true affection cannot be bought.
- Obsession with societal expectations, such as maintaining appearances, can blind individuals to what truly matters, like family and emotional well-being.
- Children should not bear the burden of fulfilling adult desires, as it can lead to their emotional and physical harm.
Download more NCERT Solutions of Class 11 English ‘Woven Words’ here!
| Chapter 1: The Lament Solution |
| Chapter 3: The Rocking-horse Winner Solution |
| Chapter 4: The Adventure of the Three Garridebs Solution |
| Chapter 5: Pappachi’s Moth Solution |
Explore Notes of Other NCERT Class 11 Subjects
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FAQs
The rocking-horse symbolises Paul’s desperate quest for luck and his mother’s love, representing his futile attempt to fulfil her materialistic desires through supernatural means.
Paul is driven by his mother’s belief that luck brings money and her claim that she and his father are unlucky, pushing him to prove his luck to win her love and silence the house’s whispers.
Hester’s emotional detachment and insatiable desire for money create the house’s whisper, “There must be more money,” driving Paul to obsessively ride his rocking-horse, leading to his fatal collapse.
The story critiques materialism, the societal pressure to maintain appearances, and the emotional cost of equating love with wealth, highlighting their destructive impact on familial bonds.
For NCERT study material, follow the NCERT Notes and Solutions Class 11 English by Leverage Edu now.
