The Rocking-horse Winner
The house that whispered
Explain what the whispering house means and how Paul understands 'luck'.
D.H. Lawrence's 'The Rocking-Horse Winner' begins with Paul's mother. She is beautiful, but unhappy. She cannot truly love her children, though everyone around her thinks she adores them; only she, and the children, know the truth.
The family lives in style, in a pleasant house with servants. But both parents earn little and spend a lot. There is never enough money.
The children feel an unspoken whisper running through the house: 'There must be more money! There must be more money!' Nobody ever says it aloud, yet everyone hears it. Even the toys, the big doll and the shining rocking-horse, seem to hear it.
One day Paul asks his mother why they have no car. She tells him they are poor because his father has no luck. Luck, she explains, is what brings money.
Paul says boldly that he is lucky, and that God told him so. His mother does not believe him.
From the start, the whisper of want is the real force in this house.
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