The Rocking-House Winner by D.H. Lawrence

Materialism and Consumer Culture in Literature

It is common to see ads in a capitalist society that emphasize the need to spend and earn money. Literature writers have increasingly adopted this stance and suggested that materialism and a culture of consumption are among the key characteristics that characterize the world in the current age. This idea can be illustrated by looking at two related short stories, both of which, despite being written in the early 20th century, are still relevant today due to the way the authors have portrayed the major characters and plot. In both The Lottery and The Rocking-House Winner, the depiction of gambling and crooked money-making schemes as the defining factor for civilization is meant to depict the worldly nature of humanity and the desire to use uncanny schemes to make money for survival.

The Rocking-House Winner: A Money-Making Mindset

The book The Rocking-House Winner by D.H. Lawrence focuses on the life of a family that was so broke that their expenses would exceed the family income, which made all the members worried. The only son in the family of three children, a mother and a father, Paul decides to begin betting together with the gardener, and they are able to raise some money to meet the family needs. The theme of having a money-making mindset is explicit from this incident and it compares to the idea in The Lottery. In Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, it is apparent that the whole idea of the lottery where Mr. Bill and her wife participate in is meant to make money (Jackson, 1948). It is a tradition that has been practiced for a long time and being based in a contemporary setting in town composed on middle-class people, it is conceivable to think that the primary motivation for the villagers engaging in lottery was entirely to make money. From the two viewpoints, it is apparent that the theme of making money in a capitalist economy is paramount because in both stories, the characters strive to devise ways that they can better their living.

Unfair Schemes and Unlawful Efforts

While it is common that both authors seem to focus on the idea of becoming richer and having a stable income, it is also apparent that in both books, the methods used are crooked. It appears that the struggle for survival has promoted people to strive making money, with others overcoming the odds and engaging in unlawful and unfair schemes to make ends meet. In the book The Rocking-House Winner, Paul is winning in a supposedly unfair manner because while it is expected to be a gamble, he appears to be certain of his odds. It is later revealed that his winning tactics are as a result of the effort that he puts because he always had to ride his rocking horse until he was in a clairvoyant state and would easily determine who was going to win a race (Lawrence, 1926). The effect that other competitors in the betting game never used these schemes to win is enough justification to warrant that Paul was using crooked efforts to gain an unfair advantage to others. Meanwhile, it is also relatable that The Lottery villagers were so unfair to Tessie after her family was chosen in the game. The villagers pick stones and stone Bill’s wife to death as they try to suppress him and gain an advantage over him in the game. It is apparent, therefore, that while making money way key, the villagers were extremely unfair to other villagers.

The Significance of Money and Spending

The last feature that is notable is that the author is trying to depict that money and spending is what defines the world in its contemporary setting. The whole idea of making money, getting stressed when it is in scarcity, and the realization that some are ready to die just to survive in a capitalist society exemplifies the significance of this feature. It is apparent that the controversy and weirdness of The Lottery is principally about how people would carry out their tradition of killing in the name of carrying out a custom related to capitalism. Meanwhile, it is also apparent that Paul’s family in The Rocking-House Winner are only concerned about spending and surviving. The two books make it appear that the world is all about having finances, spending it, engaging in unfair schemes to gain an advantage, and dying in the process as Paul and Tessie both died while thinking of money.

In Conclusion

In summary, it is apparent that the two authors D.H. Lawrence and Shirley Jackson focus on three principal issues that make them have aspects of commonality in the thematic assessment of their books. The story in The Rocking-House Winner and The Lottery are focused on the fact that the world is about making money, using unscrupulous schemes to earn cash, and focusing on about it all the time than one dies while thinking about it. The three issues thus make the authors relevant as the themes are appropriate in the present day generation that is blindfolded in a capitalist ideology that many are losing the value of life and humanity for it.

References

Jackson, S. (1948). The Lottery. United States: The New Yorker.

Lawrence, D. H. (1949). The Rocking-Horse Winner. London.