Psychoanalytical perspective on The Rocking - Horse Winner by D H Lawrence

The Rocking- Horse Winner is an intense story unravelling the subconscious tendencies of
the characters. These psychological insinuations take you on a rollercoaster ride of
emotional upheavals; blind ambitions; uninhibited desires. The story unfolds with Carl
Jung’s archetype of Innocence, Initiation, Chaos and Resolution. It starts with a prominent
female character having a seemingly good life with advantages. She is beautiful; married
and a mother of three children; leading a life in style. Jungian initiation takes its course
with certain revelations regarding her personality. Despite all the ‘advantages’, she deems
herself unlucky. Her marriage and motherhood are superficial; she is at a disconnect with
both. She declares her husband unlucky with emphasis on the pretext that he couldn’t
earn much money. Her belief that her life is supposed to be some other way than it was
at the moment, is having a deep impact on her relationships. She regards her children as
a part of the baggage; a fact that they seem to be aware of.
Preoccupation with luck is a dominant theme in the story. She indoctrinates the same
concept in her young son Paul as well. Her interpretation of luck predominantly included
money. She makes it clear to him that in order to be lucky, someone has to be rich. D H
Lawrence uses dialogue to lay bare his characters’ mental preoccupations. Her brief
interaction with her son on the subject of luck is quite revealing of her mindset. The idea
that someone near her might be lucky, unsettles her. It is shown in the manner she
dismisses the idea when her son regards himself to be lucky. She shrugs off the
proposition with a nervous laugh which deeply disturbs her son. This juncture is probably
the most significant part of the story which impregnates young Paul’s mind with an
obsession to earn money and hence be lucky.
The chaos perplexes in proportionality with the neurotic unease of young Paul. He
becomes obsessed with getting money by betting on horses, an ordeal accomplished with
the involvement of the gardener, Besset. His occupation builds upon with a feverish
intensity. He hears voices reverberating in the house lamenting the lack of money. He
manages to gather some money for his mother’s birthday but the money is spent to
satiate the endless appetite for luxury. Subsequently, strange voices echo with relentless
persistence that pushed him over the edge and he loses his life consumed by the fire of
self-destructive blind ambition.
Young Paul can be termed as the victim of the conflict between the Freudian ID and
superego. His Id is embedded with this inherent desire to get money and be termed lucky.
But the reality of the situation is contradictory. His Id is at odds with his superego which
is too much to bear for a young child. His motive behind the whole act of betting on horses
is the approval and satisfaction of his mother by obtaining money to hush down the
menacing voices in the house.
There are vivid autobiographical elements in the author’s work. Strained household is a
recurrent theme in DH Lawrence which can be understood with the stressed relationships
between his own parents. Hough believes that portrayal of characters in D H Lawrence is
through ‘the ebb and flow of their emotional undercurrents’, which is showcased in
concrete and dramatic terms. The Rocking - Horse Winner is a clear manifestation of these
elements.
Stephen Miko calls author’s work ‘psychic dramas’ which are always ‘anchored firmly in
the ordinary everyday realism.’ There are many psychological elements in the story such
as the voices echoing in the house. The voices in the house can be studied in comparison
to the romanticizing voices in the Piano. The boy’s symbolic attachment to the wooden
horse is also deeply rooted in his subconscious where he regards the ‘wooden’ ride his
ticket to plant Luck.
The Wooden- Horse Winner is a classic example of Freudian conflict between Id and
superego which causes anxiety and anguish for the characters. The inherent desires and
tendencies of the two main characters are challenged and rebuked by a bout of reality.
The mother’s defence mechanism is the pretense of an orderly household and
compassionate Stephen Miko calls them ‘psychic dramas’ which are always ‘anchored
firmly in the ordinary everyday realism.’motherhood. Paul, on the other hand, combats
his ambition with successful betting debacles.
In DH Lawrence, the three voices of the demon, the prophet and the artist are well
established. It is the rotation or juxtaposition of these that give poignancy to his work. He
brings to light the unconscious human dilemmas; reflects on mental health and ‘utter
isolation of human soul.’

Ammara Farhan
Ph. D
First Semmester