The Rocking Horse Winner

Imagine being on top of the world. Making easy money every day. But you are heading toward a certain madness on your rocking horse to find a winner of horse races. For the big race, the Derby is coming up and you viciously race on your little rocking horse and you know the winner. Then, you fall ill. Start going into horrible and violent fits and losing consciousness quite frequently and you can just scream, "Malabar! Malabar! Basset bet on Malabar!" You are right but before you can have fun with your new found wealth you die in your sleep. This is the story of Paul. He was talented at picking the winners of the horse races by swinging on his beloved rocking horse. This story has a clear mode of a tragedy, plus the many symbols are obvious like the rocking horse.

The mode of this short story is quite clear an irony. I know this because it follows all of the traits. For one it is not realistic at all I mean seriously no one can determine which horse can win a race by swinging on a rocking horse like a madman. Also the world is in chaos for the main character; you see his family was always short on “luck”. Next a conflict arises and that is the obsession of his rocking horse showing him his answer. Later the main character struggles for sanity when his mother finds him flinging himself back and forth on his rocking horse. Then it ends as Paul dies purely from his obsession that caused a severe mental illness.

Just like how the horse caused obsession it is a symbol of dependency. Also Basset the gardener for the family is a symbol of companionship and loyalty. Next is Paul’s uncle Oscar. Oscar is more of a “lucky” person than Paul and plays the betting game for fun; he is a symbol of risks and power to Paul. And finally the horse races, these represent hope for a better life for Paul and his family.

Overall I really enjoyed this story for many reasons. For one its clear mode, it was pretty much spelled out for me. Next are the lush symbols that demonstrate how Paul’s hopes led to his unfortunate death. So I may never know how he died, I do know that in the end he died “lucky.”