Portrayal and Fiction of Relations

The importance of genre and literature in literature is immense. Novels, books, writings, and stories all have genres. Depending on the use of literary devices, they assist the author in enriching his or her work by adding vitality, texture, and excitement. It's easier to express desired messages while keeping the job exciting and worth reading if you take the right approach. The variety of literary genres aids in the creation of an English literature body of information. In the short story "The Rocking-Horse Winner," D. H. Lawrence uses the fiction genre. Lawrence excels at using fiction to discuss relationships, satisfaction, and money in particular. The ensuing discussion addresses how the genre mentioned above is used by looking at how the author structures fictional relations to address pertinent money issues.
The Rocking-Horse Winner concerns a woman by the name Hester who is unlucky. Hester used to be in love with her spouse when she married him. Nonetheless, at some point, she stopped loving him after realizing how unlucky he was at making money. Hester lives in self-denial and will not accept her situation, which makes her desire to make things right regarding her financial position, but she does not know how. Her children are aware of the situation and sense that everything in the house whispers about the necessity for more money. One day, her son, Paul, asks her why some people are lucky and she replies that they are lucky because they make a lot of money. The reply makes Paul contented to succeed, and he embarks on a gambling game of Horse Winner prediction after realizing his ability to know the winning bet. After an insatiable addiction to betting, Paul develops a health condition. Towards the end of the story, Paul dies after a night of seeking, and after predicting a large gamble, but his uncle and the family's gardener benefit instead of Hester.
Fiction is applied in the story to portray marriage that is not based on genuine relations but for the love of money. The entire story is fictional, as it has no grounding in history or in factual aspects. The statement “there was a woman who was beautiful…” showing a setting that is not determinable (Lawrence 124). First, regarding the hypocrisy of relations, Hester is shown as a mother who has no sincere love for her children. She appears to value money and high life more than she values her connection to children. The mother feels as if her children were “thrust upon her” and, as such, she “could not love them” (Lawrence 124). She is not happy at all with the state of affairs in her house. By inserting such fictitious type of relation into the short story, the author successfully uncovers the habit of women who harbors other self-interests in getting into marriage apart from harboring true affection.
Secondly, fiction is applied to show how men from low-income households struggle financially and emotionally to fend for their families. Apparently, the husband struggles on a daily basis to raise enough income to support the family and the lifestyle preferred by his wife. “Though he had good prospects, these prospects never materialized” (Lawrence 124). Even though the lifestyle was maintained, there was always a sense of lacking. The most disturbing part, however, is that despite him struggling financially, the wife does not appreciate by reciprocating in kind through affection and mental support. She even tries to incite their son Paul against him by portraying him as “poor” and “unlucky.” Rennie (1) reflects a similar situation in the practical world by giving the example of Mablick, the middle-aged man from Nunavut who struggles emotionally and financially to feed his family.
Thirdly, the story builds on other minor fictional characters who despite having strong associations with the family end up betraying them for money. At first, Uncle Oscar is introduced as an ordinary relative who has the best interest of the family at heart. Nonetheless, upon realizing young Paul's ability to predict a winning horse, which was some sort of leisure activity for the young boy, the uncle decides to make a fortune from it. Together with the family’s gardener, Bassett, the uncle take the young boy to task as their fortune teller even when they knew that the matter was affecting the boy’s health. The love for money and the desire to be rich appears to exceed the little concern that the two had for the child's welfare. Additionally, the uncle fails to show up in support of an ailing Paul even after winning a bounty (Lawrence 135). Such betrayal is characteristic of the American politics. Beatty (129) writes that politics in America has changed negatively with the 21st-century with politicians faking their intentions to win over voter trust and almost immediately changing when in power. The most recent Presidential elections in America has had some sections of the American society complaining that what was promised by politicians is not being implemented.
Fourthly, fictitious fable-like happenings are deliberately included to show the state of affairs in the family's house. Because the family fails to discuss with one another their worsening financial situation, the author uses Paul's imagination of the house "whispering how it is short of money" to show that the house was lacking financially. Using the child and fabricated perspective helps the author to give readers a view of how the children viewed things without initiating a direct conversation amongst family members. The use of fiction this way is not limited to The Rocking-Horse Winner, but rather many other writers have either used it or discussed its significance in the literature (Coles 1). For instance, Anderson, an authoritative writer with The BBC says the following while discussing the use of fiction: “I do not think you can ever dig too deeply for meaning” (1). Anderson recognizes ability for writers to hide messages and valuable insights in child stories or from the perspective that child characters.
Overall, Lawrence is successful in using fiction as an artistic means in exploring relationships, happiness, and money. The story is fictional and applies fictional characters. Most of the characters have an apparent love for money and show the readiness to go any mile to acquire wealth and happiness. The issues captured in the story are not entirely new to the practical world. There are many resemblances between what Lawrence discusses and what is going on today. Thus, the use of fiction was helpful in reflecting the reality of the matter without being tied down by the rules of the practical world.

Works Cited

Anderson, Hephzibah, The Hidden Messages in Children’s Books. BBC.
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20140318-hidden-messages-in-kids-books (Accessed 11/23/2017)
Beatty, Jack. Age of Betrayal: The Triumph of Money in America, 1865-1900, Knopf: New Tork,
2007
Coles, William. A character in Literary Fictional Story. Stories in Literary Fiction, 2016,
https://www.storyinliteraryfiction.com/essays-on-writing/character-in-literary-fictional-story/ (Accessed 11/23/2017)
Lawrence, David, The Rocking-Horse Winner. From Parent and Child, 1926,
http://blogs.bu.edu/cflamm/files/2012/10/The-Rocking-Horse-Winner.pdf (Accessed 11/23/2017)
Rennie, Steve. One Nunavut Man’s Struggle to Feed His Kids. CBC.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/one-nunavut-man-s-struggle-to-feed-his-kids-1.2877387 (Accessed 11/23/2017)