The Quest for Happiness People's quest for happiness seems to be fueled by the 'pretty things' they surround themselves with. In D.H Lawrence's "The Rocking Horse Winner", this pursuit results in destruction. Paul's brutal death is the logical conclusion to the misguided values and beliefs his mother instills in him that are validated by the personified house. The whispering and screaming of the house represent that, in Paul's family, more money leads to more misery. A potent sense of paranoia spilts up the family with the unspoken phrase "There must be more money! There must be more money!" (255).
The house begins to scream when Hester spends the five thousand dollars her son secretly wins for her. She spends this sum of money quickly without regret, and without putting any amount aside to save. This frightens Paul, and he becomes "wild-eyed and strange, as if something were going to explode in him" (264). The house begins to scream as the growing need of money becomes stronger. The change fo the house's whispering to screaming because of Hester's craving to spend money on worthless things shows that the pursuit of happiness through wealth is futile. Paul's mother often values the material things in life. However, what she values most in luck. Hester interjects inot her son that "If you're lucky, you have money. That's why it's better to be born lucky than rich"(256). After talking with his mother, Paul wants luck, only so he can gain his mother's happiness and love. Paul "Wanted it, he wanted it". Brainwashed with the idea that having luck leads to having money, Paul spends most of his time trying to win money. He hopes that his wealth will prove to his mother that he is lucky, and therefore make her happy. Unfortunately, Paul's journey slowly drives him insane, resulting in his death. The need to satisfy his mother's wants based on her beliefs of luck and money pushes Paul to the point of death because the push to do so is too difficult. "He rides his rocking horse to find a winner" (267), and has seizures, then slipping into a coma and never regaining consciousness. Even during this state, Paul says "I never told you mother, that if I can ride my horse, and get there, then I'm absolutely sure -- Oh absolutely! Mother, did I ever tell you? I'm lucky" (267). Paul's mother then replies
"No, you never did" (267). All of Paul's efforts are for nothing. He failed to make Hester happy, and gained neither luck, nor his mother's love, and he dies a brutal death. The misguided values of his mother, and the personified house are the main contributions to Paul's death. He wants to satisfy his mother's beliefs, but the pressure is too great. In society, money and luck do not always amount to happiness. Paul does not reach this realization in time, and suffers. Paul's suffering is just a mere glimpse of the painful search for happiness through wealth and luck, but this search is evidently futile, and lives become a waste.