The Presence and Justification of Autoeroticism in The Rocking-Horse Wi

D.H. Lawrences writings often mirror elements of his own life, though they contain decidedly false components. The characters in Lawrences The Rocking- Horse Winner closely resemble his own family. Like Paul, Lawrence was seeking a way out of the misfortune of pre-war London living. conflicting Lawrence, Paul is already well-to-do. Pauls search consists of a yearning for affection and acceptance. In The Rocking-Horse Winner a young boy finds a original calling within himself that serves to vastly improve the standing of his entire family. However, Pauls supernatural ability to choose the winners of horse races is but a c beless assessment of the storys secrets. Digging deeper, the reader becomes aware of a darker meaning to Pauls wild rides. There are two things are revealed throughout Pauls character development first, that he is seeking his mothers affection. Secondly, in doing so, there is an apparent autoeroticism linked to his evidently innocent rocking-horse. Chie f in the comprehension of Pauls longing for motherly affection is having an understanding of Pauls mother. She is generally a destitute woman. Cold by most accounts, even her own, only she herself knows that at the center of her heart is a hard little place that can not feel love, no, not for anybody (Lawrence, 559). Pauls mother feels the three children are a burden on an already cash strapped and unfulfilling relationship with her husband. Therefore, she is phony and removed where they are concerned. She has lovely children, yet she feels they have been thrust upon her, and she can not love them when her children are present, she always feels the center of her heart go hard (Lawrence, 559). Symptoms of post-partum depr... ...nt Psychology Individual Bases of Adolescent Development. Ed. Richard M. Lerner and Laurence D. Steinber. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. Hoboken John Wiley & Sons, 2009. 576-81. markGioia, Dana. The Rocking-Horse Winner. Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Dr ama, and Writing. By X. J. Kennedy. 11th ed. New York Pearson Longman, 2010. 556-63. Print.Isaacs, Neil D. The Autoerotic Metaphor in Joyce, Sterne, Lawrence, Stevens, and Whitman. Literature and Psychology. 15th ed. 1965. 98-102. Print.Kazdin, Alan E. Oedipus Complex. Encyclopedia of Psychology. Vol. 5. Washington, D.C. American Psychological Association, 2000. 494-96. Print.Lamson, Roy, et al., eds. Critical analytic thinking of The Rocking-Horse Winner. The Critical Reader. Rev. ed. New York Norton, 1962. 52-6. Print.Widmer, Kingsley. The Art of Perversity. Seattle Washington UP, 1962. Print.