The Destructors and The Rocking Horse Winner - Essay Example

The Destructors” and “The Rocking Horse Winner” A Compare and contrast essay Order No. 269551 No. of pages: 5 1st 6530 Fate plays a major role in the lives of people and could change the course of their lives at any time. The two stories, “The Destructors” by the author Graham Greene and “The Rocking Horse Winner by the author D.H. Lawrence are both typical in their portrayal of Fate and the manner in which it changes the course of people’s lives. Graham Greene, the author of “The Destructors,” was the fourth of a family of six children, born in October, 1904. He was a shy and unassuming child who loved reading books from a very young age. He was very often ridiculed and tormented for being the headmaster’s son and therefore such themes like treachery and deceit often was a major part of his literary works. The author of “The Rocking Horse Winner”, D.H Lawrence, was born in England, U.K in 1885 and is quite famous not only for his poems but for the graphical explanation and description of his short stories and novels. Some of his well known novels are “Aaron’s Rod” (1922) “The Plumed Serpent” (1926) and “Kangaroo.” Themes Paul, the young protagonist in D.H Lawrence’s “Rocking horse Winner” is the uncanny story of the twist fate plays in the life of the family. The young Paul is somehow obsessed with the idea that there was never sufficient money in his family and so he takes it on as a responsibility to earn money for the family, by what he thinks to be luck. This is one of the main themes in the story – responsibility which spurs Paul to provide his family with more money. Paul’s mother however, fails in her duty of being responsible and managing the money that comes in and hence there is always a lack of it, which triggers Paul to go deeper into his spree of gambling with horses. Lawrence makes it quite clear about the inability of Paul’s parents to better the situation, where he states- “The mother, tried this thing and the other, but could not find anything successful.” As for the father he had expensive tastes and always tried to cater to them. In sharp contrast is the story of “The Destructors” by Graham Greene, who portrays his protagonist old Misery to having been a very responsible person and had built a beautiful house when he earned well as an interior decorator. He was not a spendthrift like Paul’s mother but on the contrary was quite a miser. Greed is another primary theme in both the essays. In Lawrence’s story, we find that the mother’s greed and selfishness is in sharp contrast to Paul’s generosity and selflessness. In all his childish innocence Paul keeps giving everything he has to his mother without keeping anything for himself – finally he gives the most precious gift – his life. Greed in the story of “The Destructors,” is of a different kind. Misery doesn’t wish to share what he has with anyone else. No one knew what a beautiful house he had, because he did not invite anyone there. His greed finally made him lose all he had. Characters Graham Greene’s “The Destructors” has been described as an allegory and as parable by R. H. Miller who finds the contemporary setting of the story as a point for making a moral statement, while the significance of the story on various levels makes it allegorical. The story maybe seen as a struggle between good and evil, where Blackie, the leader of the Wormsley Common gang, indulges in such harmless tricks as stealing free rides on buses and sneaking into the home of Old Misery. Even after T takes over the reins of the gang, he agrees to his plans, in the spirit of a true gang member, for whom the leader’s word is law. Blackie personifies the innocence of untainted youth while T or Trevor, the new leader of the gang is a conniving, and willful youth whose idea of fun is often malicious, and harmful, just as in the idea of pulling down Mr. Thomas’ house, while considering it to be a novel activity for the gang, hitherto accustomed to only the mischief and pranks which most teenage boys revel in. The two boys represent the two sides of power. Blackie is the leader who encourages harmless mischief, while T’s leadership is destructive, harming society and innocent people. His brand of fun makes these juveniles indulge in acts of violence and on the first day of his leadership one could sense “the impression of organization, very different from the old happy-go-lucky ways.” "The Rocking-Horse Winner" by D. H. Lawrence combines the device of a fairy tale to preach about the ills of money and the value of love, which becomes the first casualty in the pursuit of wealth. The inordinate love for money and ills of its pursuit are gleaned in the character of Hester, Paul’s mother who is so blinded by the lure of wealth that she does not realize that she is pushing her son into a death like situation, from which he eventually does not emerge or escape. In comparison to the characters in the story of “The Destructors”, Paul, its protagonist, is on the other hand, the loving son who wishes to fulfill his mother’s lust for money and pushes himself towards his death, although he knows that her “heart was a stone.” He is wise beyond his years and wants nothing more than to alleviate the misery of his parents and his desperation to please the adults, especially his mother goes unnoticed by all around him. His innate sensitivity is never understood by his elders, to whom he is merely the boy who will tell them the winner of the Derby. Paul is so sensitive to the needs of his family, in particular his mother for whom he sacrifices his own life. The boys T, Blackie and others suffer in comparison to Paul because they are so insensitive and don’t feel any qualms in completely destroying an old man’s house without feeling shame. They have hearts of stone and cannot understand what this destruction could do to an old man who had toiled all his life to build the beautiful house they broke down. While Paul spent most of his time working hard either at his lessons or rocking fast on his horse, the characters in Graham Greene’s story of “The Destructors” spend their time uselessly by playing pranks, stealing or destroying things around them. Paul was a selfless kid who always had the good of his family at heart and he proved it by sacrificing his own life to achieve his goal. Sharply in contrast are the boys in the second story who prove that they do not care about anyone but themselves showing how callous and selfish they were. They did not care about the aftermath of the circumstances after destroying Old Misery’s house and even sought to escape from it. Both the authors, Graham Greene and D.H Lawrence had vividly portrayed the different characteristics inherent in different people in the story. They were capable in pulling at the heartstrings of their audience while making interesting reading. Their depiction of the moral contained within the stories was subtly brought out through the simple language they used. They had achieved what they had set out to do and that was to kindle the feelings and emotions of the readers through their beautifully narrated and interesting stories. References The Rocking Horse Winner www.answers.com/topic/the-rocking-horse-winner-story-4 The Destructors by Graham Greene www.litsum.com/destructors/ Read More