Characters
The young boy who believes luck can be physically achieved.
Who is Paul?
The main character started placing bets on horses because of this obvious reason, but also this underlying purpose.
What is to give his mother money, but also to win her love/affection?
The rocking-horse symbolizes
What is greed, an instrument of supernatural forces, or Paul's desire for his mother's love?
This phrase is whispered throughout the house, symbolizing the family's anxiety about money.
What is "There must be more money" ?
The rocking horse is an example of this literary device.
What is symbolism?
The name and job of the main character's partner in his initial betting
Who is Bassett, the family's gardener?
Paul's death at the end of the story serves as this element of plot structure.
What is the climax or tragic resolution?
Appeals to the reader's senses
What is imagery?
This character says:
"If you're lucky you have money. That's why it's better to be born lucky than rich. If you're rich, you may lose your money. But if you're lucky, you will always get more money."
Who is Paul?
The object that whispers in "The Rocking-Horse Winner"
What is the house?
The mother, who believes she is unlucky and never feels satisfied.
Who is Hester?
Paul collapses and later dies shortly after successfully predicting the winner of this major race.
What is the Derby?
The point of greatest emotional intensity or suspense in a plot
What is climax?
This person says, "My God, Hester, you're eighty-odd thousand to the good, and a poor devil of a son to the bad."
Who is Uncle Oscar?
Paul started placing bets on horse because for this obvious reason, but also this underlying purpose.
What is wanted to give his mother money, but also earn her love/affection?
These two siblings benefit from Paul's winnings, but remain largely unaware of his suffering.
Who are Paul's sisters?
What the whispers do when Paul's mother receives the five thousand pounds
What is they got worse?
When there is a contrast between what the reader expects to happen and what actually happens
What is situational irony?
The literary technique demonstrated in this quote: The story describe Paul as "wild-eyed and strange, as if something were going to explode in him" when he is riding his rocking horse.
What is foreshadowing Paul's death or destruction?
The story is told from this point of view.
What is third-person omniscient?
Paul's s secret winnings are first managed by this adult who places bets for him.
Who is Uncle Oscar?
This happens when Paul "gets there" on his rocking horse.
What is he is sure of the winner?
When the reader knows something that the character does not
What is dramatic irony
This quote explains what about the mother character:There was a woman who was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck. She married for love, and the love turned to dust. She had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them.
What is her selfishness and inability to be satisfied?
The tone of the story can be described as this.
What is ominous or dark?