The Bible states that the love of money is the root of all evil. In his short story "The Rocking Horse Winner," D.H. Lawrence depicts the importance of money in one family's life. Paul, a ten year old boy, attempts to make his mother happy by winning money through gambling. His mother's constant desire for more money leads to the boy's destruction. Lawrence's theme that greed causes destruction plays out as the family becomes more dysfunctional. In D.H. Lawrence's short story "The Rocking Horse Winner," his use of character, plot, and symbol illustrate his theme.

One way Lawrence illustrates his theme is through his characters. One character he uses is the mother. Lawrence portrays the mother as a woman who cannot love her children. Whenever they are around she feels "the center of her heart go hard" (Lawrence 287). A possible reason for her lack of maternal...