Compare and Contrast the Destructors and the Rocking Horse Winner Essay Example

time within the setting by revealing the age of the protagonist, T. to be fifteen (116) at the time of the setting, and also revealing that Blackie, another central character, was one year old at the time of the “first blitz” (112), which was between September 1940 and May 1941(111). Assuming Blackie and T.

to be about the same age argues strongly for the timing of the story to be about fourteen years after the start of World War II, or about nine years after the end of the war. However, the story delves further into the description of setting by narrowing the precise time and setting to a three day period in a seldom used car-park adjacent to the “shattered Northwood Terrace” (112).The author uses the shattered remains of the Northwood Terrace to further illustrate the destructive setting in which the story is told. Conversely, author D. H. Lawrence gives fewer details about the exact time and place in which the setting of “The Rocking Horse Winner” is set.

Unlike “The Destructors”, Lawrence only gives the reader a brief glimpse of time and setting. However, several clues suggest the setting is in the English countryside, sometime after the end of World War I. The use of British monetary terms, “pounds and schillings” (290), offers evidence the story is set in England.We know it is the countryside because Lawrence tells us “the mother went into town everyday” (293, 294). Additional clues to time and setting are vague.

The use of cars obviously places the time within the twentieth-century. The reference that Basset, one of the central characters, was wounded during the war, and the fact

the story was written by Lawrence, who died in 1930, supports the view that the story is set in post World War I England. In contrast to the destructive setting of the “The Destructor’s”, the setting of “The Rocking Horse Winner” is one of physical beauty.The mother of Paul is described in the opening line as “beautiful”, and later in the same paragraph she is said to have “bonny” children, a term synonymous with beauty (285). The home in which the story is told is described as pleasant, complete with a garden.

The family has luxury items such as nice toys, a pleasant and quiet country home, and the family is said to have servants (286). The settings of both stories, while taking place in post war England, are obviously different. One is a setting of devastation and destruction, while the other is a setting of beauty and bounty. Not surprisingly then, the mood is also different in each story.The mood of “The Rocking horse Winner” is clearly stated as anxious as the author writes “Although they lived in style, they felt always an anxiety in the house. There was never enough money.

” The mood of anxiety remains constant throughout the story as Paul is ever anxious in trying to secure his mother’s love. Likewise, his mother is always anxious about never having enough money. But her anxiety is not centered on having enough money to provide for her family. Rather, her desire to have more money stems from a materialistic point of view to keep up her family’s social position.

The constant battle of anxiety in the story leads to a sad twist of

fate. Though the family seemingly had many material possessions, there was never enough to satisfy Paul’s mother. She always wanted more, and when she was given more she desired to have more than what was given. Her desire to have more material possessions replaced her desire and ability to love her children. Paul recognizes his mother’s materialistic focus, and thus, “made him want to compel her attention. ”(288).

Tragically, Paul dies trying to provide financially for his mother, and at the same time to win the love of his mother’s heart.Despite having all the material comforts many people would long to have, the mother could not put aside her materialistic wants. The end result is the destruction of Paul’s young life. Conversely, the mood in “The Destructors” is not as clear.

The boys in the gang are clearly low in social status and lacking in material wealth. Yet, they show no desire to achieve such wealth, which is extremely evident in that the group did not steal from Old Misery when they had the opportunity. In fact, T. , who was described as having come down in society (112), burned the “bundles of pound notes” he had found in Old Misery’s mattress (118).Thus, there is a mood of acceptance for who they are and their only stated desire is to be noticed and respected by other people, similar to Paul’s desire to be loved by his mother. Notice Blackie’s thoughts shortly after being overthrown as the leader of the gang: The Fame of the Wormsley Common car-park gang would surely reach around London.

There would be headlines in the papers. Even the grown-up gangs who

ran the betting at the all-in wrestling and the barrow-boys would hear with respect of how Old Misery’s house had been destroyed (115,116). The destructive setting and mood has obviously torn down more than just physical structures.To the boys in the gang, the destructive period in which they lived resulted in loss of social status and material wealth. Yet in the midst of their suffering stood alone one home that somehow was not destroyed by the bombs of war. To the boys, the destruction of Old Misery’s home is the only path they can take to rebuild their destroyed lives.

The boys were devoid of material possessions; and they could do without. It was status and respect they desired. D. H.

Lawrence portrays precisely how greed often begets more greed, and thus the destruction of life.While Graham Greene illustrates how the lack of material wealth and low social position in life often leads those with little material possessions to accept that way of life, and to do without. Both authors successfully convey a basic human trait of wanting to be loved and accepted, and that the setting in which we as humans live often affect how we go about achieving the love and acceptance of others. Works Cited Arp, Thomas R. and Greg Johnson. Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 9th ed.

Boston: Wadsworth, 2006 Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 9th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth]