Irony in Rocking Horse Winner The world famous story Rocking-Horse Winner by D. H. Lawrence tells a story of a family filled with inner conflicts about money all portrayed through the innocent of a young boy. Affection and attention is something that all kids wanted, so did the protagonist in the story, Paul. He tried to get his mother’s attention and love by seeking ways to find luck that brings all the money, so she can be happy again. In the end, he succeeded but still didn’t get his mother’s attention.

There are a lot of ironic displays of situation and statement which made the story stronger and more developed. The first example of irony in the story appeared when it stated “Although they live in style, they felt always an anxiety in the house. There was never enough money. The mother had a small income, and the father had a small income, but not nearly enough got the social position which they had to keep up. ” This quote showed that, the family attempted to be recognized as a high class by living in a stylish house and buying luxuries items.

This setting is very ironic since if there is a shortage of money, the family would save up instead of spending to keep them in style. Also this ironic setting introduces the conflict and the theme, and it is the massive spending eventually led the family into financial problems, and money is everything the mother worried about. As a result, this use of irony effectively established the setting and introduced to the conflict.