CRITICAL ANALYSIS ESSAY- THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER VERSUS THE DESTRUCTORS ROSEMARIE ESTEVEZ MAY 29, 2009 ENGLISH 102
Rosemarie Estevez English 102 May 30, 2009

“The Destructors”, by Graham Greene and “The Rocking Horse Winner”, by D.H. Lawrence two great short stories that I will be comparing and contrasting. These two stories were both written in the third person. the destructors was written post World War II and “The Rocking Horse Winner” was written post World War I. both stories have the same common theme which is misery which was brought on by poverty . It is obvious that we can tell that poverty is the generalized theme in both short stories. The characters in “The Destructors” are not as distinct as the one in “The Rocking Horse Winner”. In “The Destructors” the characters are placed together as a distinct gang. Their main purpose is to destroy old miserys house the characters in the gang kept their communication short and limited. In contrast, “The Rocking Horse Winner” characters, Paul, his mother, his uncle, and Bassett, are in constant conflict over being poor and how their bad luck doesn’t stop and bad luck. “The Destructors” is a story about the gang activities of young boys living in the inner-city poverty of post-war London and their conspiracy toward destroying an old man’s house. The opening of “The Rocking Horse Winner” sets the specific tone, mood, introduction of its main characters, and theme of an unfortunate family and Paul’s determination to overcome their need for more fortune and bring good luck to the family.

Suspense is created in “The Destructors” by highlighting the length of time they had to ruin the house. They expected Old Misery to return home on a particular day and at a certain hour. Suspense is advanced when Old Misery returned home early and some vandals were still inside. The suspense heightened yet again as a gang member tried to stall Old Misery outside the house. Eventually, Old Misery was lured into his “Lava”, where he was locked for the duration of the home’s destruction. Suspense built in “The Rocking Horse Winner” as Paul rocked furiously for the name of the Derby’s winner. Suspense heightened as the winning name came to Paul, because he had recently had a dry spell and there was doubt concerning his luck.

It is interesting that both stories revolve around “luck”. Old Misery’s fine