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The Rocking-Horse Winner, a la Shmoop. Are you ready to rock?

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After all your parents have done for you, wouldn't it be awesome if you could one day

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repay them?

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Like... in cash? They probably have an itemized list somewhere of all the stuff you owe them

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for.

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You didn't think all those diapers and cartons of baby formula were free, did you?

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Okay, so you likely won't get a bill on your 18th birthday for "services rendered" from

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your parental units.

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But still... if you had a foolproof way to make gobs of money, it would be nice to send

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a little green their way. The Hero of D.H. Lawrence's short story The

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Rocking Horse Winner finds himself in this very situation.

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By riding his rocking-horse, Paul achieves a Zen-like state that allows him to accurately

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predict the winners of horse races.

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His mother takes advantage of this situation, and before long, the family is rolling in

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it. Unfortunately, Paul's gift is killing him.

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Literally.

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Which makes us wonder... is what Paul has really a "gift" at all?

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Well, there's no denying the good that comes from it.

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He and his loved ones no longer have to worry about money. They're not going to go hungry,

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or lose the roof over their heads.

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Plus, they can now switch to the three-at-a-time Netflix plan.

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So, in that sense... sure seems like a gift to us.

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But... Paul dies as a result of it.

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Most gifts don't come with the possibility of death.

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Not unless you have a friend who likes to give trick chainsaws for birthday presents.

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So on second thought... maybe this is one ability Paul wouldn't mind... regifting.

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Although... he didn't have to abuse his special talent.

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If he hadn't exhibited greed, or at least let his mother's greed guilt him into overdoing

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it...

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...he'd probably still be alive today, rocking away on his horse and making a comfortable

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profit at the track every other weekend. Many of us have certain innate abilities...

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...but if we practice them to excess, it can cause more harm than good.

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For example, someone might be naturally brilliant on the trumpet...

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...but if he plays every night into the wee hours, his fed-up neighbor might one day burst

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into his apartment and shove that trumpet where the sun don't shine.

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Was Paul's gift really a gift?

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Is the fact that it brought his family wealth all that's important?

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Was his ultimate demise proof that there's really no such thing as a "gift?"

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Or should he just have handled it a little more maturely instead of spending so much

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time... horsing around? Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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