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Along with James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence is often cited as a Modernist author, and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” demonstrates many qualities of Modernism: a focus on internal conflict, a negative portrayal of consumerism, and several experimental storytelling techniques. Lawrence’s writing career coincided with the development of Modernism, a literary movement that dominated the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Europe and the United States. Modernist writers used experimental techniques like stream-of-consciousness writing to reveal the rich emotional experiences of individuals. Scientists like Sigmund Freud were beginning to explore the ideas behind psychoanalysis during Lawrence’s lifetime, and these new concepts regarding the development of the human psyche show up frequently in Modernist literature. In “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” a third-person omniscient narrator knows every detail about Paul's and his mother's thoughts and emotions over the entire course of their lives, which allows the reader a deep insight into Paul’s mother’s role in her son’s mental development.  

“The Rocking-Horse Winner” is, at its core, an exploration of the internal effects on the individual caused by society's growing fixation on materialism. After World War I, consumerism took hold in the U.S. and Europe, and Modernist writers aimed to warn readers of the damage consumerism and greed could have on society at large, and on individuals in particular. In "The Rocking-Horse Winner," Lawrence blends realistic events with supernatural ones, mirroring the way Modernist writers often used imagery and symbolism in unexpected ways. In this story, the rocking-horse represents consumerism and Paul's incessant and eventually fatal rocking symbolizes society’s relentless drive for more. By merging the real and the fantastic to show that an unfettered desire for material things can drive people away from human connections and the essence of humanity itself, D.H. Lawrence cemented “The Rocking-Horse Winner” as a classic example of a Modernist short story. 

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