Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.
Rocking Around the Clock
Sometimes people may lose sight of the value or relevance of the works in the humanities field. However, time and again we find art imitating life and life imitating art. This was brought home to me in the classroom once again this holiday season.
During the week after the Thanksgiving weekend each year, my students and I spend time observing and presenting interpretations of a variety of short fiction selections from our textbook. About two weeks prior to the holiday weekend, we draw cards and students take turns signing up to teach one of the ten fiction selections from our reading list. We take the four most popular ones and the students who chose them form “teams” to teach them. (Students who chose ones other than those four also join one of the four teams.) We use the class sessions on the M-T-W prior to Thanksgiving for the teams to meet and formulate their lesson plans, with teams taking turns on Monday through Thursday of the following week to teach their classmates how the story might be read. (Friday I provide closure and then finals are the week after.)
One of the selections not chosen very often is “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence, published in 1926. However, this year one of the groups did choose to teach that story. While observing the presentation by the students, I was struck by how contemporary the content still is, even though it was written nearly 90 years ago.
I realize there’s a slight possibility some people may not have read the story, and I’d hate to spoil it for them by discussing the plot details and conclusion, even though the value of good literature comes from reading and rereading the material. It’s about a dozen pages long and someone has posted them online, so if you want to take a break and read the story, here it is. I can wait while you read it:
Welcome back. (If you just skipped ahead planning to read it later, I’m not responsible for spoiling the story for you.)
As you can see, in this story set in Britain we have a family with a mother who is concerned about the social status associated with wealth and the material evidence of the family’s social position. She considers herself and the family unlucky, which has resulted in the limitations on the family’s social mobility and an anxiety within the mother. The three young children are sensitive to the coldness around the mother’s heart. They can hear the vibrations reverberating through the house as it murmurs “There must be more money! There must be more money!”
Paul, the oldest child but not yet old enough for boarding school, and his two sisters are aware of this, and Paul tries to reverse the situation by being lucky, which is evidenced by getting money. Uncle Oscar gives Paul a small amount of money as a gift, and Paul then forms a pact with Bassett, the gardener, to bet on horse races. (Also a nursery governess is mentioned in the story and the family probably also had a cook, although that was not specified beyond the mentioning that the family had “discreet” servants. Considering their social status, it was probably quite difficult to get along with only three servants.)
Because Paul is old enough not to need a nursery governess, he can secret himself in his own bedroom, where he has a toy rocking horse. He can ride the horse, whipping himself into a frenzied state, and the names of the winning horses come to him. He does this out of love for his mother, in a battle to break the cold ice around her heart.
Once Paul accumulates a nice bank account, he shares his secret with Uncle Oscar, who helps arrange for his mother to receive an anonymous birthday gift of a thousand pounds each year for five years. (In 1926, this was around $5,000 to $10,000 each year.) Paul hopes this will ease the anxiety in the house and around his mother’s heart.
Unfortunately, the opposite is the case. The mother immediately goes to the lawyers to ask the donor to give her the whole amount in a lump sum and the murmuring of “There must be more money! There must be more money!” only intensifies! Of course, Paul accedes to his mother’s desires, and now he becomes even more desperate to touch her heart and ease her anxiety.
Actually, he seems to be making progress, for his mother is concerned about him and suggests he go with Uncle Oscar to the seaside for a vacation. Paul has the trip delayed until after the Derby. Two nights before the Derby Paul frantically rides his rocking horse into the night, collapsing into a stupor just as he reaches the name of the winning horse. Paul’s mother, feeling something strange around her heart, rushes home and reaches Paul as he collapses.
Bassett places the bet for Paul while he is gripped in the coma of his brain fever, and the horse wins. With his mother at his side, Paul regains consciousness, tells his mother that he is indeed lucky, and dies in the night.
The story ends with the mother regarding her deceased son while hearing Uncle Oscar’s voice,
"My God, Hester, you're eighty-odd thousand to the good, and a poor devil of a son to the bad. But, poor devil, poor devil, he's best gone out of a life where he rides his rocking-horse to find a winner."
Oops! Sorry to have such a story here at the holiday time.
Anyhow, at the time I was struck by the contemporary events - seeing how “Black Friday” had been adjusted by some merchants to start at midnight on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) as something to benefit the customers – now they wouldn’t have to get up early in the morning on Friday and stand in line in the frigid morning cold. Instead, they could enjoy the early afternoon turkey meal, let the tryptophan kick in for a late afternoon nap, and then head down the mall or shopping center to wait for the doors to open at midnight. In fact, some businesses were even opening back up at 9:00 pm for even greater customer convenience! It’s amazing how times have changed with all this concern for the well-being of the customers. (Of course, some of the employees were upset that they had to cut their family holiday short in order to man the aisles and cash registers, but we know the customer is king and it is an honor to serve such customers.)
There must be more money! There must be more money!
And now as we are deep in the throes of the holiday spirit, I see that the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts selling holiday trees and decorations are on holiday break from school, so they have extended their hours to open at 7:00 am and close at 11:00 pm for the convenience of the customers! Seven to eleven: How lucky!
That’s the spirit, boys!
Walter Lowe
Astral Facts is a monthly presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices.
