The Rocking-Horse Winner Essay, Research Paper

Many essential steps must be implemented when taking a written story and turning it into a real life motion picture. D.H Lawrence, author of the short story ?The Rocking-Horse Winner? depicts a common demon we all face; greed, society?s need for more possessions and money often drives people to do drastic things. This is true in relation to a young boy named Paul who is growing up large unfriendly lavish house, with a mother and father who are obsessed with money and materialistic things. This results in them not caring much about anything else, not even their son. In the transition from the short story to the short movie, many effective changes are made in the fairy tale opening, the plot and the characterization.

The fairy tale opening, though effective in the written story would not be as successful on screen. The beginning animosity between the parents when they are in the house arguing with Paul watching closely on the stairs clutching the rail is not characteristic of a fairy tale. This scene proves to be extremely helpful in illustrating the parents? financial situation and lack of love and compassion in the household. Also, the night and the darkness of the house are usually representatives of evil or some sort of corrupt influence. The shadowy tone causes the reader to feel that the house is unsafe or maybe has some sort of evil force in it. This additionally conveys that there are problems within the house and that there will be some sort of negative conflict to come. As well, the anxious appearance of the mother and father in the movie is very fitting. They both look stressed out and desperate for organization in their lives, especially the mother. Their physical appearance illustrates the tension and worry they feel for money all the time and their loss of love and concern for each other. Choosing not to use a high-spirited fairy tale opening worked well because the story would not flow well since the tone of the rest of the story is melancholy.

The plot of the story was very detailed and brought onto screen in a well-organized manner. In the short story Paul had more siblings, but in the movie he was an only child, since the other children were never actually introduced the producers of the movie were wise in not including his other siblings. By using only Paul as the main character, D.H. Lawrence?s point about the destruction greed causes is poignantly made. Additionally, the improvement upon Basset and Uncle Oscar?s relationship brings to life these two characters that were pivotal in Paul?s upbringing. The relationship between Basset and Uncle Oscar depicts the common class separation because of economical status, which was very typical around those times and even today. At the end of the movie, Paul?s mother is clearly moved at the death of her son, meaning that her loveless heart of stone changes as she realizes her son?s loyalty and love towards her. The plot went through many changes that enhanced the central theme of the story being told.

Between the written story and the movie, the characterization is much more fleshed out. For instance, the mother in the story is completely cold and bitter and seems to have no love for anyone, but in the movie, we almost have pity for her because of her constant sad face and her facial expressions and soft voice. Also, the mother?s sense of greed is brought to life, when she sits at the table and receives her birthday present and gets a sly smirk. The movie really put a picture onto how important money was to her, for she just ran out of the room to see if she could get it all. In addition, the characterization of Basset is excellently executed. He is the perfect solemn gardener from the written story, with the same mannerisms. This is apparent when Basset and Uncle Oscar have their conversation about Paul?s betting on races. Benson is timid and does not speak out. The characters traits and behaviors are brought to life in the movie and even improved upon greatly adding to the effect of the movie.

The fairy tale opening, plot and the characterization are all improved upon greatly. The fairy tale opening was not used to its full extent so that the story would seem more realistic, the plot was also enhanced in some areas and lessened in some other areas to add to a stronger story line as the characterization of many characters was enhanced to suit the plot of the story. Some do not take the essential steps that ensure a good job, in this case all the essential steps were taken and a superior job was done.