SOURCE: "D. H. Lawrence: The Rocking-Horse Winner,' Commentary," in The House of Fiction: An Anthology of the Short Story with Commentary, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1950, pp. 348-51.

Fiction writer Gordon and poet Tate were noted authors from the Southern United States and were married from 1924 to 1954. In the following excerpt, they examine the writing techniques Lawrence employs in "The Rocking-Horse Winner."

D. H. Lawrence believed that it was a misfortune for man when the Christian ideal of "Light" triumphed over "the dark gods of the blood," that modern civilization was founded on abstract values, and the man's only salvation was a return to a more primitive awareness of self.

His missionary zeal was often stronger than his artistic conscience; grave technical flaws mar some of his best work. "The Rocking-Horse Winner" approaches technical perfection; an artistic intelligence functions in it, consciously or unconsciously, giving the story a powerful...