Rocking-Horse Winner

I am reading a story called, "The Rocking-Horse Winner", by D.H. Lawrence. I am going to read it three times, in order to see how my understanding of the story improves each time.

The first paragraph describes a woman who isn't lucky. Her love in her marriage is gone and so is her love for her children. Her heart doesn't love anyone. My assumption is that the children are going to be the main characters.

I realize that love in the family is replaced by greed. The parents have expensive tastes and no money. Regardless, they keep up an expensive style. That idea seems ridiculous to me. Perhaps the walls wouldn't whisper, "there must be more money", if they shopped with the money they actually had. Also, the parents wouldn't be as stressed out. With less stress, their souls would be freer; and love would come more naturally.

Paul's mother tells him, "If you're lucky you have money." He tells his mother that God told Paul that he is lucky. Paul then becomes obsessed with horse races, winning often. He gives his mother $5,000; though it makes the voices in the house that whisper, "There must be more money", go crazier. Maybe the more money people have, the more money they want.

Paul flies off of his rocking horse that "tells him the winner" at the end and dies.