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Lawrence frequently describes his characters’ eyes and uses them as indicators of a character’s emotional state. He pays particular attention to Paul’s eyes, which undergo a change over the course of the story. When Paul first begins to ride his rocking-horse, his eyes are described as being “close-set” and having “a strange glare.” This is in contrast the rocking-horse’s eyes, which are wide set and bright. As Paul’s obsession with luck intensifies, his eyes turn into “blue fire.” At the end of Paul’s life, he is so intensely focused on becoming lucky that his eyes are “uncanny,” or strange and unsettling. “Uncanny” can also refer to something that is supernatural, and the appearance of Paul’s eyes suggests that he has ridden his horse so hard that he has ceased to be human, or at least a normal, healthy one.
Eyes are also important communicative tools among the other characters in the story. The children recognize that their mother Hester does not love them by looking in her eyes. The children also use their eyes to communicate an unspoken understanding that they can all hear the house whispering.
Eyes Quotes in The Rocking-Horse Winner
The The Rocking-Horse Winner quotes below all refer to the symbol of Eyes. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Rocking-Horse Winner
Quotes
He became wild-eyed and strange, as if something were going to explode in him.
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Get LitCharts A+He hardly heard what was spoken to him, he was very frail, and his eyes were really uncanny. His mother had sudden strange seizures of uneasiness about him. Sometimes, for half an hour, she would feel a sudden anxiety about him that was almost anguish. She wanted to rush to him at once, and know he was safe.
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His eyes blazed at her for one strange and senseless second, as he ceased urging his wooden horse. Then he fell with a crash to the ground, and she, all her tormented motherhood flooding upon her, rushed to gather him up.
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Eyes Symbol Timeline in The Rocking-Horse Winner
The timeline below shows where the symbol Eyes appears in The Rocking-Horse Winner. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Rocking-Horse Winner
...of the whispering to one another, but they can tell from looking into each other’s eyes that they all hear it.
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...desire for it. Eventually he starts madly riding his rocking-horse, looking into its wide, glassy eyes and and asking it to take him to luck. He is certain that the horse...
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Uncle Oscar looks into Paul’s bright blue and close-together eyes and promises he won’t tell anyone. Paul tells his uncle that he is going to...
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Uncle Oscar takes Paul to a horse race, and Paul’s eyes look as though they are blazing when he watches the race. When Daffodil wins, his...
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...he hates the whispering in his house and that they never have enough money. Paul’s eyes burn with “an uncanny cold fire in them,” and he tells Uncle Oscar multiple times...
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...to “know” which horse to bet on and he begins to lose money. He grows “wild-eyed and strange” and behaves as if he is about to burst.
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Hester finally notices the madness in Paul’s eyes and suggests that he go down to the seaside for some rest. Paul explains that...
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As the Derby approaches, Paul becomes more and more nervous, and his eyes begin to look “uncanny.” His mother becomes very worried about him. Two nights before the...
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