In the short story "The Rocking-Horse Winner" by DH Lawrence, the first conflict presented to the reader is the external conflict between man and man, where Paul, the protagonist, , fights a losing battle against his mother, the antagonist, for his love and affection. The second conflict that appears is the internal conflict of man versus self when Paul begins to believe that the only way to have his mother's love is to get lucky and acquire money through his luck. It is the sad story of a child's struggle to gain acceptance and love from a parent by taking whatever drastic measures necessary, only to learn that no amount of money can buy happiness or love. Subsequently, the underlying need for money can affect anyone, even a small child. It is dangerous to play with the power of financial stability; you could work yourself to death just to earn a dollar. At the beginning of the story, the author presents the setting as a beautiful house cooled by the lack of love from parents, especially the mother. “She had lovely children, but she felt that they had been forced on her and that she could not love them” (Lawrence, 2007, p. 493). It is the mother's lack of security in her own life that arouses the same feelings in her children. She feels the pressure of not having the financial stability to support her home, children, and lifestyle; that's why she resents her children and her husband. “Children rejected by their parents experience more personality disorders and behavioral problems in adolescence and adulthood than those whose parents accept them” (Erkan, 2010). Unfortunately, this was the case for Paul because of his mother's lack of acceptance of him. Due to the fact that the mother could... middle of paper ... be the death of a person. , N. (1940). Factors influencing intelligence growth in young children. In G. Whipple, G. Whipple (Eds.), The thirty-ninth yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education: Intelligence: Its nature and nurture, part II, original studies and experiments (pp. 49 -79). doi:10.1037/11228-003. http://web.ebscohost.com.library.capella.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=106&sid=160bf917-d5c1-4d1d-961e-160f7741a2f2%40sessionmgr114&vid=8ERKAN, S. and TORAN, M. (2010) . ACCEPTANCE-REJECTION BEHAVIORS OF CHILDREN OF MOTHERS WITH LOWER AND HIGHER SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 38(3), 427-432. Taken from EBSCOhost. Lawrence, D. (2007). The winner of the rocking horse. In A. Charters, History and its Writer (pp. 493-504). Boston: Bedford/St. that of Martin.