The mother-son relationship in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" is a mess of unfulfilled desire, anxiety, hostility, and terror. Paul's father is virtually absent from the story—we never learn his name—while his mother frantically tries to make up for all the luxuries her husband can't provide by trying to taken on the role of breadwinner, a role traditionally reserved for the husband (Note: We at Shmoop do not condone strict adherence to traditional gender norms, so go Hester). The only thing is, Hester's own sense of insufficiency spills over onto Paul, who is driven mad by his ever more desperate attempts to please her and earn her love.
everyone and everything seems to exist in an entirely different psychic wavelength. People can read each other's minds, toys and houses whisper incessantly, and a boy can predict horse-race winners by riding on his rocking horse. We're never quite sure if this magical world is real or not, and even the characters themselves don't seem too sure. God may be absent from the picture here, but some characters suspect that other supernatural forces are at work in the boy's luck, forces that may not be all that benevolent