The Rocking Horse Winner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Rocking Horse Winner - Essay Example The author has presented the theme of materialism and the negativities associated with the obsession for the attainment of materialistic satisfaction and how it leaves a negative impact on the life of an individual. The Rocking Horse is the story of a family which is living is discontentment despite of the fact that they are financially sound and have enough resources for the running of their family. Hester is particularly the character who is the most obsessed with money and her dissatisfaction and want for more money affects the entire family. The author has tried to explain how materialism fails to fulfill the emotional needs of the human beings and love and emotions are of great importance for a family. Lawrence explains this point by narrating the way in which the family lives and how their needs are not fulfilled despite of the increased money that comes home. He begins by explaining that Hester was a good looking woman who had beautiful children. He explained, â€Å"They live d in a pleasant house, with a garden, and they had discreet servants, and felt themselves superior to anyone in the neighborhood.† With these words, the author tries to express the fact that they had all the necessities which are needed for leading a healthy and happy life but the family was not leading a content life. Lawrence has then tried to explain the dissatisfaction that existed in the house and he has expressed the lack of love and emotions in the family. He has explained the basis for this discontentment which was mainly due to the greed on the part of the mother who wanted more money for the house. The children were not loved by her and she was also aware of this that she could not truly become attached to her children for some reason. There was always an aura of anxiousness in the house which was felt by all the family members in the form of whispers. All the members could hear the house whispering the lines, â€Å"There must be more money! There must be more money!† (Lawrence) These whispers best explain the main theme of the story that there was such an extreme desire for wealth in the house that the people living in the house could always feel this need around them in the form of whispers. This lack of love greatly disturbed Hester’s son who always wanted to be loved by her mother. He wanted to gain her attention which can clearly be seen when he converses with her about luck and tries to explain to her that he is lucky. Hester is blinded by her materialistic wants and she does not pay much heed to the innocent talks of the young boy. The young boy needs affection and care from his mother and this drives him to opt for betting on horse races at such an early age. Not only this, he discovers that if he rides a rocking horse, it assists him in knowing the winner of the race. He keeps on riding this horse frantically without caring about his health for the happiness and fulfillment of his mother’s worldly needs and in doing so he loses his life. The story further stresses upon the shortcomings of materialism and presenting that it not the most ideal way of living life by explaining the gloominess which still persists despite of money flowing into the house. This is narrated by the author when he explains how the mother is not happy to receive t housand pounds as her gift but she rather demands that she should

Holy Mosque of Mecca Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Holy Mosque of Mecca - Essay Example It is covered with silk. Pilgrims must, as their first duty, walk or run around the Ka’ba seven times murmuring prayers. It can be seen in the courtyard a particular well in which pious Mohammed is said to have dipped linen that is later made into shrouds. The hill of Arafat is hold with greatest reverence by pilgrims. It lies about thirteen miles east of Mecca. All those who make the pilgrimage to the Holy City go to Arafat. They travel on foot, donkeys, horses, and camels. Some caravans have two kinds of camels: one is for carrying baggage and other provisions, while the other bears the name â€Å"shugdufs† and is decorated with tents of carpets and curtains which protect the riders from the sun. Millions of Moslems flock to Mecca, just like centuries ago, beginning the month of December. During the Haj, streets are crowded as people continually come in filling the Haram mosque like a balloon growing larger up to its bursting point. With the growing number of followers and the increasing architectural and engineering possibilities, The Great Mosque of al-Haram is still on the path of restructuring and redesigning until today without losing its commodity, firmness, and delight – the elements of architecture. However, although great Moslem populations are open to constructions and renovations, the believers strictly adhere to their belief and strong Islamic culture and the 21st century architecture and methods of construction being implemented on the Great Mosque of al-Haram clearly threatens Islamic culture and belief. Architecture is known by many not only as a course in tertiary education and a profession that brings a promising career but an art of building. As Sir Henry Wotton said in The Elements of Architecture, published posthumously in 1651, it must possess â€Å"commodity, firmness, and delight;† in