The Use of Force

The author uses symbols to imply that people are becoming obsessed with material things instead of acknowledging and being happy with what they have. The most important symbols the author uses in this story are a rocking horse, Paul's eyes, and his mother's heart.

One symbol the author uses in this story is a rocking horse. This rocking horse is a symbol of desire, and death, and it is a pathway to get to something that is desired. Paul uses the rocking horse to figure out which horse is going to win the race. He rides his horse furiously until he knows which horse will win the race. He is not always sure, though. He does this for every race because of his desire to make his mom happy, even though it puts immense stress on him. At the end of the story, when Paul is try to figure out which horse is going to win, he puts so much stress on his body that his mom comes into his room to see him collapse on the floor screaming out the name of the horse that will win the race.

Another symbol the author uses to express the theme of this story is Paul's eyes. Paul's eyes are a symbol desire, obsession, and drive. At important times in the story, the author describes Paul's eyes in order to show his emotions. The first time the author writes about Paul's eyes, he describes them as blue eyes that are glaring and flaring at his mother and uncle when she is complaining about him riding his horse. Here Paul's eyes show that he has a desire to ride his horse. The author mentions Paul's eyes again when he is asking his uncle to keep a promise. The author mentions a couple times how Paul's eyes look when his horse has just crossed the finish line in first place: They are filled with the obsession and the drive of winning. Finally, at the end of the story,