Psychological Criticism is a literary method that essentially focuses on the "unconscious" thoughts of the human mind. Evidently there are numerous beliefs, feelings, and views in an individual's head that the rest of the world is simply not aware of. In essence, psychological criticism aims to reveal these profound and mysterious concepts in the literary field. Through this psychosomatic approach, one is able to allow the possibility of understanding and gathering the in depth insights of literature. Ultimately, in doing this, it allows one to try and make sense of what every so often may seem odd and/or puzzling. Overall, it is fair to say that the key purpose of psychological criticism is simply trying to comprehend why many times people do and say things for motives that they themselves are not frequently aware of.
             In many ways D.H. Lawrence's story, "The Rocking-Horse Winner" deals with the quite dissimilar feelings and views of the two main characters, mother and son. Throughout the story, it is clear that the mother focuses mainly on her unhappiness with her life, particularly that she does not have all the money she desires. This is apparent in the point of the story where she mentions to her son "I used to think I was, (lucky) before I married. Now I think I am very unlucky indeed." (p.814) This comment clearly implies an important unconscious thought in the mother's mind. The remark she makes seemingly reveals how perhaps her son (and maybe all her children) is part of her unhappiness. Hence, it was not until she was married that she claimed her bad luck began. On the other hand, it is perceptible that her son is only trying to understand where exactly her bitterness and coldness stem from. This is noticeable when he makes an effort to get her to see that despite her resentment towards her life, his view on luck is different from hers. Despite her bitterness, he sta...