Emergency IT lesson 5: Poetry on gambling

1. Show how the poem Tom Beatty could be compared to The Rocking Horse Winner. In studying the poem, note that the opera house is really life and when He makes the rules it’s either the Lord or perhaps the devil. Beatty suggests that everyone has about 70 years, but Paul in The Rocking Horse Winner had much less time. Explain what Paul’s weakness was, how the cards were stacked against him and do you think Paul was lucky not to live to be an old man fumbling the cards, leaden-eyed and whining about his losses?


Paul's weakness was that he was too naive to not have seen his addiction in gambling. His initial gamble for his mother's love turned into an obsession in gambling and winning money. Paul was lucky not to live to be an old man fumbling cards, leaden-eyed and whining about his losses. If he had survived that night, he would probably still be blindly winning for his ungrateful mother while he keep the burden to himself.

2. In The Green Clothes, green is the color of envy, greed and money! This poem is thematically similar to Paper. Even though the poem takes place at a roulette wheel the gamblers from the short story and the poem have similar experiences. Explain how tips, dry lips, and all that was spent in vain could apply to the short story Paper.

Tips would represent Tay Soon's initial earnings. Dry lips would represent stress, pressure and frustration which was consumed Tay Soon after the stock market crashed. All that was spent in vain refers to all off his life savings were lost and his dream was finished as he failed to sell his stock in the end. He eventually loses his life as well and the paper house made for him burnt down with him.

3. Ah Boh in Lottery has about one dollar, there’s a “blind man,” the number 13 and ultimately zero dollars to bet. These last examples are taken from One-Dollar Gambler. Show how they also relate to Ah Boh.

The "blind man" represents Ah Boh, who was blinded by the thought of winning the lottery and continued to gamble in thinking that "the day will come". The number 13 represents her being unlucky and never winning once. It also relates to her superstitions regarding gambling. Zero dollars to bet would mean that Ah Boh had gambled all her money in the end and lost everything that she have, including her old mother.