Paul’s mother is not a good mother even though Lawrence stated that “everybody said of her: ‘she is such a good mother. She adores her children’”(889). In Paul and his mother’s conversation she laughs at him in a bitter way when he says he is lucky as stated on page 891, “’Well, anyhow,’ he said stoutly, ‘I’m a lucky person.’ ‘Why?’ said his mother, with a sudden laugh… ‘God told me,’ he asserted, brazening it out. ‘I hope He did, dear!’ she said, again with a laugh, but rather bitter” (891). A mother should not mock her child no matter how outrageous her child’s story is.
Later on when Paul’s mother receives a note saying she has received five thousand pounds Paul asks his mother a question. She responded “Quite moderately nice” in her cold and absent voice (896). It is understandable if she did not wish to share this information with Paul; he is merely a child and should not be involved in the financial status of the family. However his mother did not have to reply in a cold and absent voice. There is no reason why his mother should be cold and absent to her child after receiving a gift of such magnitude. This denies any gratitude Paul would receive from giving money to his mother. He is getting a message that she needed more money and he needed to be lucky once again.
Paul’s Uncle Oscar is another adult who takes blame for what happens to Paul. When Uncle Oscar finds out that Paul is making bets with Bassett, he didn’t make any comments or attempts to tell the boy that gambling is wrong. In fact Oscar endorsed it. He too used Paul’s ability to predict horse races to gamble. This way Oscar’s confidence and money was yet another pressure on Paul to use his ability once again. Also Oscar did not tell Paul’s mother about the gambling because there was monetary incentive in not telling her. If Oscar had told Paul’s mother, she might have put a stop to it and prevented Paul from using his gift again. Instead Oscar says to Paul, “ All right, son! We’ll manage it without her knowing” (896) promising not to tell her. Had Oscar not gotten involved there would be no one to do the legal work of handling the five thousand pounds to the family lawyer, which set off a chain of events that put more pressure on Paul.
Bassett the gardener should take blame as well. Bassett is the venue in which Paul can make his bets. He is the person who taught him about horse racing and “posted him with all the racing news”(892). Bassett is the one who got Paul deeply involved with the world of racing. “He lived in the racing events, and the small boy with him”(892). Bassett too did not tell Paul’s mother of his gambling activities because he would not only lose his job but also lose an easy profitable source of money. He didn’t even have any problems letting a young boy gamble.
The last adult to take blame is Paul’s father. His absence in the story has led to a lack of a decent father figure in the boy’s life. The father is nowhere to be seen in the story. There is no mention of Paul’s father doing anything in the story. This is because he had to make money. He needed to work to support himself and his family. His absence meant that Paul had no one to play with, no one to admire and idolize. All of these activities would have led Paul away from the world of gambling. It would have kept him from spending so much time with Bassett and the races.
This story illustrates how money is evil and how money corrupted the innocence of Paul. Each character played a key role in the death of this innocent young boy. Perhaps if one of these characters had not participated in their role Paul’s death might have been averted. There is also a message in the story stating money cannot buy everything. Paul’s mother received over eighty thousand pounds but at the cost of her son’s life. I doubt that she is happy. The money was tainted with the blood of Paul. There is a question that comes up at the end that would determine the character of Paul’s mother. Will she take the money? Which in turn means was the life of Paul worth the money that he won? I think not.