"The Rocking-Horse Winner" is set in England during the 1920s. D. H. Lawrence wrote and published the story during this same time period, so the problems he addresses in his writing are problems he himself would have faced at the time. Lawrence is considered a Modernist writer: during this literary period, in post-WWI society, many authors felt a sense of nihilism and fear for the future of society, and these concerns imbedded themselves into the literature of the time. England, in particular, lost an entire generation of young men in WWI. Lawrence himself would have lost many friends, colleagues, and family members. This tragic loss contributes to the gloomy and foreboding mood in "The Rocking-Horse Winner."
The Roaring Twenties also saw a global increase in consumerism and materialism, alongside increased industrialization and technological advance. "The Rocking-Horse Winner" is a clear attempt by Lawrence to address this global consumerism and its egregious excess.
More specifically, though, the story itself mostly takes place in Hester and Paul's family home, a location that becomes the site of increasing tension and anxiety as the story nears its climax. The house is not only a physical place but a symbol, representing society at large and the coercive "whisperings" of a culture entrenched in greed, excess, and materialism.
