The suspense of the story is created by Hester's obsession with having more money, the whispering house and Paul's unhealthy obsession with pleasing his mother. As the story unfolds, we learn that Hester, Paul's mother is never happy with the amount of money she has and that Paul has taken it upon himself to please her. However, the more money he wins, the more money she wants. Paul is too young to realize that she will never be satisfied and so he becomes crazed in his attempts to have "more luck" so it will bring his mother more money. Eventually, Paul breaks down both physically and emotionally. He dies just after telling his mother the secret to her success. However, his uncle realizes his sister will never be satisfied. That is why he says in the last paragraph that she has over 80,000 pounds but a dead son. Then he adds, ""he's [Paul] is best gone out of a life where he rides his rocking horse to find a winner." In other words, Paul's uncle believes Paul is better off dead because he never would have succeeded in fulfilling his mother's insatiable desire more money. This symbolizes the theme of the story, that the love of money can lead to obsession and death and that Paul became a slave to his mother's desire for material goods.
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