Lottery - Second Discussion in our Book Club Blog

Over the last few days, we’ve been having a rousing discussion on the book, Lottery, concentrating especially on the themes of society’s views of monetary and mental success. Of course, like most book club blog discussions, the comments have taken different paths from the ones started in the blog post, but that’s just the way I like it – it’s been a joy to have so much participation and so many thoughts exchanged. It’s been especially fun to have Lottery author, Patricia Wood participating to both add her own insights into the story and its creation and to address questions and comments from her readers.

If you haven’t seen the original post yet, check the first link above to look around. I will repeat the same disclaimer here – this is a book discussion, which means there will be spoilers to the novel. If you haven’t read it yet, and reading the discussion might ruin your enjoyment of the novel, I really recommend picking up a copy – it is a great book and one you don’t want to miss.

Today I’d like to discuss the themes of love and loyalty and how they are addressed through the eyes of Perry Crandall. One of the aspects of the novel I so enjoyed was its treatment of these themes, and the way that Perry comes to ‘pick’ his family. What I mean to say here is, outside of his grandparents, Perry’s birth family does not have his best interest at heart. They have little to do with him at all throughout his life, unless it is to cheat him out of something. And, while Perry’s gullibility leads him to give these blood relations more than their due, the family he really cares for are the ones who are of his own choosing.

Keith is a great character because he is both flawed and noble. Perry picks Keith as his best friend, but really it is so much more than that. And perhaps this relationship has as much to do with Keith picking Perry. The thing I adore in their relationship is that Keith is so lost himself, so much of what he’s become, and let himself become, is lower than his potential. So we have this guy who drinks too much, swears too much, is a bit less than respectful about the female form, and has essentially given all of his dreams away because his heartache at losing his family and surviving the war makes him unwilling to try. Then you have Perry, whose mental ability is limited through no fault of his own and society is constantly telling him that he can’t - yet Perry does nothing but try. He tries his hardest no matter what job he’s working on and he takes pride in his accomplishment, but more than that, he takes pride in his contribution...

So these two characters, to me, balance each other out. Keith watches over and looks out for Perry in a way he wouldn’t even look out for himself, and Perry gives Keith a family; one he didn’t even know he still wanted...

Themes of family run heavy in this novel and I also love our small interactions with Gary’s family. They, too, become a family for Perry and, by extension Keith and Cherry.

Cherry is probably the character you’ve all been waiting for me to address because I think there are likely some differing views on Perry’s relationship with Cherry, before and after Keith’s passing... All I can do is offer my own sensibilities, though I’d love to hear everyone else’s too. I thought Perry’s crush on Cherry throughout made him a fuller and more concrete character. It was one more thing that smacked of reality and gave me something to both identify with and feel for him over. I loved Keith and Cherry together, I thought they brought something to each other that was sorely missing from each of their lives before... though, I have to admit, Cherry’s age and family situation made me wonder somewhat whether it was fair for Keith to get involved physically at that point in her life... I didn’t read it as Keith taking advantage or even thinking about taking advantage – I read his feelings as genuine. But my personal perception can’t help but come into play in a book that pulls me so far in, and at the point where they were obviously serious, my thoughts were that it was a bad idea. My thoughts were that when Cherry grew more mature and had some distance from her abusive father, and became more of her own person, she might realize that her love for Keith was more of that as a little girl looking for a protector, and not a true partner and equal... None of this discounts my love for the book. On the contrary, I think when you go that far into psychoanalyzing characters; the writing must have made them astoundingly real.

Cherry’s relationship with Perry after Keith’s passing. I have to say, it’s not the ending I would have chosen (mighty disclaimer – it’s the author’s right to choose, and I don’t like a lot of what real life dishes out, either... it didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the novel, obviously), not because I wanted Perry to live a celibate alone life, but because Cherry so obviously settled for Perry because Keith was not there. I wanted Perry to have a wife that adored him, first and foremost, and I almost felt like they wound up together because of an odd turn of events rather than a true romantic connection. I was happy that Perry was happy and I was happy to see him involved with both Cherry and Keith’s baby. I adored seeing Perry get his puppy and be a father and businessman. But that is, of course, my own sensibility. Now I’d love to hear yours....