The Lottery is a 2002 novel by

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

author

Beth Goobie Beth Goobie (born 1959) is a Canadian poet and fiction writer. Life Beth Goobie grew up in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. After working one year in Holland as an au pair, she spent the next four years earning a B.A. in English Literature from the Univ ...

. The book was first published on October 1, 2002, through

Orca Book Publishers Orca Book Publishers is a Canadian company that produces books for children. Organization Orca Book Publishers was founded in 1982 and is based in Victoria, British Columbia. Orca primarily published children's literature, printing usually arou ...

Characters

Sal Hanson The main protagonist. Shadow Council A school club designed to choose one victim or "lottery winner" who will do their bidding's and be discriminated against throughout that entire year. Brydan Sally Hanson's best friend, wheelchair user and likes jazz. Kimmie Sally Hanson's best friend. Dusty Hanson Sally Hanson's brother. Willis Cass President of Shadow Council

Synopsis

In The Lottery Beth Goobie tells the deeply disturbing yet timeless story of the scapegoat. The mechanics of the

scapegoating Scapegoating is the practice of singling out a person or group for unmerited blame and consequent negative treatment. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals (e.g., "he did it, not me!"), individuals against groups (e.g ...

procedure in this case are tidily explained in the novel's opening lines: “Every student at Saskatoon Collegiate knew about the lottery. It was always held in the second week of September, during Shadow Council’s first official session. Rumor had it that a coffin containing the name of every S.C. student was placed in front of the blindfolded Shadow president. The lid was lifted, the president dipped a hand among the shifting, whispering papers, and a name was pulled.” Following the draw, the “winner” is shunned for the entire school year. Friendless, isolated, and quickly demoralized, the student becomes a stooge of the Shadow Council, a group that disguises itself as a service organization but is really an intimidation ring.

Themes

''The Lottery'' deals with themes of

friendship Friendship is a Interpersonal relationship, relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. Althoug ...

romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, d ...

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

in school and

peer pressure Peer pressure is a direct or indirect influence on peers, i.e., members of social groups with similar interests and experiences, or social statuses. Members of a peer group are more likely to influence a person's beliefs, values, religion and beh ...

. Comparisons have been made between the themes and story lines in Shirley Jackson's ''

The Lottery "The Lottery" is a short story by Shirley Jackson that was first published in ''The New Yorker'' on June 26, 1948. The story describes a fictional small American community that observes an annual tradition known as "the lottery", which is int ...

'' as well as to Brutus's involvement in the murder of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

in Shakespeare's play.

Reception

Critical reception has been mixed to positive, with ''Kliatt'' giving the book a positive review and marking it as one of their "Editors' choice" for 2003. The

Quill and Quire ''Quill & Quire'' is a Canadian magazine about the book and publishing industry. The magazine was launched in 1935 and has an average circulation of 5,000 copies per issue, with a publisher-claimed readership of 25,000. ''Quill & Quire'' reviews ...

gave a positive review for ''The Lottery'', calling Goobie's style "baroque and edgy". The

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

and

Horn Book Guide ''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietors of t ...

also reviewed the book, with the School Library Journal praising Goobie's writing while criticizing the "plethora of disparate plot elements".

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

also gave a mixed review, stating that at points the book had "heavy-handed symbolism and extraneous detail" but also raised "potentially provocative questions about free choice, self-knowledge and guilt".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lottery 2002 Canadian novels Canadian young adult novels Novels about lotteries Novels set in high schools and secondary schools Novels set in Saskatchewan Works about harassment and bullying Orca Book Publishers books