The Lottery Rose

The following day, Timothy tells Georgie that Mrs. Harper threw his rosebush into the playground and has requested an immediate meeting with Sister Mary Angela. Georgie confesses to Sister Mary Angela that he planted the bush in her garden the night before. Georgie retrieves the rosebush and crosses the road into the garden, seeing that he had damaged some lilies the night before. Mrs. Harper scolds him for damaging the lilies her husband planted and angrily tells Georgie that if he plants the rosebush in her garden again, she will burn it. Georgie shrieks and shouts that he will burn her house down and kill her. As he begins to sob, Georgie’s shirt slips down enough for Mrs. Harper to see the festering wounds on his back. She tries to touch them and ask what happened, but Georgie pulls away and claims that only the doctor can look at his back. Mrs. Harper runs across the street to get Sister Mary Angela. Georgie collapses in the sun’s heat and awakens when he realizes Mrs. Harper is carrying him to his bed.

Georgie’s wounds are infected, and he languishes for days in a fevered sleep where awful dreams about Mrs. Harper plague him and fill him with fear and resentment. When he awakens, Mrs. Harper is by his side, but even though Sister Mary Angela tells him that Mrs. Harper has cared for him during his illness, he still fears she will destroy his bush and demands that she leave the room. Mrs. Harper lets Old Eddie, the gardener, plant the rosebush in her garden, but Georgie doesn’t believe her and claims that Mr. Collier made her do it. Later, Sister Mary Angela takes Georgie into the choir loft, where she says she talks to God when she is confused about all the evil in the world. Georgie says everything is terrible, “but [his] rosebush. It’s good” (85). Sister Mary Angela plays the organ, and the beautiful music that fills the church makes Georgie happy.

When Georgie is strong enough to go outside, they take him to see the rosebush, but he’s too weak to see it up close. Timothy tells Georgie that Mrs. Harper was once a kind woman before the death of her husband and son. Paul and Timothy were friends and they used to swim in the lake together and take Robin to feed the ducks. They had planned to build a birdhouse together, but Paul died before they could finish the project. Georgie can tell that it makes Timothy sad to talk about Paul. As he becomes more restless to see his rosebush, Sister Mary Angela promises Georgie he can visit it the following day.

Mr. Collier reads aloud to Georgie and Robin. Georgie listens intently to the story about a boy whom all the adults in his life mistreat. The boy goes into the woods to sing when he is sad. Mr. Collier says Old Eddie watered the rosebush, and Georgie can’t wait to visit it the next day. Mr. Collier says the rosebush will be happy to see Georgie since it is “sensitive” like him. Georgie is excited to learn a new word and asks if he can keep the book about the singing boy so he can practice reading. After Georgie reads one line, Mr. Collier realizes that Georgie isn’t illiterate and that his reading struggles stem from the adults’ cruelty, not from his lack of ability. Mr. Collier says the book belongs to Mrs. Harper, and Georgie no longer wants it. After Georgie refuses to keep the book, Mr. Collier suggests they write their own stories, and he helps Georgie compose a story about the rosebush. He includes everyone in his story except Mrs. Harper. Mr. Collier reminds him that she provided the place to plant the rosebush. Mr. Collier and Robin leave, and he promises to continue helping Georgie write stories and learn to read.

Georgie happily tells Sister Mary Angela that he can read. She considers all the awful labels the school gave Georgie, like “inattentive, destructive, filthy, incorrigible” (99), and realizes that all of Georgie’s academic struggles came from his trauma and neglect. Sister Mary Angela is hopeful Judge O’Neill will procure funding to allow Georgie to remain at the school. She leaves his door open so he can hear the music from chapel services. The music surrounds Georgie like a comforting blanket, and he dreams of his future.

Judge O’Neill gifts all the boys inflatable mattresses, and Timothy persuades Sister Mary Angela to allow Georgie to join them for a campout. Georgie enjoys the boys’ banter around the campfire, though he notes their tall tales aren’t the same lies he used to tell. When one boy named Richie makes fun of Robin for loving the birds at the lake, Timothy tells him to shut up, and another boy reminds Richie that Paul wouldn’t have liked them making fun of his brother. Georgie awakens before dawn and can’t resist checking on his rosebush. He crosses the street and embraces the shrub, telling it about his newfound literacy and imagining it listening. Georgie falls back asleep, still clutching his rosebush.

This chapter is told from Robin’s point of view in close third-person narration. Robin awakens in his crib and thinks that Amanda, Robin’s caretaker, doesn’t like getting up early. Robin remembers his older brother Paul and how much he loved being with him. Paul took Robin to the lake to feed the ducks and encouraged him to try to say words. Sometimes, Robin got frustrated with Paul, like when he tried to read to him instead of taking him to the lake. Robin remembers the day Paul left with their father in the car and never came home. He thought Paul was playing hide-and-seek with him, but he could never find his brother. Robin thinks about Grandfather taking him to visit the boy at the school and how he reminds him of Paul, but his face isn’t the same. Robin likes looking at books with the boy. Robin escapes from his crib and thinks about how Paul would have been proud of him and would have called him a “big boy” (118). Robin sees the boy in the garden through the window and a lady helping him walk. This reminds Robin of how he struggles to walk sometimes, but Paul always helped him. Robin wants to play with the boy and bangs on the window to get his attention. Suddenly, Robin says, “Feed ducks. Feed ducks” (119).