The Lottery
Lottery is a form of gambling in which people pay money for the chance to win a prize, often a large sum of cash or a car. Some people play the lottery regularly, even though they know the odds of winning are low. They believe that the entertainment value of the game outweighs the disutility of losing money. This is a rational choice, but the fact remains that the lottery is a dangerous and addictive game.
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a short story that takes place in a small American village where traditions dominate the community. The villagers are all connected through this lottery, and each of them has a different role in the event. The theme of this short story is the importance of tradition in human life and how much it affects people.
People spend upward of $100 billion on lottery tickets each year in the United States, making it the most popular form of gambling in the country. The roots of this practice are ancient—in the Old Testament, God instructs Moses to take a census of his people and divide the land by lot; Roman emperors used to give away property and slaves through a kind of lottery called an apophoreta; and at Saturnalian feasts, hosts would distribute pieces of wood with symbols on them that were drawn to decide prizes.
Although critics have condemned the lottery as a tax on the stupid, it has become part of American culture and, in the hands of state governments, is a significant source of revenue. Those governments are also responsible for promoting the lottery and, in some cases, regulating it. But a number of questions remain, including whether state lottery games promote economic growth and how much people understand the odds of winning.
In recent decades, when legalization advocates have lost the battle to convince voters that a lottery was a silver bullet that could solve budget problems, they have shifted their strategy. Instead of touting the lottery as a way to float a state’s entire budget, they have focused on arguing that it would cover one line item, usually education but sometimes elder care or public parks or aid for veterans.
This narrower message makes it easier for supporters to convince voters that supporting the lottery is not like voting against education, for example. But it obscures the regressive nature of the lottery and the degree to which it disproportionately impacts poor and black communities.
The villagers in the story are aware of the odds and understand that the chances of winning are very low. Nonetheless, they play the lottery because it is the only way to be guaranteed entertainment. They do not realize that the lottery is a dangerous and toxic addiction, but they know they must participate in order to stay socially acceptable. This story reflects the many ways in which humans ignore the consequences of their actions. It is a tragic story of hypocrisy and evil in the human species.