What is a Lottery?
A lottery is a scheme for allocating prizes by chance. It can be a gambling game in which tickets are sold and winning numbers drawn, or a system of distributing public money for various purposes. Historically, it has been used as a means of raising funds for educational institutions and for other public charitable purposes. In the United States, state-sponsored lotteries are legal, but privately organized lotteries also exist. Lottery advertising is frequently deceptive, claiming that winning the jackpot will solve all of one’s financial problems; asserting that people who play the lottery more often win more; inflating the value of money won (lottery winners are usually paid in equal annual installments over 20 years, with taxes and inflation dramatically eroding the current value); presenting odds of winning as if they could be increased by buying more tickets; and so on.
Traditionally, state lotteries have operated like traditional raffles in which participants buy tickets for a drawing that takes place at some future date. However, lottery officials have also introduced new games that offer lower prize amounts and much faster turnaround times – such as scratch-off tickets. These games have proven extremely popular, and some state governments have come to depend on them for a significant share of their gaming revenues.
While many critics have argued that state lotteries are morally wrong, the fact is that they have become immensely popular, and are a major source of state income. Consequently, it is unlikely that they will be abolished any time soon.
The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is an acerbic critique of human nature and the futility of human endeavor. Set in a small, unnamed village in the months leading up to harvest, the story begins with a gathering of villagers for an annual lottery. Old Man Warner quotes an ancient proverb: “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.”
As the villagers chat and wait for the numbers to be drawn, Tessie Hutchinson, a Puritan woman of modest means, questions the propriety and fairness of the lottery and its tradition. The fact that her name is an allusion to Anne Hutchinson, whose religious dissent led to her excommunication from the Massachusetts colony in 1638, suggests that Jackson intends her character to be a metaphor for spiritual rebellion.
After a discussion of the morality of the lottery, the villagers vote and draw their tickets. A number of them choose to play for the grand prize, a cow or two, but most of them settle for a smaller prize. Several of the villagers express an interest in donating their prizes to charity. Tessie is among them, but she votes against giving up her ticket for a cow.
The story’s main theme is the futility of human efforts and the ubiquity of evil. The characters’ actions and interactions in the scene reveal how a small-town society of ordinary people can be turned into a cesspool of greed, envy, vengeance, and selfishness.
