What is a Lottery?

The casting of lots for decisions and destinies has long been a practice of mankind, with examples dating back to Moses’ instructions on dividing land and Roman emperors giving away slaves. Modern lotteries are a form of gambling where participants purchase tickets in order to win a prize, usually money. It may be argued that a lottery differs from other forms of gambling because the chances of winning are not fixed by skill and depend on pure chance. However, it is important to note that the word “lottery” does not refer only to the drawing of numbers for prizes – it also encompasses any competition in which the prize money is awarded through a process that relies wholly on chance, even if later stages require some skill or knowledge to participate.

The opening scene in Shirley Jackson’s story, The Lottery, is filled with light and happiness; children play, people talk, and flowers are blooming. This is a stark contrast to the last two paragraphs, which focus on brutality and murder. This is one of the main themes in Jackson’s work, showing that alongside – or perhaps instead of – love and kindness in our societies there exists a base biological drive towards destruction and violence.

The popularity of lotteries accelerated in the 1980s, fueled by a sense of growing economic inequality, a new materialism that asserted anyone could become rich with enough effort and luck, and popular anti-tax movements that led lawmakers to seek alternative sources of revenue. The growth in lotteries also coincided with a change in public attitudes, with critics arguing that the industry promoted unhealthy habits and had negative consequences for society (compulsive gamblers, poor people who gamble heavily, etc).