The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

The lottery is a form of gambling in which people pay for the chance to win a prize. Prizes may be money or goods. Modern lotteries are often run by state governments, with the prizes financed from revenues collected from ticket sales. They are common in many countries. Lottery participants must also pay taxes on their winnings. In the past, lotteries were used to distribute land, slaves, and other property, but most of these have been banned in modern times. Despite these criticisms, lotteries remain popular with a large portion of the public.

In the short story The Lottery,’ Shirley Jackson shows us how easily we can be blinded to our own self-interest by traditions and customs that seem to make sense. The life-death cycle archetypes weave throughout the story and the characters’ actions demonstrate human nature at its weakest.

At the start of the story, Tessie is late for the Lottery, which is held every year in her village. The head of each family draws a folded slip of paper from a box. One of the slips is marked black. If the head of a household draws the black slip, he or she must draw again for another slip. The lottery is an essential part of the community’s rituals, and the characters’ banter demonstrates their deep attachment to it. This ritual is also a sign of the village’s ignorance about the impact of lottery participation on the lives of its inhabitants.