The lottery is a form of gambling in which players purchase tickets and then win prizes based on the results of a drawing. It is a popular pastime, attracting more than 80 billion dollars in total annual revenues in the United States. Americans spend most of this money on scratch-off tickets, but also on other games such as keno and video poker. Despite these large amounts of expenditure, the probability of winning is very low. Moreover, lottery winners often have to pay huge taxes on their winnings.
In the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the villagers of a small New England town gather to conduct their annual lottery. A man named Mr. Summers, who represents authority in the village, takes out a black box that has pieces of paper in it. Everyone – adults and children – get one piece of paper from the box. The villagers stay quiet and nervous. Then Bill Hutchinson looks at his paper and notices that it has a black dot on it.
The story is a warning against blind following of traditions and rituals that may be harmful to people. The villagers in the story are not even sure why they are holding a lottery but they continue to do so because that is what they have always done. People can get caught up in the ruthless pursuit of wealth that leads to self-destructive behavior. Despite these negative consequences, many people still love the lottery.