A lottery is a game of chance in which winners are selected by drawing lots. It is a popular form of gambling, encouraging people to pay a small sum of money to have the chance of winning a large jackpot–often administered by state or federal governments. Lotteries also are used in sports team drafts, the allocation of scarce medical treatment, and other decision-making situations.
In Shirley Jackson’s short story, the lottery takes place in a rural American village, and local customs and traditions are very much at the center of this event. The children assemble first, as they do each year, and are excited and anxious for the event to begin. Old Man Warner quotes an old proverb: “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.”
The first recorded lotteries to sell tickets with prizes in the form of money were held in the Low Countries during the 15th century to raise funds for town fortifications and help the poor. But the concept is much older, as shown by biblical references in which Moses is instructed to conduct a census of Israel and divide land by lot, and Roman emperors reportedly gave away slaves and property through a similar procedure.
Modern lottery games usually involve a pool of money, with the size of the prize depending on the number of tickets sold. The money in the pool is collected by the promoter and distributed to the winners, after expenses (profits for the promoter, costs of promotion, and taxes or other revenues) are deducted. Most lottery games have the option for players to mark a box or section on their playslip to indicate that they are not selecting any numbers and will accept whatever set of numbers is randomly picked for them by the computer.
