A lottery is a method of determining the winner of a prize by drawing numbers or names. This process is used in a variety of ways: military conscription, commercial promotions in which property is given away by a random procedure, the selection of jury members, and many other things. A lottery is considered gambling if the payment of a consideration (property, work, money) is required for a chance to receive the prize. Modern lotteries have become an extremely popular way of raising funds. They are easy to organize, inexpensive to operate, and popular with the public.
State lotteries have often evolved in a manner that is counterproductive to their stated purpose. They legislate a state monopoly; establish a state agency or public corporation to run the lottery (as opposed to licensing private firms in return for a percentage of the profits); start with a small number of fairly simple games; and, due to pressure for increased revenues, progressively add more complex games.
The short story, “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, is a classic tale of the problems with this type of policymaking. Its main theme is that we must be willing to stand up against authority if it is unjust, and we must always be willing to question the status quo. The author tries to demonstrate these ideas in her story by showing the characters’ reactions to the lottery. Tessie Hutchinson and her family are happy with the lottery at first, but then they begin to suspect that it is a corrupt system.