A lottery is an arrangement wherein prizes are awarded to participants by chance. There are many different types of lotteries; examples include those for housing units in a subsidized apartment complex, kindergarten placements at a public school, or cash prizes. Most of these are organized by state governments, but some are private or church-based. Historically, the lottery has been used as a source of funds for both public and private projects, such as roads, canals, libraries, colleges, hospitals, etc.
One of the important themes in Shirley Jackson’s story is the role of tradition. She portrays how people in this fictional community blindly follow the custom of the lottery and that tradition is so strong that even the rational mind of Tessie Hutchinson cannot persuade her family to change their ways.
Another theme that Shirley Jackson discusses is the way in which gender roles are portrayed. The fact that women do not play a crucial part in the lottery shows how male-dominated this society is. Tessie’s brother and sister do not show any loyalty towards her and their only concern is self-preservation. This reveals that families do not have an emotional bond in this culture, only a logical one.
Some modern lotteries allow players to indicate a group of numbers on their playslip or use a random betting option where the computer will randomly select a set of numbers for them. This allows the bettor to avoid selecting his own numbers, which could result in a lower probability of winning. The bettor will usually pay less money to enter the lottery with this option. For some individuals, the entertainment value or other non-monetary gains obtained by playing the lottery may outweigh the disutility of a monetary loss and make the purchase of a ticket a rational choice for them.