When Shirley Jackson’s chilling story ’The Lottery’ was first published in 1948 in The New Yorker, it generated more letters than any work of fiction the magazine had ever printed. Readers were furious, disgusted, occasionally curious and almost uniformly bewildered.
The drawing of lots to determine ownership or other rights is a process that has been around for centuries. It is mentioned in the Old Testament and Roman emperors used it to give away property and slaves. It was brought to America by British colonists and became a major source of revenue for towns, wars and public-works projects.
In most of the United States, state governments have a legal monopoly on lottery games and use their profits to fund government programs. They operate a large number of games and offer prizes in many different forms. The most common prizes are cash or goods, but they can also include sports teams or real estate. In some cases the prize is a chance to meet and play with celebrities.
The most popular type of lottery is the one that gives out cash prizes to paying participants. However, there are other types of lotteries, such as a lottery for kindergarten placement at a reputable school or a lottery for occupying units in a subsidized housing block. The NBA holds a lottery to determine the order of its draft picks for each season. This is a way to give each team the opportunity to choose its best players without spending its entire salary budget on just one player.