The Lottery
The Lottery offers a portrait of small-town American life as it might be, were the setting a real village and the characters ordinary people. The story reveals the character of each individual, primarily through their actions and their overall behavior in a particular situation. This method of characterization is known as the setting and action analysis. In the case of The Lottery, the setting is a small town, and the action is the lottery.
The word “lottery” is derived from the Dutch noun lot, meaning fate, and has been used for hundreds of years in order to raise money for a variety of public uses. In colonial America, for example, state-sponsored lotteries played a major role in paving streets, building wharves, and even helping to establish colleges. Lottery revenues were also a popular form of voluntary taxation for private ventures.
In modern times, lotteries are generally run as businesses with the goal of maximizing profits. This strategy leads to a continuous evolution of the game, as well as increased pressures on government officials to maintain and increase revenues. It also produces a host of other issues, such as the impact on compulsive gamblers and the alleged regressive effect on lower-income groups.
The background and setting of this story are similar to the setting of District 12 in the Hunger Games, a world where an annual event takes place that has unforeseen consequences for one family member. However, the underlying theme of the story is very different.