Importance Of The Lottery

Words: 770
Pages: 4
Open Document
Every person wants money, especially if making that money doesn’t include work. Imagine being able to get money by just a game of chance. The idea of having luck people get from making this money off of chance leads to things like gambling and dependency on the game itself. The lottery also being a game of chance has people relying on it for the possible luck of winning and hope of getting money. The lottery is not an ethical or effective way to raise revenues for education because it allows people to gamble, it targets those in challenging situations, and the money made from it rarely ends up going to things like educational funding and the profits actually given aren’t substantial.
The lottery gives people more opportunities and ways to gamble. …show more content…
On the other hand, the state depends on these people to have their lotteries keep going(Nelson). Specifically, “‘The heaviest players,’ Duke University economists Charles Clotfelter and Philip Cook have found, are ‘blacks, high-school dropouts, and people in the lowest income category.’”(Nelson). Truly, the people that bet the most are those of minority groups and challenging income and educational situations. For example, all kinds of people bet on the lottery, but only twenty percent of these people in these challenging situations make up eighty-two percent of the lotteries betting rates(Nelson). In addition, the mass majority of the people buying these tickets and making the profit for the lottery are people under difficult situations like tight budgets. Another example is the place of selling the lottery tickets, one being neighborhood convenience stores, entices people with low incomes that go there consistently to buy everyday items, to also buy the lottery tickets(Nelson). In fact, the states seem to know their demographic and sell where they know they will be and willing to buy the tickets. Overall the lottery system knows where and how to make the most money off of people and they succeed in doing
Show More

Related Documents: Importance Of The Lottery

The Importance Of Tradition In 'The Lottery'

people claim, usually turning their backs on the agony caused by their tradition. In the short story, The Lottery, Shirley Jackson shows how gormless people can be to follow a tradition while they clearly see how excruciating it is. The village talked about in The Lottery appreciated and followed their tradition but no one ever dared to criticize it- it had always been practiced. The lottery, whose name appears to be good, was an act of extreme cruelty. It was conducted each year just to shed innocent…

Words 693 - Pages 3

The Importance Of Stoning In The Lottery

did it as a tradition, religion, or as a form of punishment. In the short story “The Lottery” stoning someone every year was a tradition. Regardless if you were against stoning or not, it was going to continue to happen for years to come. If the town or government tolerated stoning there was not much you could do to change how they felt. Although the reason for stoning varies, the reason for it in “The Lottery” was based off of a tradition. Tradition is the transmission of customs or beliefs passed…

Words 624 - Pages 3

The Importance Of Individuality In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

terrible consequences. This is shown in the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. Individuality is what keeps this world going, and without it, nothing about our society or world would be the same. Firstly, without individual beliefs everyone goes through the same thoughts, same rituals, and the same routine over and over again. Nothing is ever petitioned against and nothing ever is argued as wrong. The reader can see this in “The Lottery” when no one questions the lottery’s wrongfulness. “Although…

Words 608 - Pages 3

Examples Of Foreshadowing In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson demonstrates through her appalling short story "The Lottery" the perils of following tradition without questioning the morality of such actions. The story takes place in a small village during the spring planting season. There is a reference to planting crops in the near future and the ritual of "The Lottery" seems to be geared around this time. Mr. Warner shares a short precept "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon" (Jackson 4). The saying seems to be the catalyst that’s driving the…

Words 285 - Pages 2

Tradition And Ritual In The Lottery

Research Paper: Tradition and Rituals in " The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson Tradition and rituals are values that bring families together. In "The Lottery", written by Shirley Jackson, there's an annual event that the villagers of the small town participate in. It's ran by a character known as Mr. Summers. The black box plays a significant role in the village due to the effects on the villagers. This involves a character fatal death sentence, disloyalty between characters, and the geographical effect…

Words 485 - Pages 2

Essay on The Lottery

In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery,” one of the main characters is Mr. Summers. “The lottery was conducted--as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program--by Mr. Summers.” Summers might be the busy body of the village, but he is not the protagonist of the story. Because he represents the status quo situation in the village, his presence in the story is one of the most significant symbols of “The Lottery.” Summers represents blind adherence to ritual, as he is in charge…

Words 647 - Pages 3

English: Short Story and Mr. Adams Essay

Alexandria belisa English 255 9 October 2014 “The Lottery” and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” The theme of “sacrifice” is integral to the author’s purpose in both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence. While the two authors use the idea of sacrifice in very different ways, the importance of sacrifice is clearly delineated. However, Jackson and Lawrence approach the theme from separate angles and with two very unique purposes in mind. This paper will…

Words 1081 - Pages 5

Similarities Between The Destructors And The Lottery

short fiction story “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson, the theme primarily focuses on the dangers of how people irrationally participate in traditions without second guessing why do they do them, in contrast, to the short fiction story “The Destructors” written by Graham Greene which theme focuses on how people lose their innocence while amid destructions, However, both stories have an underlining comparison of how human nature is dangerous if it is unchecked. “The Lottery” theme focuses on the…

Words 880 - Pages 4

Symbolism In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

Shirley Jackson’s fictional short story, “The Lottery,” contains both obvious and hidden symbols leading to the stories collective mentality theme. The stories flat and empty characters appear to the audience as everyday small-town people, but their surnames deserve a second glance. A stool and a box are nothing out of the ordinary, at least not the first time around, and as readers experience Jackson’s shock factor, they will take note of their symbolic nature. Each symbol, abundantly scattered…

Words 491 - Pages 2

Mending Wall And The Lottery

short story, “The Lottery”, is a story that depicts the village’s idea of a tradition. The people assembled and drew from the black box. The person who grabbed the paper with the black mark on it would be stoned to death, along with a member of their family. While some of the people like the idea of keeping the tradition around, others want it gone. Both Robert Frost and Shirley Jackson use symbolism and irony throughout “Mending Wall” and “The Lottery” to emphasize the importance of tradition to these…

Words 874 - Pages 4