The Lottery is a short story by the American author Katherine Anne Porter. It was published in 1946, and was a bestseller. It explores the illogic of following traditions and rituals in order to win the lottery. It also warns against blindly following the odds and statistics, and explains that there is no such thing as a lucky number.
The story begins with the narrator and his family assembling for a lottery drawing. The men are dressed in suits, while the women are in dresses and skirts. They are standing around a black box that is being stirred. The men begin to argue over the winnings. A boy from the Hutchinson family takes a turn to draw, and the readers realize that they are all going to lose.
It is not just that people like to gamble, although there is that inextricable human impulse at work here. The real reason is that state lotteries dangle the hope of instant riches, and in this age of inequality and limited social mobility, it is a tempting prospect.
The fact that males are more likely than females to play the lottery reflects gender-related findings on gambling in general, as well as other correlated behaviors such as alcohol and drug use. However, the age pattern of lottery gambling differs from that for most other correlated behavior. This may be because the lottery has a different psychology, and in particular, is less stigmatized than gambling generally.