MRB - The Lottery

Throughout “The Lottery in Babylon” Borges uses binaries such as light/dark, chance/fate. These binaries were used as devices in order to support and better understand the themes of addiction to the lottery, and corruption and secrecy surrounding the Company that were used throughout the story.
When the lottery first began, it was mildly popular among the townspeople because it was exciting to have the chance to win some coins, but there was no risk involved so the popularity soon died out. There soon was a lot of public indifference towards the lottery until the risk level was raised and the unlucky draws were added and a fine had to be paid if you had an unlucky draw. These unlucky draws skyrocketed the popularity and, “Babylonians flocked to buy tickets.” This new popularity was due to the excitement that came with not knowing what your fate will be. Now that there is a chance of something bad happening to a participant, it makes the lottery more thrilling.
The people of Babylon soon became addicted to this lottery, but unfortunately the people who received the unlucky draws stopped paying their fines. This upset the other contestants so rather than a fine, the unlucky draws became automatic jail time. “It was the first appearance of non-pecuniary elements in history. And it was met with great success – indeed, the company was forced by its players to increase the number of unlucky draws.”
For some reason the lottery hit peak popularity when death became a possible result of an unlucky draw. Most reasonable people would have stopped playing the lottery, but the Babylonians were addicted to the thrill and continued to buy more and more tickets. People accepted the unlucky draws because they thought that it was their fate and there was nothing they could do about it.
Eventually the poor began to protest that it was unfair that they could not take part in the lottery because they could not afford it, “The fair and reasonable desire that all men and women, rich and poor, be able to take part equally in the Lottery inspired indignant demonstrations.” So the lottery was made secret, free of charge and open to all.
This was when the thought of corruption of the Company who ran the lottery began to run through the minds of the Babylonians, “Incredibly, there was talk of favoritism and corruption. With its customary discretion, the Company did not reply directly.” Nobody knew who was in the Company or even where they met. This sense of mysteriousness and secrecy reflects the dark side of the binary because the townspeople were kept in the dark about any knowledge of the company, “the Company with godlike modesty shuns all publicity. Its agents of course are secret.” The Company was very mysterious and seen as all powerful so the thought of corruption to the lottery upset many people. But despite the assumption of corruption, the Babylonians continued to gamble. The joy the townspeople got from the thrill of leaving their fate in the hands of someone represented the light in this binary. People were overjoyed when it came time for the lottery and this excitement gave meaning to many of their dull and meaningless lives. That is why the people became so upset when they heard of the corruption surrounding the lottery. They no longer thought that these decisions were left to chance, but they were predetermined and these rumors of corruption eventually forced the Company into secrecy.
The once celebrated history of the Company soon became tainted with fiction. Before the Company was know, the lottery represented light, and the joy that people got from participating. That’s why at the end of the story, Borges suggests that the Company has never existed at all, as an attempt to restore the light and destroy the darkness that now surrounded the Company as well as the lottery. The last line, “because Babylon is nothing but an infinite game of chance” shows that light has been restored and people are slowly moving on from the dark times of corruption.