In "The Lottery in Babylon" Borges raises the issue of chance, fate, and more importantly the issue of the chaos in the society. At first, the lottery was what it is today: a game of chance, and in that game players risk no more than a few copper coins and that was about it. However, the public was indifference to that kind of lottery made the merchants who founded these lotteries to lose money. For this reason, there were some reforms to the lottery, like the prize of winning a double sum and sometimes to pay a substantial fine. This slight danger awakened the public interest. Over the years it gets increasingly important for the society up to a point where it starts deciding the fate of the population.
The Babylonians were so passionate with the game that every time that they have the opportunity of risking something they did, and the lottery begin to succeed. The lottery gave people a share of hope, determining the luck, happiness or misfortune, of each person, making the men cherish their hopes of winning.
With the passage of time and through a series of seemingly unfair situations playing the lottery was a necessity; this is why in Babylon it appears the Company, which governs the laws of chance. The company was so successful that it became part of the lives of citizens, and not in a good way. The lives of the Babylonians are organized around passion, risk, the expectation to what the future holds, the fate from an order of causes and effects, and a consistent behavior of rewards and punishments.
The worst part is that this chaotic society begin to discriminate people who did not play, consequently, little by little the lottery which started as a game began to handle random people's lives. Surprisingly, the more negative consequences the more success that the lottery has. ''the consequencces were incalculable.........an unlucky draw: mutilation,dishonor of many kinds, death itself'' (page 103)
It is clear that Borges is criticizing the idea of a society that gave the power to a game to lead the life of a society even if it has terrible consequences like: mutilation, discrimination, and death itself. Babylonians are so hooked on the lottery that they have lost many things, this can also be seen in these times, how many people there who lost property in games like this or similar to the lottery?
With the passage of time and through a series of seemingly unfair situations playing the lottery was a necessity; this is why in Babylon it appears the Company, which governs the laws of chance. The company was so successful that it became part of the lives of citizens, and not in a good way. The lives of the Babylonians are organized around passion, risk, the expectation to what the future holds, the fate from an order of causes and effects, and a consistent behavior of rewards and punishments.
The worst part is that this chaotic society begin to discriminate people who did not play, consequently, little by little the lottery which started as a game began to handle random people's lives. Surprisingly, the more negative consequences the more success that the lottery has. ''the consequencces were incalculable.........an unlucky draw: mutilation,dishonor of many kinds, death itself'' (page 103)
It is clear that Borges is criticizing the idea of a society that gave the power to a game to lead the life of a society even if it has terrible consequences like: mutilation, discrimination, and death itself. Babylonians are so hooked on the lottery that they have lost many things, this can also be seen in these times, how many people there who lost property in games like this or similar to the lottery?
In "The Lottery in Babylon" Borges raises the issue of chance, fate, and the issue of chaos in the society.
ReplyDeleteAt first, the lottery was what it is today: a game of chance, and in that game players risk no more than a few copper coins and that was about it.
However, the public was indifferent to that kind of lottery. For this reason, the merchants who founded these lotteries lose a lot of money. Consequently, there were some reforms to the lottery like the prize of winning a double sum, and sometimes to pay a substantial fine. Interesting enough, this slight danger awakened the public interest. Over the years the lottery becomes increasingly important for the society up to a point where it starts deciding the fate of the population.
The Babylonians felt so passionate about the game that every time that they have the opportunity of risking something they did, and the lottery was a total success. It gave the people a share of hope, determining their luck, happiness, or misfortune.
With the passage of time and through a series of seemingly unfair situations playing the lottery was a necessity; this is why in Babylon it appears the Company, which governs the laws of chance.
The company was so successful that it became part of the lives of citizens, and not in a good way.
The Babylonians were organized around passion, risk, expectation to what the future holds, the fate from an order of causes and effects, and a consistent behavior of rewards and punishments.
The worst part is that this chaotic society begin to discriminate people who did not play, and as a reason, little by little the lottery which started as a game began to handle random people's lives.
Surprisingly, the more negative the consequences, the more success that the lottery has. ''...the consequencces were incalculable.........an unlucky draw: mutilation,dishonor of many kinds, death itself'' (page 103)
It is clear that Borges is criticizing the idea of a society that gave the power to a game to lead the life of a society even if it has terrible consequences like: mutilation, discrimination, and death itself.
Babylonians are so hooked on the lottery that they have lost many things, this can also be seen in these times, how many people there who lost property in games like this or similar to the lottery?