Alyson Bernero

The Lottery in Babylon was an interesting story that truly fits the saying, damned if you do, damned if you don't. The people of Babylon were told to enter themselves into the lottery or be deemed as cowards by the rest of the population. Those who chose to enter themselves in the lottery paid a fee much like lotteries still existing today, however the reward was much different. The outcome of the lottery was in most cases death. This caused me to wonder, why anyone would allow themselves to possibly be killed? If the consequence to not entering was being considered a coward I would surely take the new nickname.

Michael Lampasona

This story is about a lottery that takes place in Babylon. At first, the lottery seems like any other lottery - whoever wants to enter must pay a fee and is granted a chance to win a pooled prize. This lottery is run by "the Company." Eventually the lottery evolved, and those who entered were given a chance to win a pooled some or be penalized. More and more people ended up entering the lottery, because if a man did not buy a ticket he was considered to have no spirit of adventure. Eventually, the picked "loser" of the lottery was forced to serve jail time. The lottery gained popularity, and in time the reward became not being penalized - with death.

I thought this story was interesting. Borges talks about his common theme of infinity towards the end of the story. I certainly would not like to participate in this lottery, but then again if I lived in Babylon I wouldn't have a choice.

Janie Cherestal

I thought that the story “The Lottery in Babylon” was a little strange in that the lottery that is meant to reward people was turned into a system that can lead to one’s death, yet the characters of the narrative continued to participate in it to avoid being called a coward. I have never been in such a situation, but I imagine that in the face of being called a coward or possibly being killed, I would pick being called a coward. In the story, the risk that one put in playing the lottery were meant to reflect the chances of everyday life, and how one day we may find luck, and on the next disaster- an idea that I felt was pretty interesting.

Elisabeth Jeremko

For Borges’ story, “The Lottery in Babylon”, I was immediately enthralled within the first paragraph. Borges jam-packs emotions, philosophies, poetry, mathematics, and belief-systems all into one paragraph. Some sense of hierarchy or difference between this narrator to others. I love how Borges uses such images as being invisible and the moon in conjunction with the idea of knowing uncertainty. Furthermore, I think its neat that Borges then goes on to attribute this uncertainty and all other qualities mentioned in the first paragraph to the Lottery. By organizing the story in such a way, the Lottery is pronounced to be of great significance, without the reader even realizing how it operates or what exactly it is. This is an example of how Borges can add complexity to a short story. I really like how Borges presents the discourse of chance and the possibility of a God-driven series of incidents through the whole organization of the Company and the Lottery. I am still confused as to what the Company itself represents and if it is painted as completely positive or negative. “That silent functioning, like God’s, inspires all manner of conjectures” ( Borges, 106) makes the Company seem neither good nor bad. Does Borges not really even make a judgment here in this story? Or is the Company criticized? This I am still not really sure.