Jack Fahrnow 5/23/23 The Nature of Control and Fate in “The Lottery in Babylon” “The Lottery in Babylon” by Jorge Luis Borges’ is a really good narrative short story that pokes into a tangled relationship between control and fate within the foundation of a society consumed by a flip of a coin (or chances for short). Using the literary elements that were used in class, such as plot, characterization, narration, and language, Borges’ story explores the theme of jeopardizing chances. This long form essay will inspect the story, drawing evidence from these literary elements to support the explanation that this short story serves as a warning, the danger of hazardous chances to earn something big or lose it all. The plot of Jorge Luis Borges’ story, “The Lottery in Babylon”, shows the change of lottery from being just a game to have fun with into a powerful organization that surrounds the Babylonian society. At first, the lottery provides a number of prizes but then progressively expands its scope to include rewards like wealth, power, and even control of someone's life. This change shows the increased dominance of change and the decrease in control of people over their own lives. The plot symbolizes the theme of abandoned businesses to an enormous force, showing the danger of jeopardizing chances. …show more content…
An inhabitant of Babylon was the narrator for this story and he serves as a typical resident in the Babylon population and responses to the lottery. The narrator is a disconnected observer, and hands the information to the reader the connections of the lottery’s impact. The people of Babylon are seen as both victims and violators, guiding and controlling their own lives or destroying other individual lives. The characterization highlights that the inhabitants of Babylon are stuck between ruining their own lives and hurting other people's lives because of