An imaginative kingdom. A mysterious and secretive lottery company. Subversion of fate within an hour. A game of chance. These elements make up “The Lottery in Babylon,” a thought-provoking fantasy short story full of metaphors and symbols written by Jorge Luis Borges, a great, knowledgeable Argentine poet and author with a unique writing style. But these are far less than the story’s essential purposes and messages. Instead, it portrays aspects of humanities and the development of different political systems and social structures through delicately designed symbolism and beautifully poetic language.

In the story, Borges imagined a fictional world named Babylon, and the story starts with the narrator talking about the history of the lottery company in Babylon. The lottery has a simple procedure with meager rewards and no punishments. However, when establishing this lottery system, few people are willing to attend the game. Therefore, the managers of the lottery company alter the rules. The rewards become more substantial, but what comes along are harsh punishments. Surprisingly, this change arouses people’s interest, and the new lottery system soon becomes popular throughout the kingdom. People are seen as cowardly if they do not attend the lottery game.

This short story follows Borges’ consistent writing style: creating a fictional puzzle, drawing the readers to dig deeper and deeper, and finally surprising us with treasures of thought-provoking philosophical ideas. The success of the new lottery system reveals two main characteristics of humans: schadenfreude and pursuit of uncertainty.

Although people have higher opportunities to receive terrifying penalties after the lottery's change, their passion and willingness to attend become more robust. This is due to a human’s habit to look at others' pain and secretly rejoice that it isn’t themselves who receive the punishment. No one remembers that before the change, there were no punishments at all. Pursuing uncertainty is another part of human nature. Instead of living safely and stably, many people have the imperceptible wish to take risks and try on chances. This characteristic is the root of lottery and gambling games.

Meanwhile, further development of the lottery system also symbolizes the changes in political systems and social structures, as well as the mechanisms beneath both, all being portrayed secretively but delicately by Borges’ exquisite writing skills. Finally, the lottery company is a symbol of the centralization of power. Its authority to punish and imprison citizens is given by all the lottery buyers, or citizens themselves.

Adding punishments to the lottery system is similar to the change from the pre-industrial age to the capitalistic society where the difference between rich and poor becomes more severe. As a result, some capitalists wallow in money, while some lose everything and commit suicide or be imprisoned due to their debts. Moreover, in the beginning, the lottery is only for people from the middle and upper classes. Consequently, people from lower classes start arguing that they should also hold the right to buy lotteries, asking for both the opportunities to coin money overnight and penalties and misfortune. Eventually, after conflicts and fights, everyone can buy lotteries freely. However, the initial public process turns into a secret system, with no one sure about the mechanism behind the rewards and punishments.

Here, the lottery system can be seen as voting or citizen rights. The final stage, where everyone can buy lotteries for free, is a symbol of democracy. Finally, all citizens receive the right to vote and attend political activities after revolutions and wars. The political processes, however, become less transparent and much more complicated, involving the interests and backgrounds of multiple parties. The exploration of different interpretations of the symbols is one of many interests when reading Borges’ short stories: we can substitute the plot and elements with symbolic meanings, and there are no right or wrong answers. Borges is probably being ironic in this sense. As an anarchist, he dislikes corruption and tangles between political parties.

As the story continues, some Babylonians realize that the lottery system can be deceitful and that the happiness gained from the lottery rewards is always temporary. This realization rattles the lottery company, and it uses “suggestion and magic” to manipulate group psychology—the politicians’ blandishments. Religion is also one of their means. By using ambiguous sentences and phrases from the sacred scriptures, the lottery company attempts to justify its policies and behaviors and pacifies the public’s unease.

Borges ends the story with people’s different guesses about the mysterious lottery company after a long period. Some say the company has disappeared for years, that "the sacred disorder in our lives is purely hereditary"; some believe the company is omnipotent but only attempts to influence tiny details; some argue the company never has and will never exist… These hypotheses can all be interpreted in various ways. They are ruminations about the universe and explorations of human history. They are curiosities about the root of society and are wonders of human fate.

In conclusion, “The Lottery in Babylon” is a masterpiece of metaphor and symbolism, a brilliant fantasy short story with poetic language, and a profound portrayal of humanity and society that is worth interpreting several times. It will be especially interesting for people who enjoy solving puzzles and exploring meanings and messages beyond the literal layer.