The Portrayal of the Nazi Party as the Company in The Lottery in Babylon

Written in 1941 by Jorge Luis Borges, The Lottery in Babylon expresses the writer's agnostic and anti-Nazi beliefs through the use of science fiction. Argentina, the home of Borges, supported the Axis powers during World War II. The symbolism Borges uses in the story, not a one-to-one representation, interprets several ways. This paper will focus on Borges' anti-Nazi perspective. The Lottery in Babylon takes place in a mythical city, with a historical name. The lottery began as a game initiated by merchants and enjoyed by the upper class of Babylon. As the Babylonian culture became bored with the game the entrepreneurs of the lottery could not afford to continue. A new clandestine entrepreneur took over the lottery and became known as the Company. A negative aspect was instituted into the lottery; a fine was imposed on the owners of certain tickets. If the unfortunate ticket holder refuses to pay the fine he or she faces imprisonment. This increased the popularity and the power of the lottery. The lottery became so popular that it became mandatory as a cultural norm and the Company became the all-powerful ruler of Babylon. All of society participates and accepts its rewards and consequences. The Company, by enticing the public to believe in a chaotic world and at the mercy of chance, grows into an empire. Borges, known for his philosophical writing rather than political writing (2); uses this science fiction short story, The Lottery in Babylon, to depict the manipulation of religion for use as a tool by the Nazi empire to gain support for the political party.

The evidence that the Company metaphorically rrepresents the Nazi Party begins with the title. Babylon, according to Dr. David Laraway a Professor at BYU, “. . . . i...

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Citations

(1) Borges, Jorge L. "The Babylon Lottery."(also translated as “The Lottery in Babylon.”) 1941. The Road to Science Fiction. Clarkston, GA: White Wolf Pub., 1998. 502-07. Print.

(2) Laraway, D. (2011). Borges and Company: The Corporate Body in 'La lotería en Babilonia'. Bulletin Of Spanish Studies: Hispanic Studies And Researches On Spain, Portugal, And Latin America, 88(4), 563-585. doi:10.1080/14753820.2011.583131

(3) Wagner, R. (2012). Afterword: The Lottery of Babylon, or, the Logic of Happenstance in Melanesia and Beyond. Social Analysis, 56(1), 165-175. doi:10.3167/sa.2012.560111

(4) Goodwin, B. (1984). Justice and the Lottery. Political Studies, 32(2), 190-202.

(5) Kurlander, E. (2012). Hitler’s Monsters: The Occult Roots of Nazism and the Emergence of the Nazi ‘Supernatural Imaginary’*. German History, 30(4), 528-549.