Dear Oscar,

I hope you are faring well.

I do not think you will have encountered the phenomenon of the ‘lottery’ in your lifetime, certainly not to the extent that we do nowadays. You did have events called ‘sweep-stakes’, I know that, and there was also horse racing, and dog racing,and pigeon racing, and all manner of gambling opportunities. Cards were played for high stakes, and I would wager (to coin a phrase) that even popular and normal forms of intercourse at times involved the placing of a bet!

Now throughout many parts of the world we have national versions of lottery games, where very small amounts of money can be placed in the hope of winning riches beyond everyday comprehension. These are essentially state run, or at least privately run with state sanction, with arms of charitable donation attached and audiences of millions and millions. Vast numbers of people play them, place their bets, and spend interminable hours awaiting the outcome. Some win very big indeed, which is of course the lure, that life will be changed irrevocably by enormous riches. The build up is intense, with televised draws beamed into the homes of the nation, with celebrity endorsement, and then the random and automated selection of lucky draws that detail the numbers that will equal a jackpot. It is all very exciting, Oscar, and for many I would hazard a guess, is the most exciting moment in every week, where the anticipation built is suddenly released, and winning, or losing, is the outcome.

It set me thinking about surety and uncertainty. If you buy a lottery ticket you are sure of being entered in the draw, but there is uncertainty attached to the outcome, which may be success, or which may be failure. It is increasingly the case that all levels of surety are becoming less and less significant. You think that a university education will afford you a decent job and burgeoning career, but there is no guarantee, and for many a significant struggle to attain any level of economic security. You think because you marry the person you love that a lifetime of devotion and security is set, but as we witness everywhere, amongst heterosexual communities, and amongst the partnerships of gay people, and of those who nominate differently, splits and dis-unions are just as commonplace. You believe an investment is a good one, and then can lose money; you trust that banks are honest, but sometimes they are not; you invest in the rule of law, the sanctity of religion, the set patters of tradition, the map that you have been encouraged to stick to all of your life, and it can all go awry. It can all simply go, just evaporate, be nothing. You think that you are doomed to poverty and starvation, that your dreams will never be fulfilled, and that your hopes are mere fantasies – and then you win the lottery!

It seems to me that life is unavoidably a bit of a gamble. Things that seem set one day can change the next. Taking opportunities as they are presented, taking risks that are safeguarded and not a threat to personal well-being, acting rashly, at times impetuously, for a greater good, seem to me to be the mainstays of living a life.

You paid; I know you paid. Caught by history and social disapproval, by legal impediment. Your rash actions sent you into prison, and then into exile, I know all that, Oscar dear. Maybe it is no consolation that I write to you, that you are remembered in pockets of the world even to this day, that your works live on into their second century, and that yours is a voice still heard and considered. Maybe you did get your ‘big win’ after all, in life’s unending lottery, or maybe you lost out. Who can tell? You may have been disgruntled whatever the outcome of your time on the planet, or you may have been quietly jubilant and celebratory that you had made a mark.

There is a choice there.

Your friend, as ever,

Algernon B. Duffoure.