The Devils Arithmetic-Book Report Essay, Research Paper

The setting of the story was in two places: 1.) the Bronx in New York, and 2.) in

Germany in a concentration camp. This story took place in the 1940s. I know this because

Chaya** (Hannah*) asked in the story, and this is what was said : ?Please, Shmuel, please.

What year is it?? ?They do not have the same calendar as in Lublin?? said Shmuel. ?Silly

child, it is 5701!? Fayge said. ?5701?! But this can?t be the future!?. ?I think the child means

loytn kristlichen luach, according to the Christian calendar.? said Reb Boruch. ?1942. It is

several days before Passover.? the Badchan said. This story took place in two time periods

1.) Where Hannah* (Chaya**) is standing in the doorway at her grandpas house–10

minutes, and 2.) in the concentration camp–3 months (?).

The point of view this story is told by is the authors, which I believe is third person

omniscient. I believe the author decided to tell the story by her point of view because this way

she could tell what everyone is thinking or feeling. This whole story would have been

one-sided if she, for example, told it from Gitl?s point of view because Gitl thinks she knows

everything.

There are two conflicts in this plot. 1.) Hannah* has to get back to her grandma?s

house because when she opened the door at Passover to let the prophet Elijah in, she

time-travels back to 1942 to Gitl?s house, and turns into Chaya**, and 2.) Hannah* , as

Chaya**, has to get out of the concentration camp before she gets killed. These conflicts would

be categorized as Man Vs. Himself. Chaya*** Vs. Hannah** . I think it?s Chaya*** Vs.

Hannah** because Chaya** is fighting to stay Hannah* and she is forgetting all of her

memories as Hannah*, but Chaya** is also letting go of Hannah*.

The sequence of events is 1. Hannah* go?s to Grandpa Will?s for Passover (Seder).

2.Hannah* gets to drink some watered-down wine, and it makes her sick and dizzy. 3.When

the goblet comes around to pour some wine into it for Elijah, Hannah* pours in all of hers

because it made her feel gross, but Grandpa Will thinks she?s just being generous, so he lets

her open the door for Elijah. 4.She goes to open the door , and when she does, she time-travels

to this so-called ?shtetl? in a house with her new family, but the house is owned by Gitl, a

woman that is Hannah*?s, now Chaya**, aunt. 5.Shmuel, Gitl?s brother, is getting married,

and Chaya** is just about to meet everyone. 6. Chaya** goes to the wedding and on the way

there, the whole shtetl see?s some men (German soldiers; Nazi?s), and Chaya** tries to tell

everyone who they are, but everyone thinks she is just lying. 7. The Nazi?s end up taking

everyone away and taking everything and putting them on a train for a few days- no where

to go to the bathroom, nothing to drink or eat, and no where to sit. They are brought to a

concentration camp and get their heads shaved and tattooed with numbers like J197224.

The J stands for JEW. 8. Gitl, Chaya**, Fayge, and Tzipporah were put in the same barrack.

9.Chaya** meets a girl called Rivka and they become good friends. Rivka is 10, and Chaya**

is 13. 10.One night, Chaya** and Gitl try to escape, but they didn?t. 11. One day, when

Chaya**, Rivka, Esther, and Shifre are at the water pump, a soldier comes by and tells them

that the commandant told him to pick 3 people that weren?t working to send them to get

killed. He chose Rivka, Esther, and Shifre, but Chaya** stopped Rivka and took her place and

they went to the gas ovens and……You?ll have to read it to find out what happened!

The characters I liked best were Rivka and Gitl. I liked Rivka because as soon as she

meet Chaya**, she was kind and helpful–?You must take good care of your bowl?, she

smiled, ?I call them Every Bowls because they are everything to us. Without the bowl, you

cannot wash, you cannot drink, you cannot have food. Memorize your bowl-it?s dents, its

shape. Always know where you have put it. There are no replacements.? She winked at

Hannah*. And I liked Gitl because no matter what she said or did, it always had a purpose.

What I liked most about this book is the descriptiveness and how at the end of each

chapter, the author leaves you hanging and wanting to find out what happens, so you just

turn the page and read on. I would definitely recommend this book to people who want to

learn about the Holocaust and what it was like because this book was very descriptive with

that.

Yolen, Jane.The Devils Arithmetic. New York: Puffin Books, 1988.