The Devil's Arithmetic

Malana Smith Book Presentation 10-21-13 The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen When my father forced me to read this book in the fourth grade, I can honestly say I was not the least bit interested. For one, the title The Devil’s Arithmetic was a turn-off in of itself and I had never heard of its author, Jane Yolen. Since I was homeschooled at the time, my father chose this book as one of our reading assignments for English so it was non-negotiable- there was no I could have avoided it. Even though I literally judged the book by its cover, I came to find that it was one of the most enlightening and influential books within my childhood. It opened my eyes to the events of The Holocaust and showed me to appreciate what it was like to be someone of the Jewish culture. During the novel, The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, a young girl named Hannah is drudgingly attending a Passover Cedar with her family as she is asked to open the door and call for the prophet Elijah, a symbolic ritual within the Jewish practice of the Passover Cedar. When she opens the door, she has found that she has been transported back in time and now embodies the life of a young girl named Chaya. Though she keeps persisting that she is not Chaya and is, indeed, Hannah from Rochelle, New York, she is dismissed by her care takers, Gitl and Shmuel- the guardians of Chaya. Due to Cholera, Chaya’s family had apparently passed away, forcing Gitl and Shmuel to take care of Chaya, so they saw Hannah’s claims as hallucinations coping from the survival of cholera and the death of her family. While attending a wedding of family friends, Nazis arrive and demand that they go with the Nazis to be relocated. Hannah tries to tell Shmuel not to go with them because Hannah knows they will be sent to concentration camps. Even after Hannah’s objection, they agree to go with the Nazis and are sent to a concentration camp called Bergen-Belson. Hannah goes through many of the common traumatic events of entering a concentration camp such as the shaving of her hair and receiving a tattoo. She later meets a girl named Rivka who gives her advice on how to survive within the concentration camp. Throughout the rest of the novel, Hannah (now known as Chaya), watches many of her friends die and experiences things that no one would want to experience, giving a gruesome, but realistic view of what would it would be like to be a teenager in a concentration camp during World War II. At the end of the book, four girls, including Hannah (Chaya) and Rivka are standing by a water pump and talking as a Nazi comes up to them and tells them he needs three more girls to go to the gas chambers. He chooses everyone but Chaya and, in desperation, Chaya runs after Rivka. Chaya (Hannah) then takes Rivka’s red bandana off of her head and places it on her own and tells Rivka to hide, telling her that the Nazi will not know the difference between one Jew and another one (pg. 159). As Hannah and the two girls enter the entrance to the gas chamber, Hannah is then transported back to the future to the door she opened for the prophet Elijah. She then sits down at the table and sees a tattoo on her grandmother’s arm. Hannah then realizes that her grandmother’s tattoo matches that of Rivka’s and asks her grandmother about where she got received it. Her grandmother explains that she was in a concentration camp as a child and her life was saved by a girl named Chaya. Her original name was Rivka and, when she came to America, she changed her name. Once I had finished this book, I came to find that I honestly enjoyed it and thought that it an ingenious concept by the author. The idea that Hannah had saved her grandmother’s life and through that made it possible to create the opportunity for her own birth astounded me. This book has always stuck through me throughout my life and made me even want to be a great writer like Yolen to be able to impact a reader in such a way. The reader needs to be of a mature age to read this novel. Even though I found it absolutely interesting and a fantastic read, it is not for the faint of heart. I know I cried- a lot. Many young adults may find it an easy read, but it’s more of a moderate reading level for younger teenagers who are interested in a historical fiction piece. Many teenagers may like this book because it is an easy, interesting read, but also it is quite relatable. Hannah is of a younger age where she is rebellious against her parents because she feels like they do not understand her. Because of her age, she in the position that her parents decide what she does, which angers her because Hannah thinks she knows best. The book humbles the readers to realize why parents ask their children to do certain things and that it is for their benefit. This book also places the reader in a position to experience the Holocaust from a perspective they can understand. Since Hannah is younger, she has other people making decisions for her and, even though she was so young, the Nazis were no respecter of age or gender, which is a surprise to most kids who are so used to being stereotyped and addressed by their position or age. I am so grateful to my father for making me read this, even though I had such a bad attitude starting out. I love this book very much and have even learned to appreciate some of the Jewish aspects in my life, such as Passover, in order to celebrate how much Jews have been able to live through. It gave me a better perspective of what Jews really had to go through during the Second World War and how important it is to know the reality of the things they went to and appreciate the life I have.