Character Analysis: The Devil's Arithmetic

The purpose about learning about the Holocaust is to spread awareness about it and make sure it never happens again. The Holocaust was one of the worst things to ever happen to mankind. The killing of Jews, disabled people, and literally everyone else who questioned the Führer. The Holocaust and how bad it was is the main idea in these two books: The Devil’s Arithmetic, by Jane Yolen. It’s about a girl who travels back in time and experiences the horrors of the Holocaust firsthand. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, a story told from the point of view from an eight year old as he lived right next to a concentration camp. It is also shown in two Scope Magazine articles; “Betrayed by America” by Kristin Lewis, which describes the

The Devil’s Arithmetic is gripping book that grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go. It is a book to helps children of this generation remember the horror the Nazis caused. It is important for us to remember the past. We should always try to remember. This book is to remember the chilling tale furthermore.

Authors in many instances use the main elements in the story such as setting and narrative to prove a point in the story. For example, writers often use characters, their actions, and their interaction with other characters to support or prove a theme. In the short story “Our Thirteenth Summer”, Barry Callaghan effectively uses characters to develop the theme that childhood is fragile and easily influenced. One of the ways that Callaghan makes effective use of characters to develop the theme is by describing the tension between Bobbie and his parents. This usage of characters supports the theme because Bobbie’s childhood is no longer free to do what he wishes, but has to bow down to his parents’

To cover the rudimentary understanding, Hannah, named after her aunt’s dead friend, is forced by her parents to attend a Seder at her grandparent’s house. She is allowed to drink wine and opens the door for Elijah, according to tradition. She speaks the words “Ready or not, here I come...” and is transported to the past. Hannah(Chaya to everyone else) tries to indicate she is from the future, but the people in the past(right around WWII) just shake their heads and think it is an aftereffect of a supposed illness that took Chaya’s parents. Hannah attends a

Hannah’s background as a Holocaust survivor is important for understanding the experience of the Holocaust. Her story provides unique insight on the Holocaust outside of concentration camps, dispels myths, and captivates the emotional aura of living during the Holocaust. Hannah’s story is one of resistance, danger, and the importance of family.

Imagine being a thirteen year old enjoying Passover with your family, until your transported to a Polish village in the year 1942. In the book The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen there is a thirteen year old, Hannah, or known as Chaya by the people in the village. Hannah is confused why the people are calling her Chaya. During a wedding in the village she is captured along with everyone else. They are all taken to to a concentration camp.

The Holocaust was one of the world’s major tragedies. If you were a Jew the Nazis would take you to concentration camp and you would have to do everything they said, you would get your head shaved, and be treated awful. Millions died. They would choose Jews to take to the gas chamber, usually the weakest and most unhealthy ones because they weren’t much good to work anymore. “Yolen, Jane. The Devil's Arithmetic. New York, NY, U.S.A.: Viking Kestrel, 1988. Print.”

I was pleased to have attended a lecture cosponsored by the Ethics Center, the Fresno State office of the president, the Fresno Bee and Valley PBS. The lecture began with Dr. Castro recognizing a few leaders on campus, including a past Fresno State president, Dr. John D. Welty and campus volunteer Mary Castro. Dr. Castro then mentioned a few things about Mr. Brooks stating that he is a columnist for the New York Times and an analyst for the PBS “News Hour” and NPR’s “All Things Considered.” Dr. Brooks also teaches at Yale University, one the finest university in the country. Dr. Castro continued by saying that he learned that Mr. Brooks office hours are from 9am to 1pm and how “cool” it sounded to him. I was surprised how many people attended the event. I was fortunate to find a seat. David Brooks mentioned how he has some remote roots in the Central Valley because his father grew in Chowchilla, CA but Mr. Brooks grew in New York.

Jimmy knows too well the agonies of abandonment. First, when his mother, Cecilia, ran away with Richard to pursue a better lifestyle. Then, due to his father’s, Damacio Baca, alcoholisms and violent behavior; he also had to leave Jimmy behind. In spite of the drawbacks from abandonment to being a maximum security prisoner in Arizona State Prison, Jimmy preserver’s the darkness of prison by overcoming his illiteracy. However Cecilia and Damacio is not as fortunate as their child; Cecilia is shot by Richard after confronting him for a divorce and Damacio chokes to death after he is released from the detox center(Baca 263). Therefore the most significant event in this section of the memoir, A Place to Stand by Jimmy Santiago Baca is the death of Jimmy’s parents.

The award-winning author, Luis Alberto Urrea, creator of The Hummingbird's Daughter, Into the Beautiful North, and The Devil's Highway, describes The Devil’s Highway which occurred in May of 2001, one of many that impacted the desert on undocumented immigrants. which is a desert located beyond Sonora, Mexico. It is a desert which few turn to in able to cross over. A group of illegal Mexican were left for dead after attempting to cross; they were left stranded after traveling for days in the wrong direction, through mountains, desert and only a small amount of water along with a few personal items. The Devil’s Highway name was set out to one’s belief “bad medicine” (5). Even though the desert is an obstacle itself, there are still other physical

In the middle of the novel, Chaya/Hannah was challenged by being forced into a labor camp and doing all these tasks in order to survive the day(s) she’s in camp. Her as well as her friends experience tragic deaths of close friends and relatives. But no matter who they have left,

She got on the boat with her cat and Nat ask her if she wanted to go too and go back to Barbados next time they went Kit just said no thank you. They started to leave and Kit yelled goodbye and Hannah yelled bye back. Kit walk home and her family worried bout her when she was gone and the people who said they were going to kill Hannah came as soon as Kit went in and sat down when they came Kit answered for her Uncle and she called her Uncle and they talk bout her. She was standing be hide her Uncle so they couldn’t see her and she move a little so she could see more and one of people pointed to Kit and said she was a witch so good man Cruff took her till

Trying to see through the haze of fear and grief seems impossible as Lacey turns to alcohol to numb the pain. The thought of living another day with her haunting memories is too much to bear.

There are times when the world needs a change. However, not a single person can make a diffrence on their own. There has to be more than one person in order to impact society at a global scale.

By the end of the novel Hannah began to doubt her self-identity because of the “snowball effect” which started with her having to move to a new town, and thus became socially vulnerable. This resulted in others creating a string of false gossip about her, which caused Hannah to shut people out on the assumption that