People often dislike someone because they are different. This then leads to outrage and confusion when the person makes a stand that changes the way of life. In the Witch of Blackbird Pond, a novel by Elizabeth George Spear, Puritans in the 1600s were similar in this way. Puritans do not understand people who were different from their religion. The Puritans do not understand Katherine Tyler, who goes by the name Kit, a girl from Barbados, who has moved to Connecticut to live with her Aunt Rachel, Uncle Matthew, and Cousins Judith and Mercy. On the Voyage from Barbados, A Puritan girl named Prudence Cruff drops her doll into the ocean. Puritans think that every event that occurs was controlled by God. Therefore, none of the Puritans on the boat make an effort to save the
Death, sickness, and torture among humans. The Germans were extremely cruel people during WW1. Jews were taken from their homes and put into concentration camps where they were forced to do work or die. In The Devil’s Arithmetic the tragedy and harshness of these camps was brought to life. Using real life details mixed with made up things, The Devil’s Arithmetic is a story full of suspense and truth that shows the pain and suffering in the camp. I believe that the book and the movie are good but the book is better. You can decide later.
Being identified as having a National Jewish Book Award for children 's literature the book The Devil 's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen’ is a historical fiction book about a Jewish family that changes with the flip of a page. Hannah travels back in time when her and her family are at a family dinner called the Seder about the Holocaust. Hannah had been forced out of their living space to go to a unknown place but rather than later, she figures out she is going to a concentration camp. While her and her family are at the concentration camp many of her friends and her family do not survive. Not only does this change Hannah from being a static character to a dynamic character it changes Hannah as a person because she goes from being selfish, scared,to relieved. However, it is not only Hannah that goes through this.
The Holocaust was a genocide that occurred almost one hundred years ago. As the number of survivors dwindles, it’s become more necessary than ever to remember. Books, documentaries, and other forms of media are one of the best ways to preserve history. However, some books and films are more true to history than others. Jane Yolen’s The Devil’s Arithmetic more aptly delivers the message of remembrance than Donna Deitch’s film adaptation of The Devil’s Arithmetic as seen through dehumanization, portrayed violence, and relationships.
Many times people take things for granted. For example, we think since food is always provided to us we shouldn’t be thankful for it, or for pure drinking water or even for our freedom. Most of society receive this benefits, and we assume everybody gets them too, unfortunately that is not the case. Not all people can afford these privileges. We may not perceive them as that on the contrary, we think of them as needs, and fortunately for us we can afford to enjoy them. However, in the past this was not the case for most people. Even today people can't afford them. In the Devil’s Arithmetic, Hannah a 13-year-old girl realizes this after a spiritual awakening at the end of the story.
Living in Colonial America is very different than any other part in the world, especially when they didn’t know what’s around them. Colonial America was very hard for the new pilgrims. Not only is it hard when they didn’t have houses set up, but also life was made harder during the winter when it was freezing outside. After they set up different town's life began to become a little easier. In the town of Salem, the Witch trials popped up around 1692 and made life hard again. Even though times were hard in Colonial America the Salem witch trials made it harder because of the danger it caused in the town of Salem.
As said by Louise J. Kaplan, “Adolescence represents an inner emotional upheaval, a struggle between the eternal human wish to cling to the past and the equally powerful wish to get on with the future”. In the story “The bicycle’’, by Jillian Horton, Hannah is going through her adolescent age which brings a lot of emotional changes in her life. Hannah was a very devoted, ignorant and hard working girl in the start of the story. When she was 15 years old she slowly changed and now wanted to be independent and didn 't like to follow the rules anymore. By the end of the story, she broke all the rules and wanted to follow her heart 's desires. In the story “The bicycle’’, by Jillian Horton, Hannah experiences a transition from an ignorant, obedient and disciplined child to a rebelling, disobedient and independent adolescent.
“All Jewish holidays are about remembering, Mama. I’m tired of remembering.” (4) In Jane Yolen’s novel, The Devil’s Arithmetic, Hannah says this as her family arrives to Seder and emphasizes the tiredness in her voice and how she feels like there’s no point in remembering, but by the end of the book, you can tell that the main theme is remembering. This impacts the book because it’s setting is in the place of the holocausts and is about Hannah, a girl who doesn’t care about remembering, and how she realizes that it’s important to remember because it can help you in many ways like recalling things that may help you in the future and learn things from the past.
During the colonial period many settlers came to the New World to escape persecution for their Puritan beliefs. Writers such as William Bradford, John Winthrop, Anne Bradstreet, and Mary Rowlandson all shared their experiences and religious devotion throughout their literature that ultimately inspired and influenced settlers to follow. This essay will discuss the similarities in Anne Bradstreet and Mary Rowlandson’s work as they both describe their experiences as signs from God.
Living in the second largest port, people say trade built Salem to be prosperous. However, the trade appears to deteriorate the equal society of first generation farmers, like me, and the fishermen. Luckily, living in the eastern section of the village has gained me prosperity through the richer soils unlike the less fertile western half of the village. Moreover, the western half of the village lost their political influence they once possessed. Most importantly, the western half is where the majority of the witches lives. Recently, chaos rages in the veins of puritans which originates from the fiery accusations of witchcraft. The tranquility in the village shattered when the Salem Village girls encouraged an African slave woman,
In Maycomb County, Alabama, on Halloween night, a girl becomes a young woman, and a boy becomes a man. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the Finch children realize that life is not always like the games they play.
In Puritan times, women and children held little to no power compared to men. However, Abigail Williams, a 17-year-old girl, obtains power through accusations of witchcraft. To keep her own secrets, Abigail accuses Tituba, a black slave, of witchcraft. Tituba frantically confesses to avoid being hanged, and she and Abigail list names of other women who they claim are witches. These accusations, which only grow throughout the play, give power to the accuser. Characters who confess and name other “witches” are viewed as glorious people who ultimately choose God over the Devil, giving them power over others in the village. In contrast, characters who deny witchcraft claims are disgraced. Accused witches who do not confess are convicted and executed
The people of Salem have been speaking nonsense, with rumors of witchcraft being practiced in the woods that night. Betty lays unawakened in the bed upstair.This whole situation has already got out of hand, we were simply sporting, thats it. Nevertheless, Betty needs to stop this nonsense now! Or will come in her room in the middle of the night with a pointy reckoning, I have no sympathy for her. It is blatantly obvious that poor little Betty is just putting on an act. I am in awe knowing that the naive townspeople actually believe this nonsense. Their mouth’s speak such nonsense such as, “ I saw Betty flying over the barn last night” . Meanwhile, my uncle is interrogating me non stop, speaking about how i have blush on my name. There is not one amount of blush on my name! Elizabeth is the reasoning for these accusations. Uncle is only concerned about my name because of his reputation. That's the only thing he truly cares about. I just need to get out of this damn town
Melina Marchetta uses a plethora of themes within ‘on the Jellicoe Road’ to establish the major characters. The themes of the text all revolve around self-discovery and identity, thus they link together to give readers an in depth understanding of the characters world. Ultimately, themes have the ability to create exceedingly complex characters, and Marchetta demonstrates this within the novel.
One of the most prevalent themes in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is that of obsession.