The Devil’s Arithmetic, a novel by Jane Yolen, is very inspiring to me. It explains the feelings of not only just Hannah, but many others. It lets me know that in any situation, you can always persevere. Although this book can be sad, the sadness is powerful. It takes you to a whole new perspective of the Holocaust, not just through facts, but actually living it.
Could you picture around 6 million people? Now how would you feel if all of them were killed right now? All of them being killed because they were African American or they were Mexican. The Holocaust was when the Nazi’s led by Adolf Hitler persecuted, tortured, and killed people just because they were Jewish. People were separated from their families and gassed or burned just to keep up with how many people were coming into the camp, or just to amuse themselves.
Greed, lust, gluttony, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. Ever since the Middle Ages the Roman Catholic Church has portrayed flaws within humanity as the seven deadly sins. While this concept isn’t new, sins represent how evil can come in many different forms. True evil comes from within and is defined by an action committed with disregard for other living beings; or in other words self-interest. Self-interest is something all humans are born with and often synonymous to the seven deadly sins.
The Devil’s Arithmetic, one of my favorite books, is a historical fiction novel written by Jane Yolen. This novel is about how Hannah the main character goes through the daily life in a concentration camp, and she goes through the terror of seeing people get chosen and, taken away from their families to never be seen again. In order to survive Hannah has to make tough survival decisions and the important lessons that Rivka teaches Hannah; therefore, making these themes important to survival in the concentration camps. One main theme throughout the book is how she has to make some survival decisions. One decision she has to make is the decision to not speak out against the Nazi’s, for she might get chosen if she does.
The author uses Hannah’s personality traits to show the theme of the story of never lose hope in the most difficult times. For example, the narrator, the speaker of the story, “Early the next morning, Hannah began looking for the ivorybills and quickly discovered what a daunting task finding the birds was going to be. It was no wonder Mr. Tanner has gotten confused. There were no vacancies in the birdhouses”(Smith 27).
In the novel, a girl named Hannah (Chaya) shows us to not take for granted what the survivors of the Holocaust lost. In the book, Hannah is transported back in to time to WW2. Her “aunt” Gitl, was a very strong woman who took after Hannah. During this time the war was at its highest, and Gitl was talking about the Jews situation in all of this, “We Jews like to joke about death because it’s what you laugh at and make familiar no longer frightens you.”(p82). When Gitl says this she laughs through it to release the pain of knowing that she might not come back alive.
Throughout Geraldine Brooks's novel, The People of The Book, the Sarajevo Haggadah is used to reflect many aspects of personality in the characters Herr Mittl, Lola, Hanna, and Zahra and to help Ruth understand what her religion means to her. The Haggadah is used to reveal that Herr Florien Mittl is a liar. It also marks a significant change in Ruti’s life and helps explore what her religion means to her. The characters, especially the woman who are connected to the Haggadah are often much like Hanna in more than one way. Brook’s uses these characters to force the reader to think about how much they are like Hanna which helps the reader understand Hanna’s character better.
Run for your future. Run. Run. Run. And remember...untied the knot of the kerchief with trembling fingers…” Even though Hannah herself was terrified, she still tried to save Rivka.
This quality of Hannah’s is more evident as the story
Suddenly a mystery girl shows up with a secret that changed Finns world. Smith explores the idea that in times of affliction people can become different in the following ways. People ransacking the general store, The villagers not allowing Finn to leave for selfish reasons, Willow being in the care of Kas and Finn and Ramage taking Hope after the death of Rose. Exposure to a deadly virus can turn a town into narcissists.
In the short story, “Zolaria” the narrator and Hanna have an inseparable friendship. The two girls have been friends since they can remember, and nothing would ever break them apart. The main reason for the story is the two girls finding their own land “Zolaria” that they can rule over as princesses. They are the same in almost every aspect of life.
Hannah was a very hard worker and by working night and day she became very good at playing the piano. Hannahs talent was shown in the story when it was said that “[she] was playing the music of Beethoven and Liszt with proficiency’’(1). Therefore all these statements show that Hannah was a very devoted ignorant and hard working girl at the start of the
Schlink’s narrative uses techniques to enhance the reader’s sympathy for flawed characters through using motifs and symbolism to show Hanna’s vulnerability of illiteracy, characterisation, and imagery to raise feelings of sympathy for Michael, as to how he was mistreated throughout the novel. Narration, tone and juxtaposition were also used to evoke feelings of sympathy for both Hannah and Michael after the tragedy of Hanna ending her own life. Although the narrative is constructed to only see the firsthand perspectives of the protagonists, this induces the reader’s empathy as it allows them to clearly see the thoughts and feelings of the characters. Schlink has used a variety of these literary techniques to appeal to the reader’s sympathy and allows the reader to understand the complexity and the way in which power and authority in certain situations can corrupt a
The Book of Numbers also known as Bemiḏbar which means "In the desert/wilderness" in Hebrew, is the fourth book of the Pentateuch as referred to by Christians , and the fourth of five books of the Torah which is the what the Jews call the first five books of the Bible. Numbers gets its name due to the two-census taken; The first census in chapters 1-4 organized the people by tribes, for their journey ahead. The second census, in Chapter 26, counted the men 20 years and older who could serve in the army. The Book is thought to be written by Moses because he personally claims to have written Numbers 33
This makes the themes of belonging and family even more prominent. Foreshadowing is used within these flashbacks, as the events that occur in these begin to mirror those happening to Taylor. Readers discover that Hannah has also struggled with belonging, as in chapter 14 Hannah (Narnie) speaks of how she doesn’t know what to do since Webb’s disappearance. This foreshadows Taylor’s journey, as losing those close to her resulted in her lack of self-belonging.
