Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Devil’s Arithmetic, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Memory
Sacrifice
Jewish Culture and Identity
Hope
Summary
Analysis
It’s April in the United States in the late 20th century, and 12-year-old Hannah is eating Easter candy during a car ride from New Rochelle to the Bronx. Hannah’s mother reminds Hannah that it in addition to Easter, it’s also Passover, so they have to go see Grandpa Will and Grandma Belle for a Seder. Hannah complains that she’s tired of how every Jewish holiday is about “remembering.” Hannah’s mother tells her, however, that remembering is important because both of Hannah’s grandparents lost several family members to the Nazis.
The opening passage establishes that Hannah and her family are Jewish, but also that she feels reluctant about accepting her Jewish identity. Hannah prefers the Christian holiday of Easter because it is associated with candy. By contrast, the Jewish tradition of holding a Seder dinner at Passover involves eating bitter herbs. Passover commemorates ancient events described in the Torah (the Jewish holy books that also make up the first several books of the Christian Bible). While the Jewish people were enslaved in Egypt, God sent the Angel of Death to kill the firstborn of every household, but the angel “passed over” the Jewish houses (because they left lamb’s blood above their doors, as God instructed them to do via Moses). A Seder dinner is a tradition with rituals and food inspired by the Passover story.
Themes
Hannah’s brother, Aaron, is also in the car, and he starts to complain about the heat. He’s also worried that he will mess up reading the Four Questions (which are traditionally asked to the youngest child at a Seder). Hannah promises to help him if he needs it.
Hannah says in the first passage that she’s tired of “remembering,” and this passage shows another thing that Jewish children are expected to remember: the Four Questions. The Four Questions ask about the Seder meal itself and so are a way for children to learn more about the tradition.
Themes
When Hannah arrives in the Bronx, Aunt Rose and Aunt Eva (her great aunts) greet her enthusiastically. Hannah prefers Aunt Eva, and in fact, Hannah is named after a friend of Aunt Eva’s who died long ago.
