The Devil's Arithmetic Analysis

Anticipation. Suspense. Problems. These are all things to describe tension. Tension can add to or make issues. In the novel “The Boy Who Dared,” and the novel “The Devil’s Arithmetic,” there are many differences and similarities in tension between both stories. Both stories have flashbacks in them. We see how Chaya flashes back to the future, and back to the past in time. We also see how in “The Boy Who Dared” the novel is written were we would see Helmuth’s past, and what's happening to Helmuth in the present. But, in the “The Devil’s Arithmetic,” Chaya literally flash forward and backward in time. Contrary to that, in “The Boy Who Dared,” the story is structured with flashbacks, and there is no time travel. From a Jewish

In both stories, flashbacks are used to depict bad events, of the Holocaust. In “The Boy Who dared,” on page 164 it says “ ‘Good-bye, my friends,’ says Helmuth. ‘We will meet again.’ Helmuth huffs the ink dry on the last letter. It is 8:05 P.M. He reads it again, wonders what his family will think, wonders who will tell Mutti. He feels sad for Mutti. He knows his death will be hard on her.” A Lot of quite sad events happened like this in both stories, which built a lot of Tension. Also, we see a flashback of Helmuth dying and saying goodbye to his friends and his family in letters. In “The Devil’s Arithmetic,” on pages 160-161 it says “She stopped as the dark door into Lilith’s Cave opened before them. ‘And where one day, I bet, a Jewish girl will be president if she wants to be. Are you ready, now? Ready or not, here we come…’ Then all three of them took deep breaths and walked in through the door into endless night. When the dark finally resolve itself, Hannah found she was looking across an empty hall at a green door marked 4N.” A Lot of tension is built here because Hannah just returned home! Just like in “The Boy Who Dared” the author used a difference in time. Both stories have some sort of flashback or flash forward. Both stories also have the same genres. “The Boy Who Dared” is historical fiction since is was about a true story, but still had some

But, there are also some differences between both stories. In “The Boy Who Dared,” the flashbacks in the story were just a way the author choose to write the story. In “The Devil’s Arithmetic,” Hannah flash back to the past, and back to the future. In “The Boy Who Dared,” one pages 66 and 67, it states “Helmuth wishes there were something more he could do say, something he could do to help Rudi, but at this moment he feels helpless. Exercise time ends. the guard barks another command. Helmuth retrieves his slop bucket, trudges back to his cell. Sets the slop bucket in the corner.” This is just one of many examples of the author using flashbacks. The italicized words were present day, and the rest was a flashback. Tension is built here because we’re still hearing about Helmuth in the prison, and any day he could be executed. In “The Devil’s Arithmetic,” on pages 20-21 it says “ ‘Ready or not, here I c…’ Outside, where there should have been a long, windowless hall with dark green numbered doors leading into other apartments, there was a greening field and a lowering Sky. The moon hung ripley between two heavy grey clouds. A bird pelted the air with a strange, lilting song. And across the field, stepping in the furrows, marched a shadowy figure. He had a shapeless cap on his head, a hoe over a shoulder, and he was singing: Who asked you to be there it alive? You know the no