The Importance Of The Past In Devil's Arithmetic

Past, present, and future is what we are told to think about, but are we overlooking the past? We seem to get caught up in thinking about what we are doing now, and what we will be doing in ten years, but I think the most important thing is to know your past. It’s critical to understand what you, and other people’s ancestors did before. Remembrance is important to know your history and so you do not let the terrible things recur. In the beginning of the novel, Devil’s Arithmetic, we see Hannah not really caring about the past, but as the story continues, she realizes how crucial it is to remember. “All Jewish holidays are about remembering.” (4) Hannah said this before dinner explaining how she is tired of thinking about the same things every year, every holiday. She always hears the same thing over and over again and is tired of it. However, she has a flashback at passover and sees what her family and other people had to go through. Right when she walked into the lifeless, cold concentration camp her mindset of remembering disappeared. Her life changed dramatically, as before becoming Chaya, her life as Hannah was simple and she took everything for granted. Her eyes full of sparkle from her exciting life in New Rochelle, turned into dust

If you know the terrible things, you can learn from people’s mistakes. “Live, for my Chaya. For all our Chayas. Live. And remember.” (100) The tattoo artist tells Chaya this to let her know that she needs to live but also so she can remember everything. If we never reflected, everything would repeat itself but, if we teach people about the past and how it impacts lives, we can avoid tragedies. The past is scattered with mistakes but we can use our voice and speak up to stop anything bad happening. Everyday we have the opportunity to move on and become better people and a better world, and reflecting on the past allows us to decrease the amount of