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The Devil's Arithmetic
- 320 statements
- 62 feature instances
- 10 referencing feature instances
| The Devil's Arithmetic | type |
TVTItem | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | label |
The Devil's Arithmetic | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | page |
TheDevilsArithmetic | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | comment |
The Devil's Arithmetic is a 1988 Historical Fiction novel by Jane Yolen about a teenaged Jewish girl named Hannah Stern, who is transported through time to a 1942 (1941 in the film adaptation) German concentration camp in occupied Poland as Chaya/Chana Abramowicz. Hannah goes from being disrespectful of Jewish beliefs to realizing the importance of remembering after seeing the horrors of the time.It was adapted into a Made-for-TV Movie starring Kirsten Dunst and Brittany Murphy in 1999. The movie was produced by Dustin Hoffman, who gives an introduction on the subject matter. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | fetched |
2024-04-05T01:08:15Z | |
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2024-04-05T01:08:15Z | |
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Dropped link to TheDeterminator: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | processingUnknown |
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DBTropes | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_121b3725 | type |
Age Lift | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_121b3725 | comment |
Also, while Hannah and Rivka are in their mid-teens in the film, in the book, they're both relatively young children themselves; Rivka is ten and Hannah/Chaya is about twelve. Hannah becomes a straight example, as do her close-in-age friends from the shtetl (Rachel, Yente, Esther, and Shifre), while Rivka becomes an aversion thanks to Hannah's Heroic Sacrifice. | |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_121b3725 | featureConfidence |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_121b3725 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_1434e55c | type |
Amazingly Embarrassing Parents | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_1434e55c | comment |
Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: At the start of the book, Hannah feels this way about her Grandpa Will, a traumatized Holocaust survivor and former Sonderkommando. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_1434e55c | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_1434e55c | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_19da8a03 | type |
Incurable Cough of Death | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_19da8a03 | comment |
Incurable Cough of Death: Some of it in-universe. The guards start rounding up people to be gassed if they hear them coughing - guessing that they're sick and therefore won't be much use soon. In the film, Rivka is targeted because she is coughing; when Chana takes her place, she begins fake-coughing to keep up the ruse. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_19da8a03 | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_19da8a03 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_22cf536c | type |
Chekhov's Gun | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_22cf536c | comment |
Chekhov's Gun: Subverted with Hannah knowing the outcome about the escape attempt. The men don't listen to her and end up getting hanged. In the book, Rivka teaches Hannah/Chaya and some of the other girls a trick to memorize their tattoo numbers, using her own as an example. At the very end, after Hannah returns to the present, she sees Eva's tattoo and realizes it's the same number that Rivka had shown her when giving the example, meaning Eva is Rivka. (In the movie, she had already figured this out before her Heroic Sacrifice.) | |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_22cf536c | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_237404cc | type |
Ironic Echo | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_237404cc | comment |
Ironic Echo: Rivka instructs Chana on how to pray by speaking "so quietly only God can hear me". Aunt Eva and Hannah have this conversation when Hannah returns to the future. | |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_237404cc | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_24067bb9 | type |
Related in the Adaptation | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_24067bb9 | comment |
Related in the Adaptation: In the book, past Hannah/Chaya and Rivka are strangers who meet in the concentration camp. In the film, they're cousins. | |
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The Devil's Arithmetic / int_24067bb9 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_2439b588 | type |
As the Good Book Says... | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_2439b588 | comment |
As the Good Book Says...: Done every so often, particularly by Fayge's father Rabbi Boruch. | |
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The Devil's Arithmetic / int_2439b588 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_256664a8 | type |
Death of Personality | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_256664a8 | comment |
Death of Personality: Rivka tells Hannah and Shifre early on that this happens to prisoners sometimes, and advises them to let such people go, even as Esther shows signs of becoming one such "musselman." This also happens to Fayge, although she seems to recover somewhat in the days before her Together in Death moment with Shmuel: | |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_256664a8 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_269e82c1 | type |
Death of a Child | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_269e82c1 | comment |
Death of a Child: In the book, with the death of an unnamed baby during the cattle car transport, and in the movie with a newborn baby being discovered in the concentration camp. There are many mentions of children having been killed, and both of Yitzhak's children die. In a more general sense, it's mentioned that they have to get the children into the midden (garbage dump) every time there's an inspection because they're not technically supposed to be there, and will be killed if they're seen. Avoided with one child in the book. Hannah carries Leye's baby into the midden during a camp inspection, saving her from the gas. The book's epilogue tells us that Leye and her baby, "a solemn three-year-old," survived to be liberated. In the film, a woman is discovered to be hiding her baby, and both mother and child are taken away, presumably to be killed. Also, 11-year-old Sarah is gassed at the end. Also, while Hannah and Rivka are in their mid-teens in the film, in the book, they're both relatively young children themselves; Rivka is ten and Hannah/Chaya is about twelve. Hannah becomes a straight example, as do her close-in-age friends from the shtetl (Rachel, Yente, Esther, and Shifre), while Rivka becomes an aversion thanks to Hannah's Heroic Sacrifice. | |
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The Devil's Arithmetic / int_269e82c1 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_285b66d7 | type |
I'll Pretend I Didn't Hear That | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_285b66d7 | comment |
I'll Pretend I Didn't See That: What actually goes on in the book with the children hiding in the midden during inspections. Rivka explicitly states that the guards know full well about the midden being used as a hiding place, but they take the stance that if they don't see the children out in the open with their own eyes, they aren't there, and meanwhile they've made it known they never inspect the midden because it's "too dirty". A later scene even has some of the older kids encouraging a child to run to the midden after Commandant Breuer has clearly already seen him, seemingly having reason to believe that Breuer will "forget" about the boy once he's out of sight. (Unfortunately, in that case it turns out to be moot; the child in question is so overwrought by all he's been through that he freezes up instead of running, and is consequently taken away to be killed.) | |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_285b66d7 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_2a80d327 | type |
Slipknot Ponytail | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_2a80d327 | comment |
Slipknot Ponytail: Hannah has her hair up in pigtail loops when she arrives in the past. While she is being transported in the cattle cart, her hair has come down into two normal pigtails. | |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_2a80d327 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_2d92c43c | type |
Little "No" | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_2d92c43c | comment |
Little "No": Hannah/Chana while her hair is being cut off at the camp. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_2d92c43c | featureApplicability |
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The Devil's Arithmetic / int_2d92c43c | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_2e39af52 | type |
Girlish Pigtails | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_2e39af52 | comment |
Girlish Pigtails: Gitl braids Hannah's hair when she is transported to the past. | |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_2e39af52 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_33d5b7f2 | type |
Adapted Out | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_33d5b7f2 | comment |
Adapted Out: Rivka's brother Wolfe in the film. He is replaced with her mother Mina, who doubles as a Composite Character of Chana's aunt and uncle. Several minor characters as well, such as Rachel, Yente, Esther, and Shifre, who Hannah meets at the wedding (although some of their role is given to Rivka), and the female overseer, the Blokova. A female guard is heard very briefly during the scene where Chana and the other women must change into camp clothes, but this is a momentary voice, where the Blokova was a significant character. (The Blokova also isn't a guard; she's another prisoner.) Hannah's little brother Aaron is also adapted out. | |
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The Devil's Arithmetic / int_33d5b7f2 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_36ae9f5d | type |
Traumatic Haircut | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_36ae9f5d | comment |
Traumatic Haircut: Truth in Television as all the Jews have their hair shorn when they enter the camp. In the book, Hannah thinks to herself that she has trouble telling the other women apart afterwards. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_36ae9f5d | featureApplicability |
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The Devil's Arithmetic / int_36ae9f5d | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_37690091 | type |
Stable Time Loop | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_37690091 | comment |
Stable Time Loop: In both the book and the movie, although the movie makes it more explicit. | |
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The Devil's Arithmetic / int_37690091 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_396e1c2a | type |
Face Death with Dignity | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_396e1c2a | comment |
Face Death with Dignity: Hannah/Chaya invokes this at the end of the novel, when she and Shifre and Esther are sent to the gas chambers. She holds their hands and comforts them with a story about her life in the future as Hannah where there are powerful, influential Jewish people, thriving Jewish communities and no shame in being Jewish. | |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_396e1c2a | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_40cc0c7e | type |
Bittersweet Ending | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_40cc0c7e | comment |
Bittersweet Ending: Hannah/Chaya/Chana manages to save Rivka by taking her place to go to the gas chambers. This gives Rivka a chance to run. When Hannah returns to the present, she realizes that Rivka is her aunt, meaning that her Heroic Sacrifice was not in vain. The book also includes an epilogue which reveals that Chaya's aunt Gitl survived the camp and went on to found a charity in Chaya's name. | |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_40cc0c7e | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_422cefe3 | type |
True Blue Femininity | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_422cefe3 | comment |
True Blue Femininity: In the film, the dress Hannah/Chana wears to Passover is blue, and she then wears it to Leah and Shmuel's wedding. In the book, Gitl gives her a blue dress to wear to the wedding (her modern clothing isn't described). | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_422cefe3 | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_422cefe3 | featureConfidence |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_422cefe3 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_423f5a19 | type |
Killed Offscreen | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_423f5a19 | comment |
Killed Offscreen: As this is a children's book about the Holocaust, this happens to a number of characters. In particular, one of the village girls who befriends Hannah, Yente, is mentioned to be alive upon arrival at the concentration camp, but the next morning is stated to have died, probably of dehydration/exhaustion. | |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_423f5a19 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_4781adbb | type |
Jerk with a Heart of Gold | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_4781adbb | comment |
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Gitl initially comes off as brusque and harsh (so much so that other villagers call her "Gitl The Bear" for her prickly nature), even slapping Hannah at one point for basically no reason, but under it all she's actually very compassionate and caring, taking a Mama Bear role towards Hannah/Chaya as well as looking out for the other children in the camps. In the epilogue, it's revealed that by the time the camp was liberated, she was dangerously underweight even by concentration camp standards because she routinely shared her already meager rations with the children, and that she went on to found a charitable organization in her niece's name after the war | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_4781adbb | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_4781adbb | featureConfidence |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_4781adbb | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_48c99e19 | type |
Death by Adaptation | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_48c99e19 | comment |
Death by Adaptation: A borderline example. Both the book and the movie end with Hannah sacrificing herself and going to the gas chambers in Rivka's place, but in the novel, Hannah doesn't actually experience her Holocaust-era self's death; she only steps through the door of the gas chamber before she finds herself back in the present. In the film, she actually experiences the whole thing, complete with a shot of Chana's body, before waking up in her family's apartment. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_48c99e19 | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_48c99e19 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_54bb502b | type |
Nobody Poops | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_54bb502b | comment |
Nobody Poops: Averted in the book when Jewish prisoners have no choice but to urinate and defecate on themselves while locked in a standing-room-only boxcar for four days during their deportation. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_54bb502b | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_54bb502b | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_550754dc | type |
Improbable Infant Survival | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_550754dc | comment |
Avoided with one child in the book. Hannah carries Leye's baby into the midden during a camp inspection, saving her from the gas. The book's epilogue tells us that Leye and her baby, "a solemn three-year-old," survived to be liberated. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_550754dc | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_550754dc | featureConfidence |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_550754dc | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_56515a39 | type |
Artistic License – History | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_56515a39 | comment |
Artistic License – History: While the book is horrifyingly accurate overall, it is especially unlikely that Grandpa Will would have survived the Holocaust if he was a Sonderkommando in 1942, as these prisoners were routinely murdered every few months in an effort to conceal the extent of the Nazis' crimes. However, it's somewhat a case of Reality Is Unrealistic, as Will's story is based on Jane Yolen's own father who did survive. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_56515a39 | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_56515a39 | featureConfidence |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_56515a39 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_5a40d6a | type |
Adaptation Distillation | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_5a40d6a | comment |
Adaptation Distillation: The movie cuts out a number of subplots and story elements from the book, most notably Hannah's Identity Amnesia of her modern life. This likely doubles as Pragmatic Adaptation, since the arc relied heavily on Hannah's thoughts and internal monologue, elements that wouldn't translate well to film. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_5a40d6a | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_5a40d6a | featureConfidence |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_5a40d6a | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6439de78 | type |
Heroic Sacrifice | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6439de78 | comment |
Heroic Sacrifice: Chaya/Chana/Hannah saves Rivka by taking her place for the gas chamber. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6439de78 | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6439de78 | featureConfidence |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6439de78 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6bd689ca | type |
Meaningful Echo | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6bd689ca | comment |
Meaningful Echo: Not explicitly stated but left in with a bit of Fridge Brilliance. When Hannah is speaking to her Aunt Eva she remarks "the way you speak, I will never get over it". Rivka says the same thing in the past once which makes sense since they're the same person. Also about the photo "someday I will make you a copy". | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6bd689ca | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6bd689ca | featureConfidence |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6bd689ca | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6bda9a30 | type |
Meaningful Name | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6bda9a30 | comment |
Meaningful Name: As the quotes says above, Chaya means 'life.' She gives her life so Rivka can live. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6bda9a30 | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6bda9a30 | featureConfidence |
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The Devil's Arithmetic / int_6bda9a30 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_7ef728b1 | type |
Tsundere | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_7ef728b1 | comment |
Tsundere: Gitl is called "Gitl the Bear" by her fellow villagers, and it's easy to see why. However, throughout the novel her softer side comes out whenever she tries to comfort her fellow prisoners, which is often. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_7ef728b1 | featureApplicability |
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The Devil's Arithmetic / int_7ef728b1 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_7f6a0b31 | type |
All Jews Are Ashkenazi | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_7f6a0b31 | comment |
All Jews Are Ashkenazi: Subtly averted when Chana is told by Rivka to not stand near the Greek Jews, because they don't speak Yiddish and so therefore can't understand commands in German. This is because most Greek Jews were either Romaniotes (living in Greece since Roman times) or Sephardic (emigrating there from Spain or North Africa), rather than Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews. | |
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The Devil's Arithmetic / int_7f6a0b31 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_91672d3e | type |
Children Are Innocent | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_91672d3e | comment |
Children Are Innocent: Before she knew about the Holocaust, Hannah drew a series of numbers on her arm to show her grandfather Will because she wanted to be like him, having no idea what the numbers actually meant, and was completely blindsided when he got upset and yelled at her. Although she has since learned about the Holocaust and now understands where she went wrong, the fact that he blew up at her over an innocent mistake still contributes to her feeling uneasy and like she has to walk on eggshells around him. The film opens with a scene of Hannah preparing to get a tattoo and trying to decide what design she wants. After she gets one in the camp, she comments on how stupid she was to intentionally want to get one. | |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_91672d3e | featureConfidence |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_91672d3e | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_95b7c400 | type |
Faux Affably Evil | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_95b7c400 | comment |
Faux Affably Evil: Commandant Breuer presents a veneer of kindness towards his prisoners, but they all know that behind the scenes, he's explicitly allowing them to be tortured and murdered just for existing. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_95b7c400 | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_95b7c400 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_95c2a9dd | type |
Outliving One's Offspring | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_95c2a9dd | comment |
Outliving One's Offspring: In the book, a widower loses both of his young children in the camp; his toddler daughter dies in her sleep (the cause is never given, but it's likely starvation or similar from the trip) on the first night, and his son is killed a few months later because he's technically too young to be in the camp. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_95c2a9dd | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_95c2a9dd | featureConfidence |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_95c2a9dd | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_99298c71 | type |
Better to Die than Be Killed | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_99298c71 | comment |
Better to Die than Be Killed: Hannah hears a story about how Rivka's Aunt Sarah, with an Incurable Cough of Death, committed suicide rather than allow the Nazis to send her to be gassed. The badchan also has this attitude as he voluntarily goes to the gas chambers. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_99298c71 | featureApplicability |
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The Devil's Arithmetic / int_99298c71 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_9d12bbc1 | type |
Foreshadowing | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_9d12bbc1 | comment |
Foreshadowing: In the film, Rivka prevents a guard from shooting Chana by saying she's a strong worker, so shooting her would be wasteful. Chana later fakes being sick to take Rivka's place in the gas chamber. Towards the end of the book, the protagonist begins remembering her modern life as Hannah more and more, having largely forgotten those memories in the first few days after arriving in the past. This hints that her time as Chaya is limited and she will be returning to Hannah's life soon, although it doesn't necessarily suggest the details therein. In the opening chapter of the book, Hannah's mother mentions that Hannah's grandfather Will and his sister Eva were the only two survivors out of a family of eight. When Hannah-as-Chaya meets Rivka, Rivka tells her that there were eight people in her family, but only she and one brother are left. | |
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1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_9d12bbc1 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_a2836be5 | type |
Identity Amnesia | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_a2836be5 | comment |
Identity Amnesia: In the book, by the time they reach the camp, Hannah/Chaya's memories of her life as Hannah have started to become fuzzy. Before long, she can barely remember her old life at all, and eventually pretty much forgets that Hannah ever existed, with only occasional flashes of memory that she can't place tying her to that other life. As the book draws to a close, Hannah's camp memories begin fading, and her old life comes into sharper focus. This particular element was excluded from the film; in fact, Hannah is shown telling stories of her other life throughout her time in the camp. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_a2836be5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_a2836be5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_a2836be5 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_abdf7d09 | type |
Weirdness Censor | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_abdf7d09 | comment |
Weirdness Censor: In the book, Hannah's initial insistence upon arriving in 1942 that she is not Chana but Hannah is dismissed by the other characters as delirium associated with a recent illness. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_abdf7d09 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_abdf7d09 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_abdf7d09 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ae3d6438 | type |
Deadpan Snarker | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ae3d6438 | comment |
Deadpan Snarker: In the film Chana and Leah have a brief chat that goes like this. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ae3d6438 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ae3d6438 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ae3d6438 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_aec63727 | type |
Pragmatic Hero | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_aec63727 | comment |
Pragmatic Hero: Hannah and her friends are at first horrified by Rivka's pragmatic view of life in the concentration camp, but they soon change their mind when they realize this is what must be done to survive. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_aec63727 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_aec63727 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_aec63727 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_b0cd3349 | type |
Fridge Brilliance | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_b0cd3349 | comment |
Not explicitly stated but left in with a bit of Fridge Brilliance. When Hannah is speaking to her Aunt Eva she remarks "the way you speak, I will never get over it". Rivka says the same thing in the past once which makes sense since they're the same person. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_b0cd3349 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_b0cd3349 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_b0cd3349 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_b66a24a7 | type |
Trauma-Induced Amnesia | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_b66a24a7 | comment |
Trauma-Induced Amnesia: One possible explanation for Hannah's Identity Amnesia. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_b66a24a7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_b66a24a7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_b66a24a7 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_bbc77bb5 | type |
Hard Truth Aesop | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_bbc77bb5 | comment |
Hard Truth Aesop: People have to remember horrible things because they can't believe it happening to them until it's too late. Hannah/Chaya realizes who the Nazis are and try to warn people when the soldiers come. No one believes her; by the time they realize she's right, they're trapped in death camps. When Hannah returns to the present, she commits to remember so that no one else will suffer the horrors. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_bbc77bb5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_bbc77bb5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_bbc77bb5 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c02f148d | type |
Both Sides Have a Point | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c02f148d | comment |
Both Sides Have a Point: Hannah and her mother's argument about her Grandpa Will at the beginning of the story. On one hand, her mother is correct to point out that Grandpa Will isn't a bad person, but rather a person who's lived through hell and is deeply traumatized as a result; on the other hand, it's also understandable why a child would be leery of an adult who seemingly erupts into screaming rages without warning on a regular basis, regardless of the traumatic backstory that underlies his behavior. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c02f148d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c02f148d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c02f148d | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c2afffe | type |
Take Me Instead | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c2afffe | comment |
Take Me Instead: In the movie, another woman attempts to offer herself in place of the mother and baby when they're about to be taken away. Unfortunately, this only results in her being taken away along with the other two, rather than in place of them. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c2afffe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c2afffe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c2afffe | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c335b9ec | type |
Irony | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c335b9ec | comment |
Irony: In the film, Rivka is inspired to rename herself Eva after hearing Hannah's stories about her aunt. Combining this with other details, Hannah/Chana realizes that Rivka is her Eva. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c335b9ec | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c335b9ec | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c335b9ec | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c660bc15 | type |
Fan Disservice | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c660bc15 | comment |
Fan Disservice: Twice. First when the women are ordered to strip to their underwear when they enter the camp. Secondly when they strip as they're about to be gassed. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c660bc15 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c660bc15 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c660bc15 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c87660d5 | type |
Get a Hold of Yourself, Man! | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c87660d5 | comment |
Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Gitl does this several times to Chaya. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c87660d5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c87660d5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_c87660d5 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_cf92fea8 | type |
Cassandra Truth | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_cf92fea8 | comment |
Cassandra Truth: Once Hannah finds out what year it is, she realizes that the guards interrupting the wedding are Nazis, and what is in store for everyone. But what she's suggesting is so unthinkable that nobody believes it. In the movie, she also remembers her grandfather making a comment about a botched escape attempt and realizes that the attempt her fellow prisoners are planning is the same event. The escape indeed is betrayed and the men die in the attempt. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_cf92fea8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_cf92fea8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_cf92fea8 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_d29a6629 | type |
Death by Childbirth | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_d29a6629 | comment |
Commendant Breuer mocks this concept when he takes little Reuven away to be gassed, saying he intends to reunite the boy with his mother, who he had just been informed had died in childbirth years earlier. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_d29a6629 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_d29a6629 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_d29a6629 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_dbc41ba9 | type |
Aloof Dark-Haired Girl | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_dbc41ba9 | comment |
Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Gitl can come across as this when Hannah first arrives in the shtetl, especially to Yitzchak the butcher, who has a thing for her. Some of the young girls in the village seem to both admire and fear her, calling her "Gitl the Bear." | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_dbc41ba9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_dbc41ba9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_dbc41ba9 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_dc057cf3 | type |
Adaptation Name Change | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_dc057cf3 | comment |
Adaptation Name Change: In the novel when Hannah goes into the past, the girl she becomes is named Chaya. In the film, the girl from the past is named Chana. In the book, Shmuel's fiancee is named Fayge. In the movie, the name is changed to Leah. Presumably they wanted a name that wouldn't be completely alien to a primarily American audience. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_dc057cf3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_dc057cf3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_dc057cf3 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e11b003d | type |
Translation Convention | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e11b003d | comment |
Translation Convention: In the book, Hannah realizes she is neither speaking nor hearing English but instead that she now understands Yiddish as if it were English. In the movie the dialogue that would presumably be in either Yiddish or German is rendered in English, as are prayers which presumably would be primarily spoken in Hebrew (although there are some prayers that are left untranslated, most notably the rabbi screaming out the Mourner's Kaddish with a distinct Ashkenazi accent). | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e11b003d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e11b003d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e11b003d | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e4965307 | type |
Composite Character | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e4965307 | comment |
Composite Character: In the book, Hannah/Chaya meets and befriends a group of girls (Rachel, Shifre, Esther, and Yente) in the shtetl, and then meets Rivka in the camp later. In the film, Rivka is introduced much earlier and takes the place of the other girls in the early scenes. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e4965307 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e4965307 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e4965307 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e6a901a3 | type |
Meaningful Rename | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e6a901a3 | comment |
Meaningful Rename: In the film Rivka tells Hannah/Chana that she will rename herself Eva when she leaves the camp. Hannah/Chana realizes that Rivka will become her Aunt Eva in the future. In the book, Eva/Rivka tells Hannah in the present that she and Hannah's grandfather changed their names to try and distance themselves from their past so they could move on — in this case, the meaning was not in the names they chose, but in the decision to do so at all. She admits it was futile, because "to forget was impossible". | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e6a901a3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e6a901a3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_e6a901a3 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ea6f361f | type |
You Are Number 6 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ea6f361f | comment |
You Are Number 6: As expected, the Jews each get numbers tattooed on their arms. This parallels Hannah's desire to get a tattoo at the beginning of the film. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ea6f361f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ea6f361f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ea6f361f | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f1d6144a | type |
War Is Hell | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f1d6144a | comment |
War Is Hell: Hannah learns this by experiencing the horrors of the concentration camp. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f1d6144a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f1d6144a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f1d6144a | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f23ad6de | type |
Food Porn | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f23ad6de | comment |
Food Porn: In-universe, in the book and movie. The book shows Hannah and her friend Shifre discussing favorite foods while working in the camp. Hannah has a brief flash of memory and attempts to describe pizza, but gets upset because she can't. In the movie, Hannah actually does describe pizza to the entire women's barrack. They don't know what it is, but Hannah's expression and tone reveal she is experiencing true food-based nostalgia. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f23ad6de | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f23ad6de | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f23ad6de | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f6624c30 | type |
Together in Death | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f6624c30 | comment |
Together in Death: In the book, Fayge, who has already lost everyone else she loves, joins Shmuel in the line of fire when he is to be executed for trying to escape, preferring to die with him. A platonic version occurs in the film, with the mother who is hiding her baby. When the baby is found, the mother knows that pleading for her child's life would be futile, so she instead asks the guard to let her die with her baby, a request he's only too happy to oblige. Commendant Breuer mocks this concept when he takes little Reuven away to be gassed, saying he intends to reunite the boy with his mother, who he had just been informed had died in childbirth years earlier. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f6624c30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f6624c30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f6624c30 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f8600b | type |
Cool Big Sis | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f8600b | comment |
Cool Big Sis: Hannah is undeniably this to her little brother Aaron. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f8600b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f8600b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_f8600b | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ff7f34c5 | type |
Pet the Dog | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ff7f34c5 | comment |
Pet the Dog: The camp commander allows the Jews to surrender their valuables without struggle after the Rabbi protests. Brutally twisted by the camp commander during his interaction with little Reuven. He speaks kindly towards the little boy and even helps him with his skinned knee... and then promptly sends him to the gas chambers. | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ff7f34c5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ff7f34c5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_ff7f34c5 | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_name | comment |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_name | featureApplicability |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_name | featureConfidence |
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| The Devil's Arithmetic | hasFeature |
The Devil's Arithmetic / int_name | |
| The Devil's Arithmetic / int_name | itemName |
The Devil's Arithmetic |
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