Question

In devil's arithmetic why do the girls make their numbers mean things? What purpose does it serve for them? (Answer in 2-3 complete sentences.)

Answer 1

Answer:

The numbers, for them, are a way to process and survive, feeling they have some kind of control over such a chaotic situation.

Explanation:

In "The Devil's Arithmetic" ( 1988), by Jane Yolen and published in 1988,  Hannah Stern and the girls that she meets while imprisoned during the Holocaust, develop a theory about the numbers they had tattoed on them as a way to identify them, to give them meaning and eve premonitory influence on their lives. The Devil's Arithmeticrefers to the idea that each person who dies instead of them, means one more day that they get to be alive and not sent to the gas chamber. However, they develop more deep explanations. Rivka, for example, says;

"The 1 is for me because I am alone. The 8 is for my family because there were eight of us when we lived in our village. And the 2 because that is all that are left now, me and Wolfe, who believes himself to be a 0. But I love him no matter what he is forced to do. And when we are free and this is over, we will be 2 again."