The Devil's Arithmetic

In the novel, stories often symbolize opposing things. Stories can represent deception. The Nazis try and trick Jewish individuals into believing that they won’t lethally harm them. The colonel says: “[A]nyone who wants to work will be treated humanely.” He adds: “And you will be happy among your own people, just as we will be happy you have followed the government’s orders” (70). This is a lie, a story that represents an imaginary account. The true story is that Nazis kill Jewish individuals as a part of their genocidal policies.

Hannah’s knowledge and memories about the Holocaust ostensibly represent deception. She’s not lying, but the Jewish individuals she meets believe her story is false. They’re unable to fathom that the Nazis will put Jewish individuals in gas chambers, cremate them in ovens, and kill around six million Jewish people. Gitl scolds Hannah: “This is not one of your stories that ends happy-ever-after” (70-71). At this point, Hannah’s story doesn’t end happily—there’s no hope. Many of the Jewish people she meets dismiss stories that don’t symbolize hope. On the train, Jewish individuals pass along stories of mass executions and wanton violence. An unnamed woman replies: “It is just a story.