The Devil's Arithmetic Lesson Plan

How does Hannah feel about her Jewish heritage? How can you tell?

Strong responses will note that Hannah is slightly embarrassed about her heritage. She seems to view the Jewish holiday customs as something of the past, and she doesn’t feel connected to them. In the first three chapters, we see Hannah resisting going to the Seder, feeling annoyed or bored when people talk about Jewish history in general, and dismissing even her own personal family history. She also complains about her Grandpa Will’s behavior related to the Holocaust. This could be because of a traumatizing childhood experience where she wrote numbers on her arm like Grandpa Will has (not understanding...