5615zy+Whole+by+Whole+Essay

= **Rules**  =

Have you ever noticed rules commonly appear in your everyday life? Maybe in a camp or maybe even someone's own rules. In //The Devil's Arithmetic,// rules play a huge role. This is since Hannah, the main character, is taken to a Nazi concentration camp where Jews were relocated. And at there, if rules were not followed, consequences would follow. So in the book there are Rivka's rules and the camp's rules. Rivka being a prisoner in the camp. Both of their rules are different, but a couple of them have the same intention. One intention being keeping the prisoners alive. And the second intention is to maintain order. Let's talk about some of the other camp rules.

Three people that either work in the camps or have visited tell rules, they are t he officer, the tattooer, and the three-fingered lady.The three-fingered woman had told the prisoners to learn and obey the word //schnell.// The tattooer had told the prisoners "Don't speak unless spoken to." And finally the officer told the refugees to never say no for an answer. The intentions of these actions? show who's boss, to get work done faster, and to put more fear into the Jews.

Rivka, who is Hannah's friend has some rules too, here are three of them. One rule was that Hannah must learn how to read numbers which was told also by the camp. Another rule was to help the young ones be safe which Rivka had commanded. And finally, to take extreme good care of their bowls. Now you're probably asking yourself, why would this girl risk her life for these people? She did this to hopefully save innocent lives. If she told prisoners where they could go to get help, she could save the prisoner's life. A second purpose to why she did this was to show friendship between herself and Hannah. And last of all, she wants to protect those she cares for.

Personally if I lived in the time of the Holocaust, I would follow Rivka's rules so I could possibly minimize my chance of getting punished. But whatever choice, there will be rules to follow. They may be the same but their intentions might be different.