Gitl Character Analysis in The Devil’s Arithmetic

Gitl is a stern but kind woman who is Shmuel’s sister and who acts as Hannah’s mother figure when she gets sent back in time to 1942 and takes on the identity of Chaya. While Gitl seems tough on the outside, as illustrated by her refusal to marry, she shows her caring nature as she helps Hannah adjust to her new life in 1942 Poland. Later, in the concentration camp, Gitl selflessly gives away much of her own food to the children in the camp. Despite her many sacrifices, Gitl manages to endure her time in the camp, and she eventually moves to Israel to form an adoption agency named after Chaya. Gitl represents the resilience of Jewish people and how difficult circumstances can reveal the real strength of a person’s character.

Gitl Quotes in The Devil’s Arithmetic

The The Devil’s Arithmetic quotes below are all either spoken by Gitl or refer to Gitl. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

“Never mind, little Chaya, never mind,” Gitl said. “Shmuel and I—we are your family now.”

Related Characters: Gitl (speaker), Hannah/Chaya, Rivka/Aunt Eva , Shmuel, Mother, Father

Page Number and Citation: 31

Explanation and Analysis:

“But if there is no Old Rochelle, how can there be a New?” Shmuel mused out loud. “Perhaps there is a Rochelle all alone, though the child does not know it.”

Related Characters: Shmuel (speaker), Hannah/Chaya, Gitl, Fayge

Page Number and Citation: 36

Explanation and Analysis:

Photographs of Grandma’s family but none of Grandpa Will’s, because, Aunt Eva had once explained, no photographs had been saved in the death camps. “We are our own photos. Those pictures are engraved only in our memories. When we are gone, they are gone.”

Related Characters: Rivka/Aunt Eva (speaker), Hannah/Chaya, Gitl, Shmuel, Grandpa Will

Related Symbols: Tattoo

Page Number and Citation: 44

Explanation and Analysis:

“The men down there,” she cried out desperately, “they’re not wedding guests. They’re Nazis. Nazis! Do you understand? They kill people. They killed—kill—will kill Jews. Hundreds of them. Thousands of them. Six million of them! I know. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. We have to turn the wagons around. We have to run!”

Related Characters: Hannah/Chaya (speaker), Gitl, Shmuel, The Rabbi

Page Number and Citation: 64

Explanation and Analysis:

“Of course, Jew,” came the officer’s voice. “And then my men will move among you and take your papers and jewelry for safekeeping.”

Related Characters: Hannah/Chaya, Gitl, Shmuel

Page Number and Citation: 75

Explanation and Analysis:

Something forced Hannah to bend down and stare into the shelf. Little Tzipporah lay curled in a ball, her finger in her mouth like a stopper in a bottle. There was a fly on her cheek. Hannah reached out to brush it off.

“Do not touch her,” Gitl said.

Related Characters: Gitl (speaker), Hannah/Chaya, Yitzchak, Tzipporah

Page Number and Citation: 106

Explanation and Analysis:

Part of her revolted against the insanity of the rules. Part of her was grateful. In a world of chaos, any guidelines helped. And she knew that each day she remained alive, she remained alive. One plus one plus one. The Devil’s arithmetic, Gitl called it.

Related Characters: Hannah/Chaya, Gitl

Page Number and Citation: 135

Explanation and Analysis:

“If something happens to us, you must remember. Promise me, Chaya, you will remember.”

Hannah’s lips moved but no sound came out.

“Promise.”

“I will remember.” The words forced themselves out through her stiffened lips.

Related Characters: Hannah/Chaya (speaker), Gitl (speaker), Shmuel, Yitzchak

Page Number and Citation: 144

Explanation and Analysis:

It later became an adoption agency, the finest in the Mideast. She called it after her young niece, who had died a hero in the camps: CHAYA.

Life.

Related Characters: Hannah/Chaya, Rivka/Aunt Eva , Gitl, Yitzchak

Page Number and Citation: 166

Explanation and Analysis:

Gitl Character Timeline in The Devil’s Arithmetic

The timeline below shows where the character Gitl appears in The Devil’s Arithmetic. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...that feels like a movie set in the past. A woman with a heavy accent (Gitl) calls Hannah “Chaya.” (full context)

Hannah doesn’t understand what’s happening but decides to play along. She helps Gitl set the table. Hannah remembers that Chaya is her Hebrew name, which she received in... (full context)

...including her mother and father, but somehow, she also feels like Chaya. She realizes that Gitl and Shmuel are actually speaking in Yiddish, but somehow, she can understand them. (full context)

...quiet and tries to understand her new situation. When Hannah goes to bed, she asks Gitl about her mother and father, but Gitl just comforts her, saying that she and Shmuel... (full context)

...in fact still living in the shtetl (small town with a mostly Jewish population) with Gitl and Shmuel. Shmuel asks Hannah if she’s been having bad dreams too. He reveals that... (full context)

Yitzchak, a butcher who has tried in the past to convince Gitl to marry him, comes over to visit. Shmuel greets him, but Gitl just grunts at... (full context)

Yitzchak has two toddlers, Reuven and Tzipporah, and when he brings them in, Gitl asks tells them to go sit with Hannah. After Yitzchak leaves, Hannah says he seems... (full context)

Gitl tells Hannah it’s time to get dressed. She gives Hannah the dress that she herself... (full context)

The whole shtetl comes over to Gitl and Shmuel’s place to celebrate before Shmuel’s wedding. Three girls come over to greet Hannah,... (full context)

Hannah panics as she feels her memories of her house in New Rochelle fading. Gitl interrupts her thoughts and introduces her to Fayge, who will soon be Hannah’s aunt. When... (full context)

...Somewhere, a child cries that she can’t use the bathroom, and later Hannah smells it. Gitl says they must pray because they’re in God’s hands now. (full context)

...to help her. Hannah laments that they didn’t run when they had the chance, but Gitl says there’s nowhere to run now. (full context)

...Hannah tries to warn everyone that the showers will actually be lethal gas chambers, but Gitl and the others again think Hannah is getting reality confused with fairy tales. (full context)

...hair to prevent lice. Hannah struggles to recognize people without hair, but she eventually finds Gitl. Hannah is sobbing, but Gitl makes her promise to never cry in front of the... (full context)

...Hannah notices that the blokova is missing two fingers on her right hand. A weak Gitl asks Hannah to help the younger children find clothes. (full context)

The prisoners line up to get tattoos on their arms. Gitl gives Hannah’s name as Chaya, and she receives the tattoo J197241. An old man sees... (full context)

The sleeping area in the camp is small and cramped. Gitl and Hannah want to go out to get food for the children, but a soldier... (full context)

...lying still with a fly on her face. Hannah reaches out to rouse Tzipporah, but Gitl warns Hannah not to touch her, and Hannah realizes Tzipporah is dead. (full context)

Hannah and Gitl are some of the last ones in the food line. A girl named Rivka gives... (full context)

...talks, Hannah sees smoke in the distance coming out of a chimney. Hannah looks at Gitl, and Gitl gently touches her hand. (full context)

...tries to pass on Rivka’s kindness by giving some of her bread to Reuven. But Gitl says Hannah must make sure she gets enough nutrition herself. Hannah notices, however, that Gitl... (full context)

Later, Gitl manages to steal a blue scarf, which she gives to Hannah as a birthday present,... (full context)

Hannah asks if Gitl has heard about the men of the shtetl, like Shmuel and Yitzchak (who are in... (full context)

One morning, Gitl tells Hannah that there’s a plan, which involves Yitzchak and Shmuel, but which Hannah must... (full context)

...for several days, and Hannah gets impatient. Then, one night, after a seemingly ordinary day, Gitl wakes Hannah up and tells her to move. As they walk, Hannah is distressed to... (full context)

Gitl tells Hannah that they’ll meet at the garbage dump and that they should stop talking.... (full context)

When Hannah and Gitl get back, the blokova hears them and asks what they were doing. Gitl says she... (full context)

In the barracks, Hannah suddenly worries to Gitl that in her haste to flee, she left her shoes behind. Hannah now worries Nazis... (full context)

...violinist from the klezmer band and four strangers. When Hannah tries to ask about Yitzchak, Gitl tells her to be quiet. (full context)

...has a fresh bloody bandage on her hand. When Hannah finally gets to talk with Gitl, she reveals that Yitzchak wasn’t spotted anywhere among the dead bodies. (full context)

...from Chaya’s shtetl survived: Yitzchak, who actually did escape and joined a resistance force, and Gitl, who survived until the camp was liberated, even though she only weighed 73 pounds. (full context)

Yitzchak and Gitl both moved to Israel after the war, never marrying anyone but remaining good friends and... (full context)