Page 113 is the first mention related to the title Devil's Arithmetic. What does Rivka mean when she talks about what has happened to her family as brutal arithmetic?
Esther laments all that she has lost as well as the futility of the situation. Rivka points out just being alive in the moment is happiness. Rivka's expression suggests a new appreciation for life even for the most mundane or even terrible moments. At least, Rivka reminds them, they are still alive. There are others who have not been so lucky.
"It is a brutal arithmetic. But I - I am alive. You are alive. As long as we breathe, we can see and hear. As long as we remember, all those gone before are alive inside us."
Rivka, p. 113
