Eventually Robert becomes accustomed to dreaming about the little red man. ![]() He is in no mood to deal with the number devil or his numbers. At first Robert is reluctant to cooperate with the number devil. With each dream their relationship grows and deepens, and soon Robert eagerly awaits his next encounter with the number devil.Īs the story progresses, Robert's attitude about math changes from indifference to interest. Robert helps the number devil see beyond the problem and to challenge accepted yet seemingly baseless notions. As their story unfolds, the number devil exposes Robert to many mathematical adventures. At the inception of their relationship Robert is skeptical of the elderly red man and is unsure how he should respond to the devil's behavior, brushing off comments the man makes. Throughout the book, Robert and the number devil challenge each other mentally, psychologically, and emotionally. Enzensberger creatively tells a story of Robert, a young boy with mediocre math skills, and his fantastical journey through the world of mathematics under the tutelage of the number devil, a black-bearded, irascible, elderly red man whose colorful outbursts lead to mathematical treats. In Hans Magnus Enzensberger's The Number Devil, translated by Michael Henry Heim, a boy and a devil interact with each other through a series of dreams, uncovering mathematical abstractions around them. Personal Reflections on The Number Devi L
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