For the most part, the only mathematics discussed is the idea of specific numbers. The interrogators try to trap her into admitting that she knows how many people are in her family or what it means that they have "only one more question" to ask. Also, the narrator twice mentioned the number one-half and hints at the idea of infinity. There is also a tiny bit of arithmetic in the idea that the family has eight shoes because each of the four family members has two.

Normally, I would not include a story which only addresses certain specific numbers in this database. (For example, I do not list the many children's books which are designed to introduce them to the numbers from one to ten within a story.) But, the story raises two ideas which may be of interest to the visitors at this website: the whole idea of a law against mathematical knowledge and her father's comments on the fact that this law is impossible to follow because of the ubiquity of mathematics.

This story was published in a collection of works inspired by the writing of Shirley Jackson, and I suppose it does seem somewhat reminiscent of her famous story The Lottery in that it is a horrific story about children without anything supernatural.

I am grateful to Gregory Cherlin for bringing this story to my attention!