Imagine being a refugee in Europe during World War II. The struggle to live and survive is based on your knowledge. This situation is shown in the novel Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. In this novel. The book is about refugees during World War II and they try to find freedom and aboard the Wilhelm they have to go through obstacles to get there. Joana was a nurse, Emilia's parents sent her away, Florian was a prussian. Alfred was a Nazi. Overall, dehumanization, selfishness and madness of war are the topics found in the novel Salt to the Sea. The Nazis destroyed peoples belongings and destroyed their own land. To begin, the Nazis were destroying their own land but not the people. “The text states” Hitler said Germans were superior and would not live among poles. We are not German. But our land was”(Sep. 11). The German people were forced to leave their homes to be able to get safety and to survive. Also, the Nazis did not like people with disabilities. According to the text, “Ingrid had reasons to worry, Hitler considered those born blind or disabled, they were called garbage children”(Sep. 90). In other words, Hitler did not like kids that were not capable of …show more content…
People were fighting each other and kicking little kids for survival. The text states “A grown woman kicked a teenager out of the way, ignoring her pleas for help”(Sepentys 329). To clarify, kids are dying because of people that should be helping them, not helping them. Also people would rob other people or dead people to try and find things Joana was found doing in the text. According to the text, “I scavenged through Russians frozen pockets and took a cigarette, a flask, a large sausage wrapped in a piece of paper, his gun, and his ammunition”(Sepetys 9). In other words, Joana was being selfish by robbing dead people that lost their lives in the war for their own survival. All in all, survival for themselves was more important than other peoples
The historical fiction book Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys is a book based in the time of WWII. It has four main characters named Florian, Emilia, Alfred, and Joana. Their stories start off in different places and in the end all tie together. Florian starts off . Joana is with her own separate group and Alfred is at a Nazi boat dock. Joana, Emilia, and Florian meet up in the middle of the book. The three of them work together, even through the toughest times, and make their way to the Wilhelm Gustloff
Cooper Lau Mr. Scheviak Advanced ELA 8 28 March 2024. Literary Analysis of Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys “A rich, page-turning story that brings to vivid life a terrifying—and little known—moment in World War II history” -Steve Sheinken. In the 2016 novel, Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, readers are brought into the horrors of the Second World War and the Wilhelm Gustloff tragedy. This historical fiction story explores Germany in 1945 amid the Russian onslaught from the Western front. During
Salt to the sea by Ruta Sepetys is a story inspired by the Wilhelm Gustloff tragedy that killed 9,400 people. Sepetys is a bestselling and award winning author, who tells the story about the casualties of the World War II. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys shows how a person is treated based on citizenships. All the victims come from different countries. There refugees aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff in an attempt to escape the soviet advance. It is evident that the individuals are treated depending
During times of war people can lose everything, yet still experience hope, family, and love. In the historical fictional novel Salt to the Sea, by Ruta Sepetys, a group of refugees escaping German and Russian forces during WWII are able to find love, hope, and family in one another. On the refugee's journey to the Wilhelm Gustloff, supporting characters Heinz (also known as the Shoe Poet) and Klaus discover faith and the aspect of family in each other. Similarly to main character, Emilia, who develops
The historical fictional novel, Salt to the Sea, by Ruta Sepetys, takes four main characters, Florian, Joana, Alfred, and Emilia, on one shocking adventure to get onto the ship, the Wilhelm Gustloff, to escape the war that’s hunting them throughout Germany. They encounter death, happiness, and tragedy, which brings them closer. Their lives intervene as they learn to forget their past and get a fresh start. One theme that is learned by the characters is that honesty bonds people together and builds
Salt to The Sea is a book by Ruta sepetys about 4 people trying to escape the grasps of the russians and in the case of Florian the nazis. They cross the countryside and land at a port. On the way there they lost people and possessions. When they get to the boat they get hit by a torpedo and 2 of them die, Alfred and Emilia. In this companion book you will read about the history of the Wilhelm gustav the boat that they rode on, symbolism in the book, and you get to read my best fan fic that i could
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness”-Desmond Tutu. In the novel, Salt to the Sea, by Ruta Sepetys the characters are faced with the problem of Nazi Germany. They are all trying to get on a boat to escape the hard times. Florian and Emilia are separated from their families and become each other's family by providing hope through hard times. Additionally, the shoemaker exhibits wisdom and fulfills the role of a grandfather to most of the characters. Certain
“Even in the darkest hour, when all hope seems lost… there is light.” Tolkein. The story, Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, is about the a few survivors of WW2 who go on a long journey to get to the Wilhelm Gustloff. They end up meeting multiple people along the way and they all end up developing and changing along the journey. The families and children like Florian, Joana, Halinka, and Klaus that survived the “darkest hour” represent the future and the start of a new, better life. All of the characters
Almost every novel has both strengths and weaknesses in its literary elements. In Salt to the Sea, a historical fiction novel written by Ruta Sepetys, both strengths and weaknesses within the story elements are present. This novel follows four teenage/young adult narrators: Florian, a Prussian art replicator, Joana, a pretty Lithuanian nurse, Emilia, a pregnant, innocent Polish girl, and Alfred, a near-delusional German Nazi sailor with sociopathic tendencies. The story follows them on their journeys