Ruta Sepetys Salt To The Sea

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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 this, we meet the four main perspectives of Alfred, Joana, Florian, and Emilia. In the beginning, Florian, an attractive, young, East Prussian restoration artist, saves Emilia from the likes of a Russian soldier about to kill her. Emilia, a traumatized …show more content…

Sepetys states this when Emilia repays Florian by saving him from a rouge German scout, similar to how Florian previously saved her. “We walked toward the large house. With each step, I felt increasingly ill. I shot him a few times. I shot a man. The knight [Florian] saved me, and now I saved the knight. Why didn’t it make me feel better? The sound of gunfire ripped through my mind. Discarded memories are now leaking, dripping through” (“Salt to the Sea”). From this, the reader can now learn that Emilia saved Florian, this aligns with the idea that hardships create bonds because the text refers to her hardships and describes what she has gone through, thus this helps create a sense of understanding of why Emilia is so attached to Florian and why they have such a strong relationship as each of them has gratitude, common understanding, and empathy toward each other. Later, Sepetys adds onto prior statements regarding the growing relationship of Emilia and Florian by including writing in which Florian demonstrates his concern for Emilia: “ ‘Will she make it? I said, unbuttoning my shirt. I wish I hadn’t asked. I couldn’t afford to care …show more content…

She was just another casualty of the war. The nurse turned to me. ‘Since her survival depends on you, let's see how you are doing’ ”(“Salt to the Sea”). This shows that even other characters, including the nurse named Joana, can realize the clear bond and protection that Florian offers Emilia by protecting her physically and mentally during the crisis that is the Second World War. Moreover, this is similar to Florian as Emilia helps him find the love of his life and overall become a better person. Lastly, when on the Wilhelm Gustloff during its final moments, Emilia cannot board the ship, which ends up causing her to give her child to the man she trusts most, which in this case is Florian. In her final moments, she states that she always knew he was a savior (“Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys”). The concluding evidence above shows the true connection made between Florian and Emilia as she states that she had always known Florian's role in her life as a savior. Furthermore, it also shows how much Emilia trusts Florian as she gives up her child to him sacrificially as she knows she will likely die. Therefore, from all of this, it is clear that Emilia and Florian, through the hardship that they faced with one another, were able to create an irrefutable

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