Salt To The Se Strengths And Weaknesses

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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 during the Holocaust and World War II in East Prussia and aboard the ill-fated ship Wilhelm Gustloff. The novel is fictional, but it still brings to light important events and circumstances that real people experienced during this period. While …show more content…

The exposition consists mostly of Joana, Emilia, and Florian traveling to Gotenhafen, where they will later board the ship. They arrive around page 161, and the rising action begins around this time. They spend a while in Gotenhafen, and on page 256, they board the boat. The book has 378 pages, for reference, and the climax occurs around page 316, extremely late in the book. At the beginning of the novel, a lot of time is spent following the characters fleeing their homelands in search of freedom. The characters all meet relatively late in the book when the rising action begins. This drags out, as it takes a long time for the characters to get to the ship port and board the boat. The climax, which is the sinking of the ship, occurs towards the end of the book, and the falling action and resolution play out quickly and forgettably. The story structure is uneven. The first two-thirds of the book is boring and trudges on with nothing substantial happening. There is a spurt of action when the characters meet and the story launches into the rising action, but this also trudges along and is quite boring. The best part of the book is the climax, which occurs too …show more content…

Once the traveling group reaches Gotenhafen, where they will board the Wilhelm Gustloff, they find an abandoned movie house and decide to take shelter there. When walking through the door to the movie house, Joana thoughtfully tells the shoe poet, an elderly man who is part of their group, “We should leave [the door] open. others will need a place to stay too” (Sepentys 161). Later, while on a raft after the sinking of the ship, Emilia speaks Polish. She had been hiding her true identity to protect herself. Once the Polish registers in his head, Alfred, a Nazi, screams, “Filthy Pole”. You are a liar! Finally, I will serve my country. [one less]!” (Sep. 361). These quotes demonstrate the contrast between Joana and Alfred and illustrate how they are almost perfect inverses. Alfred tries to kill Emilia because of her race, and Joana wants to help anyone who may need it, no matter their race. Their opposing qualities highlight both sides of the war. Joana’s kind personality is made even more prominent by the contrast between her and Alfred’s cold, uncaring personality. This foil makes the characterization present in the story stronger and allows the reader to understand the characters on a deeper level. It is easy for the reader to get bored of Alfred’s narration, as he isn’t a part of the core character group and is so different from them. His main purpose is

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