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 on their citizenships. The Russians are being petrified since they were killing the Germans. Joana was one of the people afraid of the Russians. “The young woman winced at the mention of the Russian." (p.34) Just a simple mention of the Russians was enough to instil fear in her. …show more content…
However, there are only a few to stand out. Such characters are Joana, Emilia and Florian. Joana is from Lithuania and has been training in medical field, Emilia is just a young girl who is Polish, and Florian is German. It is evident that these three characters are affected by their citizenship. Joana was a bit hesitant to interact with people from other nations. When it is time to leave, she says: “We can’t bring this girl with us. Her coat is splattered with blood. She’s clearly in trouble. And she is polish. And I’m Lithuanian.” (p.40) She does not want to bring Emilia along simply because of her citizenship. Perhaps, if Emilia was Lithuanian, Joana would not think twice about going with her. Another area where one’s citizenship affects the way a person is treated is when the German Knight joined the other refugees. Before Joana starts treating the German knight, at first she tells him: "I’m not German. I’m Lithuanian. Is that a problem?" (p.42) From this statement it is clear that there was a drift between the
The main character in Gem of the Ocean, Aunt Ester, is a character of myth, symbolism, and cultural memory. She has lived for over 200 years and was a slave herself. She is full of personal knowledge and is the embodiment of the African American journey through time in the Americas. In Gem of the Ocean, Aunt Esther represents a link between the past and the present through her wisdom and spiritual guidance as well as a maternal figure to her community.
Therefore, the characters have similar and distinct traits. Lina and Elie, Ona and Mrs. Schächter, and Elena and Shlomo are the most analogous, although they have certain differences. Lina and Elie are alike by being benevolent and defending their families. On the same note, Ona and Mrs. Schächter are alike by how they react to the harsh events of the Holocaust. Lastly, Elena and Shlomo are alike by being strong in a time of crisis. These novels share many features, but also are dissimilar in several
The rock salt, is easily one of the most used and consumed mineral in the average everyday life. From seasoning food to helping a sore throat, salt is used without the thought of its effects on many wars, cultures, government, religions, and the economy. Author Mark Kurlansky, informs the reader of the history of salt by taking them through different cultures and time periods in the book Salt: A World History. He touches on different areas around the world and how they used salt for their own needs. From being one of the most wanted rocks in the world, to easily being purchased at the supermarket, salt has gone through a long and tiring journey.
The author shows the reader the sea just as the sailor does as death, but more than death
One of the main characters is a girl named Jasmine but they call her Jazz for short. Jazz is basically a goth girl and she has black hair with a little pink on top. She goes to high school and is around the age of 15. Jazz is in a pretty bad mood usually but it just depends on what she is doing. The other main character's name is Antonia. Antonia is a very smart girl and helps other people out with their problems. She is like a councilor. She has about shoulder length dirty blond hair and is pretty average in height for her age. She is usually in a good mood but sometimes she can get mad or sad. The last main character is Antonia's mom. She has pretty good attitudes depending on what she feels like. She is in her mid-30's.
Some of the most intriguing stories of today are about people’s adventures at sea and the thrill and treachery of living through its perilous storms and disasters. Two very popular selections about the sea and its terrors are The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger and “The Wreck of the Hesperus” by Henry Longfellow. Comparison between the two works determines that “The Wreck of the Hesperus” tells a more powerful sea-disaster story for several different reasons. The poem is more descriptive and suspenseful than The Perfect Storm, and it also plays on a very powerful tool to captivate the reader’s emotion. These key aspects combine to give the reader something tangible that allows them to relate to the story being told and affects them strongly.
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 trust, while lies ruin that trust.
Jane is told that she must go to the Red Room she says 'O Aunt! Have
The horrors of Hitler and the Holocaust are well known events during World War II, but many people don’t know that Stalin killed over 20 million people in the same time frame, either by murder or starving them to death in Siberian work camps. Between Shades of Gray uncovers the lost story of the millions of Lithuanian, Estonian, Latvian, and Finnish lives lost. The Baltic states annexation, the harsh conditions of Siberia, and the fearful lives they had to lead after being freed are wonderfully depicted in the novel.
Imagine yourself in prison. You are awakened one day by the guard, who orders you and others to the prison yard. You are being moved, but no one has told you where. If you move to the left or the right, you will be shot on the spot. You and 50 other prisoners are loaded into small trucks- There is little room for you to move, the air hot with the breath of the other prisoners. After an incredibly long journey, you are moved from the trucks to a train, specifically a cattle car. Where will this train take you? No prisoner knows. The guards do, though, and allow you to take some winter clothing- a scarf, a pair of gloves, a coat. This does not tell you much though, as Russia in winter is usually a cold place. In talking with your fellow prisoners, you realize that everyone has been arrested for similar reasons, reasons for which many of them advocate their innocence. They were forced to sign the confession, they said. They were tortured; they might have not even known why they were arrested. Soon you piece together the commonalities between them- You all are political prisoners- imprisoned for your political beliefs, or imprisoned because you were supposedly a part of a giant conspiracy to overthrow the ‘People’s Government’ and sell the country to the greedy and exploitive capitalists. For Ekaterina Olitskaia, this story would be similar to her experiences shared in “My Reminiscences,” and for millions of others in the Soviet Union during the 1930s this story would be similar. How did this situation come to be? Why were people jailed for their political beliefs? One has to look back to the situation of Russia from 1900 to the 1930s to trace the path and beliefs of Olitskaia and others to determine why they were jailed during the Gr...
However, it is clear that extreme brutality was expected of German troops on the Eastern front. The Barbarossa Decree outlines the jurisdiction of the Wehrmacht troops and how they were expected to attack and defend themselves from any threat that presents itself, without mercy (Document 3). Historians have examined the violent tendencies of the German troops on the Eastern front. Truman Anderson and Arnold both have made note on how reliant German soldiers were on terror and fear and how they victimized Ukraine's Russian and Jewish minorities over Ukraine's majority population . This can be supported by the Directives on Behaviour towards the Ukrainian Population, which states that Ukraine is full of Germanic blood and that certain exceptions can be made; with the overall goal to be gentle with the majority of the Ukrainian population. The directives also state that places of worship were to be prevented from becoming places of pilgrimage (Document 8). The atrocities that the German soldiers would commit because of these orders was the reason why there was so many casualties on the Eastern front. As previously stated, fear was an emotion that the German soldiers wanted to instill on its enemies. A conversation that the British intelligence overheard between Lieutenant General Georg Neuffer and Colonel Hans Reimann in August 1944, provides insight to how
What do the details of the setting here tell us about the main characters in our
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. When the boat gets hit by Russian torpedoes and starts to sink, they still stick together and trust each other. The whole book Salt to the Sea can connect to the theme that trust can benefit. The theme connects to the book because the characters stick together and have trust in each other.
Some returnees had been so traumatised they remained forever fearful, concealing their past, refusing to discuss it even with family members, and shunning fellow survivors. They became submissive Soviet citizens, ‘their fear of their own thoughts, their dread of being rearrested, were so overwhelming that they seemed more truly and
But the Polish Vice-President doesn’t agree with this and transfers Jan to the Pedagogic Museum, so that he won’t lose his house and income. Shortly after Antonina gives birth to her daughter Teresa. The time for a Polish uprising is now and Jan leaves to fight. Antonina is on edge but somehow defends the zoo. During the uprising Antonina, Ryś, and Teresa are forced to live in an abandoned schoolhouse for a while.