Salt to the sea character critical essay

Introduction

‘Salt to the sea’ is a disturbing yet compelling novel by Ruta Sepetys. This novel is set during world war 2 and is about 4 main narrators fighting their way through a treacherous and deadly journey in order to reach the Wilhelm Gustloff to gain freedom from the war. One of our main narrators is Emilia, a fifteen year old polish girl who has faced many horrors and traumatic experiences remains brave and determined. Sepetys engages the reader in Emilia’s story through the use of vivid imagery, symbolism and characterisation to show the key themes of horrors of war.

P1 quotes and analysis

“Eyes darted with trauma and her shoulders trembled”. The word choice of darted has connotations of glanced and scanned. This suggests that Emilia is scanning and looking for danger as she still feels threatened and in danger. After Emilia joins the group of refugees, we find that Emilia came from a town known as Nemmersdorf, where brutal war crime were committed occurred to the people as: “ women were nailed to barns doors, children mutilated”. The word choice of mutilated has connotations of disfigured and tortured. This tells us that the Russian soldiers were ruthless and has severely injured the people of Nemmersdorf until they were unrecognisable.

P2 quote and analysis

“Shame is a hunter.” Just as hunters are persistent and is relentlessly chasing their prey, so too Emilia feels like she can’t escape the shame of being sexually assaulted and is being constantly being haunted by the group of Russian soldiers sexual assaulting her, resulting in her getting pregnant, making her feel humiliated.

P3 quote and analysis

“The polish girl’s hat bobbed like a candy egg amidst hundreds of grey faces”Just as candy is sweet and nostalgic, so too the pink hat being the joy of life and representing the innocence of the children before war struck. Emilia’s innocence at the beginning of the novel contrasts with the brutality of war she later endures as she experiences the constant threat of death, violence and exploitation.

P4 quote and analysis

“She came directly to us, in our sandy backyard, defying tides and the elements.” The word choice of defying has connotations of resisting and refusing. This suggests that unlike other bodies sinking to the bottom of the sea, her body defies this and resists against it floating to the top, remaining undamaged and not weathered by the cruel sea but instead preserved and carried to a safe place.

Conclusion

In ‘Salt to the sea’ Speteys effectively makes the character of Emilia interesting through the excellent use of vivid imagery, symbolism and characterisation to show how Emilia became a symbol of hope during the war. The character Emilia gives the reader insight on how the war ruined the lives of many children and young adults. Sepetys successfully creates an interesting character to narrate these tragic stories of world war 2 through the character of Emilia to ensure that these stories are not lost and forgotten.