Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Salt to the Sea, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Agency, Willpower, and Fate
Storytelling and Fantasy
Memory and Survival
Family and Community vs. Selfishness
Summary
Analysis
Alfred spends the early morning spying on the women who have been housed in the drained pools far below deck. After many hours, he’s interrupted by a soldier looking for Florian. The soldier asks the women if they’ve seen Florian, and when Alfred tries to say he knows Florian, the soldier dismisses him. Alfred is angry, and thinks to himself “I did not serve this soldier. I did not serve my father. I served only one. The one.” He then salutes, “Heil Hitler!” and walks out.
Although Alfred has many important duties that will help the ship run more smoothly, he is happy to satisfy his own basic desires—like spying on women—instead of doing his job. Still, he holds on to his delusional beliefs that, even as he actively shirks his duty, he is personally serving Hitler and the Nazi Party.
Themes
