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
The remaining boats are filling, but Florian wants to find Joana and Emilia before he boards one. He spots them through the crowd. He helps Joana into a boat first. Emilia refuses to get in until Florian gets in and carries her baby down. Florian leaves his pack with Alfred so he can more easily carry Halinka down the ladder into the boat. The sailor announces only one more person is allowed on the boat. Joana tries to get Emilia to come, but Emilia pushes Klaus from the deck of the ship into the boat. Alfred is left with Florian’s pack on deck, and Florian is left with Emilia’s baby in the lifeboat.
The protagonists, with the exception of Alfred, want to make sure everyone is taken care of before they get into a boat. Emilia selflessly wants to make sure her daughter is safe before she herself is, and only trusts Florian, her “knight,” to carry Halinka to safety. Although there is only a single spot left in the boat, Emilia saves Klaus’ life rather than her own.
Themes
