Salt to the Sea Literary Elements

Historical fiction, young-adult novel

The setting is in German East Prussia in January 1945, months before the end of World War II.

The novel shifts constantly between four first-person narrators: Joana, Florian, Emilia and Alfred. Each experiences simultaneous events from different points of view.

The tone of the novel is suspenseful and filled with fear, worry, and secrets. It is also often tragic, nostalgic, and commemorative. The mood is dark, cold, and on-the-run.

Sepetys complicates the idea of protagonist and antagonist, so as to bring home her point that even in World War II, nothing is black and white. At the same time, Alfred serves as an antagonist, as he espouses Nazi Germany's racist ideology. Still, the author develops Alfred as a full character with a complex emotional reality, exploring his home life, his love interest, and his fears.

A major conflict in the novel occurs when Joana slaps Florian. During the first half of the novel, the romantic tension between Joana and Florian builds steadily. It reaches its climax when they kiss. Despite her misgivings about Florian's deceitful nature, Joana gives in to her attraction and tries to trust him. However, Joana gets angry when she learns that Florian has forged a medical testimony with her signature and implicated her in a story that puts them both at risk. Florian tries to explain his motives but Joana feels that none of it makes any sense. She wonders if Florian really is the thief and spy that others warned about.

The climax of the novel begins the moment that Russian torpedoes hit the Wilhelm Gustloff and the ship begins to sink. The whole novel has been building up to the refugees' escape to safety aboard the ship. They undertake a long and difficult journey in the hopes of participating in the naval evacuation. Once they have finally made it to the ship—and once many characters begin to feel that their troubles may finally be behind them—the real storm begins. Russian torpedoes hit the Gustloff and the ship begins to sink in a dramatic, chaotic, and tragic moment. Thousands of refugees die, including some of the novel's main characters.

The novel is highly suspenseful and filled with foreshadowing. One major example of foreshadowing is the indication that the Wilhelm Gustloff is doomed to meet a tragic fate. Alfred says that the ship is not made for rough seas and hasn't sailed in four years. He also reveals that the ship will be well over capacity and that ten of its lifeboats are missing. This foreshadows the tragic fate that many of the Gustloff's passengers met when they were unable to board lifeboats to safety. Moreover, Emilia foreshadows that while the ship is meant to lead the refugees to freedom, it is instead born of death, since it is named after a murdered Nazi leader.

"I decided it would be best to take a stack of the passes for posterity." Alfred says that he chose to take a stack of boarding passes for the Wilhelm Gustloff "for posterity." He later says he took them as "mementos." This is a gross understatement of what he's really doing: stealing. Moreover, each boarding pass he steals means that a desperate refugee in need will be unable to board the ship.

Historical events (Nemmersdorf Massacre, Operation Hannibal, Operation Barbarossa); Historical theories (that the contents of the Amber Room sunk with the Wilhlelm Gustloff)

The sea
As the Wilhelm Gustloff sinks, Emilia describes the sea as a powerful being that swallows the ship in one gulp. The water of the Baltic Sea is freezing cold. The enormous waves draw her raft farther and farther from the other lifeboats. From the raft, she watches “as the beautiful deep began to swallow the massive boat of steel. In one large gulp.” The imagery of the sea emphasizes that it is alive and full of power. More broadly, it underscores the power of nature, which humans cannot overcome. Emilia reflects, “How foolish we are to believe we are more powerful than the sea or the sky.”

Emilia's grave
At the very end of the novel, Clara Christensen writes a letter to Florian. In her letter, she describes the setting in which she buries Emilia: "Near our cottage, where the small creek winds under the old wooden bridge, is the most beautiful bed of roses. And there Emilia rests. She is safe. She is loved." This beautiful natural imagery helps bring home the author's point that those who are gone are not necessarily lost. Throughout the novel, Emilia feels deeply connected to nature. She longs for the herbs, bees, and storks of her hometown in Poland. Though she never makes it back to Poland, she rests in a beautiful natural setting that she surely would have loved. Though Emilia dies, she is surrounded by the ever-renewing life of nature that so inspired her.

The landscape the refugees cross is full of deep lakes and dark forests. It is freezing cold and snow falls constantly. Paradoxically, in this dark, snow-covered landscape, Ingrid, the blind girl, seems to have the best vision. Her heightened senses help her to detect danger before the others. For example, she is aware when Florian steals something from Joana.

The author uses the motifs of the hunter and the "bang" to draw a strong parallelism between the four narrators in the opening and closing sections of the novel. At the beginning of the novel, each of the four narrators hears the bang of gunshots or artillery. This parallelism highlights that despite their different social positions according to the Nazi regime, each is a young person forcibly separated from his or her home and family due to war. Moreover, the narrators carry heavy burdens after four years of war, and they feel hunted by their emotions. These motifs are paralleled in the novel's closing sections.

Sepetys makes use of metonymy and synecdoche in representing the warring sides in World War II. For example, the characters mention that "Berlin" does not care about the East Prussians and they wonder how long "Berlin" will hold. In this case, Berlin as the capital is a synecdoche that stands in for Nazi Germany as a whole.

In the novel, the characters' consciences and their strongest emotions are personified. Guilt, fate, shame, and fear are represented as hunters that persecute the characters and take them hostage. In the same way, Florian says that his conscience mocks him and "nooses" around his ankles, impeding him from running.