Glamour and privilege
The status quo in Hannah and Leo's life is a life of privilege and wealth. They are upper class in a powerful European economy, and their lives in Nazi Germany are defined by glamour and privilege. They enjoy parties, feasts, and masquerade balls, until that is suddenly removed from them. Remember, they are not in the know about the pending World War where the Nazis will begin taking over Europe. They think they are part of a political community like any other.
The imagery of escape
When war begins to break out in Europe, Hannah and Leo are suddenly struck with an imagery of paranoia and horror; they realize that they are need of survival and escape. This shatters their privilege. In fact, their privilege spoils, turning into a noose around their necks. They realize that they are exactly the people that war threatens most of all. They begin their pursuit of escape, and their perception turns into a desperate attempt to find any way out.
Passage and the ocean
The imagery that defines their journey most is the imagery of the Atlantic Sea, which they cross on a liner. They fall in love in the process of survival, but they don't know what to expect. Will they be allowed to live together safely, or will they die at sea? They have no idea; this is why the imagery of the ocean and the boat is such a poignant one. The helplessness they experience in the ocean is the same helplessness they feel from fate. They are at the mercy of chaos and fortune. In the end, only one is allowed to escape their certain death.
Loneliness and experience
The loss of innocence that defines Hannah and Leo's journey out of Germany is finally complete with the imagery of experience: loneliness. The crippling experience of loneliness is shown to be a universal imagery that besets all German people both during and after the war. When Hannah's survival is proven by her package to Anna, the loneliness of her time in Cuba is made clear to Anna, whose time in Europe is also defined by loneliness. Both women long for family, but life's course has restricted them from it.
