SOME KIND OF AMAZING INTRO AND THESIS STATEMENT Salt to the Sea has been framed in an unique way, the beginning and end of the story is tied together using a common metaphor. The initial emotion gathered from the characters in Salt to the Sea is identical. Every character feels hunted; no matter where they are, they are never safe from themselves and their pasts. Comparing an emotion to that of a hunter alludes that these emotions are constantly there, waiting in the background before creeping up. Hunters are persistent, they patiently await the perfect moment to strike. Emilia Stożek states that “Shame is a hunter”(5). Emilia feels constant shame because she has been raped and impregnated by Russian soldiers, she copes by convincing
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Although the characters all felt primarily hunted by one emotion, they experience every emotion during a part of their life. Emilia experienced guilt when she and Florian first met and she convinced him to let her travel with him, even though she knew she would slow him down. She considers herself guilty when she is raped by Russian soldiers, and then she is given special treatment for being pregnant. “It was nice to sit in the wagon, but it felt unfair that I got to ride while others had to walk”(105). Emilia felt bad while she was sitting, and everyone around her was trudging along. Emilia’s fate consumed her mind, she created a perfect world in her head. She persuaded herself that August was her husband and that he was waiting for her, along with her father. The last scene Emilia experiences before her death is her ideal fate, her daughter is well, along with her father and August. Shame hunted Emilia all throughout her life; she was ashamed that she had been raped and she was ashamed that she had been left by her dad. Fear of death was constant, along with the fear of her own death, Emilia also feared the death of her baby, the identification that she was Polish. Emilia feared abandonment, she had been abandoned by her parents, the family she worked for, Florian, Joanna, the shoe poet, and even Alfred. “I was alone. Again…I was so tired”(362). Emilia was kept alive by companionship, but when she was left alone she began to give up
Although the characters all felt primarily hunted by one emotion, they experience every emotion during a part of their life. Emilia experienced guilt when she and Florian first met and she convinced him to let her travel with him, even though she knew she would slow him down. She considers herself guilty when she is raped by Russian soldiers, and then she is given special treatment for being pregnant. “It was nice to sit in the wagon, but it felt unfair that I got to ride while others had to walk”(105). Emilia felt bad while she was sitting, and everyone around her was trudging along. Emilia’s fate consumed her mind, she created a perfect world in her head. She persuaded herself that August was her husband and that he was waiting for her, along with her father. The last scene Emilia experiences before her death is her ideal fate, her daughter is well, along with her father and August. Shame hunted Emilia all throughout her life; she was ashamed that she had been raped and she was ashamed that she had been left by her dad. Fear of death was constant, along with the fear of her own death, Emilia also feared the death of her baby, the identification that she was Polish. Emilia feared abandonment, she had been abandoned by her parents, the family she worked for, Florian, Joanna, the shoe poet, and even Alfred. “I was alone. Again…I was so tired”(362). Emilia was kept alive by companionship, but when she was left alone she began to give up