In the novel Salt To The Sea, the author, Ruta Sepetys develops many themes and ideas. One of these themes is courage. She develops this theme primarily through three main characters. These characters are Joana, Florian, and Emelia. As these characters try to reach safety and freedom, they are faced with many trials that require courage to overcome. They all have different ways of being courageous, but they all help to establish one theme. Their experiences help to show what true courage is and how it affected their progress and story. This paper will highlight how the author used these character’s different stories and trials to develop and display the theme of courage. To begin with, Joana shows courage by doing her best to
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Emelia was barely surviving by herself, and had a very slim chance of being able to make it to safety. “Emelia had no papers. No papers, no future” (Sepetys 104). She knew that the odds were stacked against her, but she also knew that she had to make it for her child. She took the risk of using someone else’s papers, because she knew it was her only way to have a future. At the end of the book, when the boat was sinking, Emelia had the chance to get in a lifeboat. Her baby, Halinka, was already in the boat with Florian and Joana. There was only room in the boat for one more person, but instead of claiming the spot for herself “Emelia stared at us from above, then quickly pushed the wandering boy into the boat on top of us [them]” (Sepetys 336). What mattered to Emelia was that her child was safe. It was incredibly hard for her to leave her baby, but she knew that Halinka would have a better chance with Florian and Joana. She saved the wandering boy, and was able to have courage that her child would be okay. To Emelia, courage was doing anything to keeps others, especially her child, safe. To conclude, the author, Ruta Sepetys displays the theme of courage in Salt To The Sea, using several characters. Particularly, she developed the theme of courage through the storylines of Joana, Florian, and Emelia. All three of these characters had different ways of showing
Emelia was barely surviving by herself, and had a very slim chance of being able to make it to safety. “Emelia had no papers. No papers, no future” (Sepetys 104). She knew that the odds were stacked against her, but she also knew that she had to make it for her child. She took the risk of using someone else’s papers, because she knew it was her only way to have a future. At the end of the book, when the boat was sinking, Emelia had the chance to get in a lifeboat. Her baby, Halinka, was already in the boat with Florian and Joana. There was only room in the boat for one more person, but instead of claiming the spot for herself “Emelia stared at us from above, then quickly pushed the wandering boy into the boat on top of us [them]” (Sepetys 336). What mattered to Emelia was that her child was safe. It was incredibly hard for her to leave her baby, but she knew that Halinka would have a better chance with Florian and Joana. She saved the wandering boy, and was able to have courage that her child would be okay. To Emelia, courage was doing anything to keeps others, especially her child, safe. To conclude, the author, Ruta Sepetys displays the theme of courage in Salt To The Sea, using several characters. Particularly, she developed the theme of courage through the storylines of Joana, Florian, and Emelia. All three of these characters had different ways of showing