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Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean – 1939, 14 days
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Refugee, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma and Coming of Age
Injustice and Cruelty vs. Empathy and Social Responsibility
Hope vs. Despair
Family, Displacement, and Culture
Invisibility and the Refugee Experience
Summary
Analysis
Isabel dives into the water and is slammed by waves as she tries to find Señor Castillo. She eventually finds him under the water, not moving, and pulls him up to the surface. Isabel kicks hard, doing as much as she can to keep them afloat. Iván dives in after her, guiding the boat toward them. They then pull Isabel and Señor Castillo into the boat. Señor Castillo remains unconscious for a few moments, then starts to spit up the water he had swallowed. Señora Castillo thanks Isabel.
Like Josef, Isabel, too, continues to take on the responsibility of an adult because of the adversities she and the others are facing as refugees. She doesn’t hesitate to dive into the water in order to rescue Señor Castillo, despite the fact that she is only 11.
Themes
Geraldo and Lito continue to get the water out of the bottom of the boat. They quickly realize that their medicine, bandages, and matches have fallen into the water. Isabel hopes that they can make it without them, as long as they get the engine running again and get back on track with the sun during the daytime. The others continue to bail water out of the boat through the night, as the waves grow higher and higher. The next morning, they see that a storm is rolling in.
As their boat is completely ravaged with water, Gratz creates a symbolic parallel with the water level rising and the refugees’ level of despair growing, giving the situation a sense of life-threatening urgency. Still, they try to maintain some hope and bail out the water, knowing that it is their only chance to keep going and make it to Miami.
Themes
