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102. Florian
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Salt to the Sea, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Agency, Willpower, and Fate
Storytelling and Fantasy
Memory and Survival
Family and Community vs. Selfishness
Summary
Analysis
Emilia is shocked to be alive. She is also surprised she does not feel better; she thought she was supposed to feel better after telling the truth. She wonders if it was because Joana didn’t understand her and asks herself, “Was it enough to admit the lie to yourself and the heavens, or did you have to tell someone who listened?”
August did exist, and was kind to her, but he wasn’t the father of her child. Instead, one day Russian soldiers arrived at the Kleist family farm. They tried to take Else, but Mrs. Kleist told them “we have one who is much prettier,” and traded Emilia for her own daughter. Emilia was dragged to the cold cellar, where the Soviet soldiers raped her.
Emilia finally looks past her fantasy to the real events of the past. Mrs. Kleist was unwilling to accept Emilia as a member of her family worthy of protection because Emilia was Polish. This directly led to Emilia’s rape.
Themes
Joana brings Emilia’s baby to her. Dr. Richter asks if she has a name yet, but Emilia shakes her head no. Exhausted, Emilia closes her eyes and waits to die.
Having survived a traumatic rape and carried that child to term, all the while expecting to die in childbirth, Emilia is unprepared for motherhood.
Themes
