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115. Alfred
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 considers what Florian told her as she cradles her child. She hopes the baby will have a chance to know Poland, Poland before the war, when “Poles, Jews, Ukrainians, Armenians, and Hungarians” coexisted peacefully. Emilia begins to whisper to her daughter, “There were no ghettos, no armbands. I often fell asleep to a breeze floating through my open window. It’s true. It was like that once.”
Emilia’s child allows her to connect to her past. Her baby is an opportunity for Emilia to revisit her positive memories of her family and Poland, and a vessel for her hopes about a peaceful future. Just as Emilia once lived peacefully and happily, she hopes her daughter will one day experience the same kind of happy life.
Themes
