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162. Joana
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 takes the pack from Alfred, who is vomiting over the side of the raft. She considers how she has Florian’s pack, and he has her baby. She wants to be with Halinka. Emilia has no oar, no way of steering. Around her float dead children. She considers the nursery rhyme, “All the little duckies, with their heads in the water.” She thinks, this “was my punishment. Honor lost. Everything lost. Shame is a hunter. My shame was all around me now.”
Emilia doesn’t regret sacrificing herself to save her child, but she does miss Halinka, the last living member of her family. She tries to comfort herself with the same nursery rhyme she often sings, but as her situation has grown more dire, the lullaby has become less effective.
Themes
