Salt to the Sea

Salt to the Sea

by

Ruta Sepetys

Salt to the Sea: 25. Emilia Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
As she walks, Emilia thinks back to her childhood with her mother. They would sit in the forest together and her mother would tell her about all the stories the trees held.
Memories of her mother telling stories, as well as the specific stories her mother told, help comfort Emilia. 
Themes
Storytelling and Fantasy  Theme Icon
Memory and Survival  Theme Icon
Back home, Emilia also loved waiting for storks to pass through her village each spring, where they would nest. Emilia’s family set up a pole with a wheel on top for storks to nest in, and they came every March, leaving in August, symbolizing the end of summer. Thinking about endings and departures makes Emilia think of her mother again, who died in childbirth six years ago. Thinking about her past is hard for Emilia, but she hopes that the trees in the forest will somehow carry a message from her to her mother.
Thinking about her family helps motivate Emilia to carry on, but it also brings her grief. She associates the storks with her home, and with happier times. When she thinks of them, she always thinks of her family, alive and unified. Emilia maintains her connection to her family and to her past. She imagines a kind of supernatural connection to her mother, which comforts her.
Themes
Memory and Survival  Theme Icon
Quotes