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39. 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
Joana and Ingrid discuss the journey ahead. Ingrid knows she will be stopped at a checkpoint, because Hitler has labeled all children born with disabilities as “inferior,” and has added them to a registry. All those on the registry will be killed. To get around this, Ingrid and Joana will bandage Ingrid’s eyes and pretend she is recovering from an injury, as opposed to congenitally blind.
Ingrid’s disability has made it much more difficult for her to travel the countryside. Nazis have marked her for death because of her blindness, and so she must actively fight for her life—doing her best to outwit the government that will kill her if they catch her.
Themes
Joana goes off to look for supplies. She begins to climb to the second floor but a sound in the kitchen distracts her. She returns downstairs to find Florian rifling through the cupboards. He has found more jars of food, but says some are for “the Polish kid.” Joana reminds him her name is Emilia.
Although in some ways Florian has seemed to warm to Emilia, he still refuses to refer to her by name. This is a method of distancing himself from her, and abdicating responsibility for her wellbeing.
Themes
Joana turns to go upstairs again, but Florian stops her. He tells her “No one should have to see that.”
Still, Florian is kinder than he needs to be. Having seen the carnage upstairs—the details of which are revealed in the next chapter—he cares enough about Joana to warn her away.
Themes
