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59. 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
A soldier approaches the group of refugees and asks for papers. Joana tells Florian he “owes” her. Emilia comes up to him and thanks him in German. She says “Bitte,” or please. Florian knows it would have been easier to cross the ice alone, but in some ways it also would have been harder.
The German soldier sees from Florian’s papers that he is a special envoy carrying a special package. The soldier wonders if Florian is trying to meet Koch, who has signed his papers and will be in Pillau. Florian says he is instead going to Gotenhafen, which is in the opposite direction. The soldier offers to take him in a boat.
Florian’s forged papers open up new doors and opportunities for him that his true identity would not grant him.
Themes
