Salt to the Sea is a book by Ruta Sepety about WWII but mainly about the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, a giant ship packed to capacity to try and get refugees from the war to safety. There are four main character, and every chapter is from on of their perspectives. The book starts of with a girl named Joana, a nurse in training from Lithuania. She is a caring character who looks out for the good of the other characters. On the other hand, there's Florian, who is Prussian who escaped. Throughout the book, Florian seems defensive and has an every man for himself mentality. Alfred is a Nazi soldier who believes in everything Hitler says. And finally, Emilia is a Latvian girl who gets pregnant at the age of 15 unwillingly by a Nazi soldier. Joana and Florian fall in love and they learn a lot from each other. For example, Florian learns to care more for others and learns to stay loyal to those who are good to him and only want the best for him. Joana learns to be smart about her decisions and how to think quickly in stressful situations. I feel like this is an important message because it teaches us that we can learn to be better people from each other. It also teaches us that working together is more beneficial and makes a lot of tasks easier to do.
At the beginning, for the most part they all dont know each other, but as you read it, the book takes you along their journey to the Wilhelm Gustloff. By the end of the book, they all know each other, some better than others. I think that it is interesting that the author also put in the perspective from one of the Nazi soldiers who believed in Hitler's teachings. I think that Alfred has a mental disability because he seems to not understand social cues and simple instructions. Generally he is arrogant and thinks that Hitler's way was the only way. This mentality speaks to similar problems that we have today with people not being open minded. People need to understand that they might be wrong about something, and that's ok. I think this book is important to today because it directly teaches us more about WWII and important things that might not seem important from our perspective. The book also indirectly teaches us the importance of working together and the meaning of being open minded. I fully recomend this book, it taught me so much about the different people who were victimized by WWII.
4 Comments
Nick Mauro
5/3/2018 03:08:27 pm
Is there someone in your life that has taught you to be a better person?
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Miyako Briggs
5/4/2018 05:53:44 am
Has this book's message impacted your decisions or mindset about other people?
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Piper Baucom
5/4/2018 08:47:59 pm
So, what do you think the main theme is? To listen to all people and be open-minded to their opinions and stories? Or maybe that working together is the best way to survive? Or are there multiple themes?
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Charlotte Grace Foxx
5/7/2018 10:48:10 am
There seems to be a lot of action happening in this story. however there are some really good morals as well. Which do you think is most important?
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