“Kind of incredible. -Graham S. The timeline below shows where the character Emilia Stozek appears in, ...opens in the moments after Florian has shot the Russian soldier who tried to attack, Florian prepares to leave, but pauses when, ...to help those she can. Would she have to learn the grotesque details of our suffering? I looked up at her, balanced in the bundles. Could we really turn our backs on innocent homeless children? GradeSaver, Read the Study Guide for Salt to the Sea…, View the lesson plan for Salt to the Sea…. His race was his own. Emilia resists. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Florian reflects that revenge is a useless cycle, since it tries to answer pain by inflicting more pain. Instead, she and Alfred board a raft together, where she eventually freezes to death. Florian is disoriented in the freezing water but hears Joana yell, “Kick your feet!” He does so and the sailors pull him onto a raft and up to the boat. She wonders if her remaining family will learn that she became "salt to the sea." Joana Vilkas, your daughter, your sister. question about salt to the sea: “who is the person at the end of the book that writes a letter to florian saying emilia is resting in peace???? “Why are you so nervous?” said Eva. The last 3 words of the book are "Affectionately, Clara Christensen" as the closing of her letter to Florian, explaining who she is (her husband found Emilia's body & Florian's backpack). If you wait, they’ll be under your skirt and you’ll be dead. As Joana climbs up, she slips and the net hits Florian, knocking him into the water. Mama would sit with her back against the trunk, legs crossed at the ankles beneath her skirt. Everything hurt. 349 - 380) Summary and Analysis. They could never take that away from me. They pack up and resume their journey. She should know Poland. He visited the farm for a while during my stay. (including. Receiving your kind letter brought such peace to my heart, knowing that you, Joana, Klaus, and Halinka are together in America along with a child of your own. You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with When Clara saw a newspaper article about a young American swimmer named Halinka, she put the pieces together and tracked down Florian’s address. Florian is prepared to take, ...offer herself to work as a nurse, under the condition that she is allowed take, ...his ship, where she can work. “The girl. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Meanwhile, guilt continues to hunt Joana. He has the stolen identity card of a German soldier, ...to slide. We had one in our yard. I do understand how you have struggled for this new life. That would have been so much easier. But Sepetys ends Salt to the Sea insisting that while war breaks families into irretrievable pieces, “those who are gone are not necessarily lost.” Emilia is physically gone, but her memory lives on. My ears missed the snap of apple pancakes in the pan and my yes missed the rainbow of fruits and vegetables sealed in jars on the shelves. Emilia had no identity card. My heart ached for the girl. Years later, Joana and Florian live with Halinka, Klaus and a child of their own in the United States. “I don’t want them to think I’ll have preferential treatment or opportunity.” “It’s a letter from the doctor in Insterburg saying you’re good at dealing with blood and guts, Joana. Mother was home. To invite a stork to nest, families would nail a wagon wheel to the top of a tall pole. The last 3 words of the book are "Affectionately, Clara Christensen" as the closing of her letter to Florian, explaining who she is (her husband found. While he thought what happened was behind him, one day a letter arrives from someone named Clara Christensen. At dark, they would light the candles and send their wreaths floating down the river. He thinks some Baltic people are ‘Germanizable.’ But for every person like me that Hitler brought in, he pushed some poor soul, like Emilia, out.”, “Do you think you have time to be moral?” snapped Eva. Mama loved Saint John’s celebration—a night of bonfires, singing, and dancing. It made me think of Mama. I often fell asleep to a breeze floating through my open window. And sometimes, when I did a really good job of pretending, I even fooled myself. The tears reminded me of someone. He explains how he found a nurse for Dr. Richter, and helped. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. But I had learned to read very young. ...their cart, with their possessions, to another family who will meet them in the city. She feels that she has finally made it home and is no longer afraid. The Nazis said the people of Poland would become serfs to the Germans. But in the end, all who perished become equal, the same salt to the same sea. He feels that his lying and killing were in vein. Drowning, freezing people float in the water. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Reuniting with her mother was her motivation. He opened his eyes and whispered to me. I walked quite far. He was able to look both at Joana’s and, Back in the maternity ward aboard the ship, Dr. Richter observes, as Joana has, that. At dark, they would light the candles and send their wreaths floating down the river. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”, “This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. I don’t need a group. One of the candles tipped onto the flowers. Joana comes over and asks him about, As Florian tries to go to sleep, Joana comes back to point out that. She looks for something to row with but finds nothing. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. In the lifeboat, one passenger does not want Florian to try to save the drowning girl because she is afraid the boat will overturn. So the girl’s father, sorry, but he was probably strangled with piano wire and—”. I could have walked across the ice myself, without the burden of the group. From the first chapter Sepetys notes that Emilia’s driving emotion is shame. But Hannelore denied this and yelled, “I’m Jewish!” The words now echo in Alfred’s mind. Your nose. Mama loved Saint John’s celebration—a night of bonfires, singing, and dancing. And so much harder. After setting the wreaths to the water, the girls danced around the bonfire. I had fought so hard to overcome so much. Who is Clara? On the raft, she is separated from her baby and surrounded by hundreds of dead children. As August faded, the departure of the storks symbolized summer’s end. So I talked to the trees as I walked, hoping their braches would carry messages up to Mama and let her know what I had done, and most of all, that I would try to be brave. He agrees to let her see his shrapnel wound. Her blonde hair was released from the captivity of her braids. “Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Welcome back. And she’s Polish.” “And I’m Lithuanian. The sailors give Florian dry clothes and a blanket and explain they are on a German torpedo boat. I had expected everything to end, But now, I began to think that maybe the sign had been wrong. Florian keeps vacillating between wishing, Florian hides the dead German soldier beneath the snow, and then continues marching. Emilia had no papers. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. It was Saint John’s Night, the longest day of the year. Who was this German boy, old enough to be in the Wehrmacht, yet dressed in civilian clothes? “Please.”. Like me. Joana and Florian are the last to climb onto the boat. My father was Lithuanian but my mother’s family had German roots. Legend said that the boy who retrieved your wreath downstream was the boy you would marry. However, she is Polish, and although this does not technically make her a Soviet ally, it means she and the soldier share an enemy in Nazi Germany. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”, “This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Mother was comfort. Where was she now? Whoever caught the wreath downstream would be the girl’s future husband. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. He was German. However, Emilia’s wreath got stuck in the middle of the river, caught on fire, and sank. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. I chose all of Mama’s favorites—hibiscus, roses, poppies, and dried herbs. Emilia was happy because she had finally escaped the tragedy's of war and was now in a place surrounded with everyone she loves. This makes her feel that she is guilt’s hostage. You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Hitler was pushing out Polish girls like Emilia to make room for “Baltic Germans,” people with German heritage. Adolf Hitler had declared that Polish people were subhuman. All she knows about her mother is that her name was Emilia, and that she was Polish and very brave. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Joana wants to wait for orders from Dr. Wendt and Dr. Richter, but, Climbing onto the deck, Joana cannot find, The remaining boats are filling, but Florian wants to find Joana and. I think this is either a sign that she has died and this is her version of Heaven, or she is dying and this is a hallucination experienced by her as she is dying. I looked at the trees and thought of the big stork’s nest I had seen on top of the barn. ...sunk. It was Saint John’s Night, the longest day of the year. Emilia was happy because she had finally escaped the tragedy's of war and was now in a place surrounded with everyone she loves. After all, in Poland, Saint Florian was fighter of fire. He would want nothing to do with me. Would a German girl open my desk and find my treasures inside? Had she gotten into a boat? Polish legend told of a king and his brave knights who lay asleep within the mountain caverns. Struggling with distance learning? I thought of the warm sunny days when she would take me to pick mushrooms in the forest. Grateful and distracted, the soldier barely looks at, ...morning so they can cross the frozen lagoon. Joana tells Florian he “owes” her. She loved her family. He put his lips against the top of the baby’s head and closed his eyes. A lifeboat nearby needs a rower and Florian offers to help but Joana begs him to stay with her.