Perseverance In Ruta Sepetys's Salt To The Sea

1099 Words5 Pages
When darkness consumes you and the pain becomes unbearable, you look to the light, to perseverance to guide you through the nightmare you face. In Ruta Sepetys’ Salt to the Sea, one of the protagonists, Emilia, faces a myriad of emotional and physical hardships throughout the novel. With calamitous tragedies and bone-chilling circumstances, what does Emilia do? Bruised and battered, she perseveres through her hardships, showing how much a person can endure when they persist. Sepetys takes the consequences of Emilia’s pain and emotional damage to new heights with her war-themed novel; as a result of this, perseverance is articulated amongst many other traits that this character possesses, showing how imperative of a quality it is. A theme that is profoundly emphasized in Salt To The Sea is that in order to face the emotional and physical hardships life opposes you with, you need perseverance. Throughout the course of the novel, Sepetys forces Emilia to withstand many physical hardships that push her to her breaking points, but through perseverance, Emilia is able to get through these obstacles. Emilia’s first challenge is presented to her very early on in the book, showing the reader how brutal of a time war is. In this part of the book, Emilia knows she is injured but denies help and persists through the pain. “Are you injured? [Joana] asked. I tried to control it. I fought it. And then a single tear rolled down my cheek. I pulled my coat tight around me and shook my