Identifying Motifs
I usually try to use the cover that I had, but for this book I chose to picture the version above instead. I felt it was more fitting to the story- capturing the novel’s complexity better than any summary could. It illustrates the motifs important to the Salt, from the fish smokehouse to the clump of samphire. Down below are my interpretations of a few of them.
¹ Additional Analysis (Plot): On the subject of wrecked vessels, I noticed that there were several of them: Hansa, Thistle Dew, and Pip. I also noticed that they were placed (includes mere mentions) in a sort of pattern. The Hansa, Thistle Dew, the Pip, the Hansa, the Pip, the Thistle Dew, and finally back to the Hansa. Perhaps the author did it purposely to create a cycle, bringing Pip to the same places his parents and grandparent were.
As interesting as this was, what I found most impressive of this novel was the way the author used the setting itself as a major force in the characters’ development. The protagonist repeatedly highlights the role it plays throughout the lives of his family, such as in the beautiful quote below.
Further discussion on plot development could be made over the change in tone throughout the novel. Like most stories, the novel progresses chronologically, except it begins two generations before the protagonist. Pip first recounts the tales of his grandparents, which I have to say was the most enjoyable for me. With her strange and lively attitude, Goose is able to create an amusing mood in spite of her unhappy ending.
The story continues on with Goose’s daughter, otherwise known as 'Lil’ Mardler' and Pip’s mother. May has a lonelier air than her mother’s. Her loneliness only progresses as she enters adulthood and experiences great hardships. Pip seems to inherit this lonesomeness, only his is punctuated with confusion.
I usually try to use the cover that I had, but for this book I chose to picture the version above instead. I felt it was more fitting to the story- capturing the novel’s complexity better than any summary could. It illustrates the motifs important to the Salt, from the fish smokehouse to the clump of samphire. Down below are my interpretations of a few of them.
- Pencil: For the main protagonist, Pip, the pencil is his only means of communication. Born a mute, he is only able to express himself through his drawings and notes.
- Comfort and Relief: The tin tub, one of the first to enter the storyline, tells us the story of Pip’s grandparents. Goose literally stumbles upon Hans (or “Hands”) and drags him out of the marsh into her home to bathe him. The same tin tub in which she bathes him saves her life during a terrifying hurricane. One generation later, Pip finds himself washing away his own misfortunes in it.
- Calf or Bull: Once as a boy, George (Pip’s father) is ordered to kill a sick calf. Although he was gifted in taming animals of all sorts, he had never killed one before and so was near traumatized with the experience. As the novel progresses, he maintains a kind hand with animals, but the reader associates him more with the bull in his stable and on his switchblade than with the dreaming calf. He becomes stronger, but at the same time careless and even cruel with others.
- Lost Love: The rowing boat, also known as The Mary Magdalene¹, represents the love between Pip’s parents, and strangely the end of it as well. When May and George buy and repair the worn, leaky boat they briefly reconcile. During May’s pregnancy with Pip, (which occurs on the boat) their relationship grows distant, with neither making an effort in trying to repair it.
- Chicken: After May’s death, George quickly sinks deep in guilt and anguish. He begins to destroy the backyard, burning the boat and the chicken coop. In his haste, he burns one of the hens left inside the coop. Trying to save it, he stomps on it and ends up killing it. His own youthful dreams also end along these lines and he becomes resigned to a miserable existence. George neglects himself and his children, becoming much like the pathetic chickens he breeds.
- Whale: The significance of the sperm whale is foreshadowed to the audience twice before its actual appearance. The first instance is when the protagonist discusses his grandmother’s nephomancy, then again when he sees the creature’s shape in the clouds. I could not tell you the actual scene where the whale comes in- that would be spoiling- but I will explain the meaning. The whale is the central conflict of the story, the chaos that constructs Pip’s family line.
¹ Additional Analysis (Plot): On the subject of wrecked vessels, I noticed that there were several of them: Hansa, Thistle Dew, and Pip. I also noticed that they were placed (includes mere mentions) in a sort of pattern. The Hansa, Thistle Dew, the Pip, the Hansa, the Pip, the Thistle Dew, and finally back to the Hansa. Perhaps the author did it purposely to create a cycle, bringing Pip to the same places his parents and grandparent were.
As interesting as this was, what I found most impressive of this novel was the way the author used the setting itself as a major force in the characters’ development. The protagonist repeatedly highlights the role it plays throughout the lives of his family, such as in the beautiful quote below.
Further discussion on plot development could be made over the change in tone throughout the novel. Like most stories, the novel progresses chronologically, except it begins two generations before the protagonist. Pip first recounts the tales of his grandparents, which I have to say was the most enjoyable for me. With her strange and lively attitude, Goose is able to create an amusing mood in spite of her unhappy ending.
The story continues on with Goose’s daughter, otherwise known as 'Lil’ Mardler' and Pip’s mother. May has a lonelier air than her mother’s. Her loneliness only progresses as she enters adulthood and experiences great hardships. Pip seems to inherit this lonesomeness, only his is punctuated with confusion.
“Stories started here, they’ve grown over time, returning like the North Sea storms, changing each time, evolving, indefatigable like a cloud”
SPOILER ALERT:
I tried to make a proper analysis without giving away the book’s ending... but I failed. Also, the song wasn't interpreted individually, rather according to the book.
While I was reading Salt I was unsure on how I felt about it. Once I finished it, I remained skeptical, maybe even more so than before. My initial reaction to Salt was reminiscent of my experience with a musical video by the band Florence and the Machines. The composition contains two wonderful songs- Queen of Peace and Long & Lost -accompanied with elaborate choreography. As marvelous as they were, in a way their naked presentation was rather disconcerting. Their content almost felt too private to view. Fortunately I was able to welcome the intimacy that the authors created between myself, the reader, and the characters.
Honestly, the reason I began to draw any comparisons between the two was mainly for superficial coincidences. For example, the female leads in each of them had bronze hair. I found the settings were comparable as well. The Scottish landscape of the video was not exactly the Norfolk marshlands, but I felt that the forlorn atmosphere it created was similar. Like I mentioned earlier, without any analyzation one is able to discern the raw and personal style used by the authors. As I continued to compare the pieces, I found several other similarities.
I tried to make a proper analysis without giving away the book’s ending... but I failed. Also, the song wasn't interpreted individually, rather according to the book.
While I was reading Salt I was unsure on how I felt about it. Once I finished it, I remained skeptical, maybe even more so than before. My initial reaction to Salt was reminiscent of my experience with a musical video by the band Florence and the Machines. The composition contains two wonderful songs- Queen of Peace and Long & Lost -accompanied with elaborate choreography. As marvelous as they were, in a way their naked presentation was rather disconcerting. Their content almost felt too private to view. Fortunately I was able to welcome the intimacy that the authors created between myself, the reader, and the characters.
Honestly, the reason I began to draw any comparisons between the two was mainly for superficial coincidences. For example, the female leads in each of them had bronze hair. I found the settings were comparable as well. The Scottish landscape of the video was not exactly the Norfolk marshlands, but I felt that the forlorn atmosphere it created was similar. Like I mentioned earlier, without any analyzation one is able to discern the raw and personal style used by the authors. As I continued to compare the pieces, I found several other similarities.
In the same way the character of book returns to his motherland, the lyrics of the song also described a homecoming. The two characters seek comfort in their return, but at the same time, fears and new problems arise. Additionally, the major conflicts in both pieces were centered upon family flaws and forbidden romances. The conflict in Queen of Peace was between families, as opposed to within them, and had a feeling nearer to longing than to a complete sense of confusion and despair found in Salt. But the same theme existed: how hidden hostilities can transverse generations, eventually leading to great grievances. The relationship between Pip and his sister Elsie is perfectly captured in the spoken parts of the video. The first lines of the interlude, I feel could go beyond their physical affection. It also refers to the deep understanding people gain of each other in a relationship. Pip and Elsie had a very close bond: as friends, lovers. and- as they later realize- as siblings. The last line a clever metaphor describes their chaotic relationship: love and saltwater, two things harmful...potentially deadly. The closing, too, is fitting. Even as Elsie and Pip realize the truth, they continue to allow their yearning to grow, hurting themselves. Of course, Elsie, who is seven years older, has the upperhand. Pip is abandoned, left bewildered by the loss of everything he loved. We can find the song’s speaker struggling with this type of pain in ”Long and Lost”. Besides all of these commonalities, I found the same scenic details, so crucial in Salt’s development, also present in the song. So the works not only converged in styles, plot, and themes, but also in the setting. | Blood is running deep “To give yourself over to another body; Dying of thirst so we feast on each other I need the clouds to cover me |