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The Smell Of Salt Air By Judy Blume Analysis

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Judy Blume clearly had a purpose when composing this book. She wanted readers to pity the protagonist, but also witness her courageousness and blissfulness whilst dealing with the loss of her dad, through a tragic shooting in Atlanta City. Judy wanted the viewers to experience her pain but learn from her lead of how to deal with it, how to live and be truly alive, and not live and be dead inside. She wanted readers to know, that no matter how far you have fallen, there is always a pathway out if you choose to look for it, and then grasp it. The theme of this story, is that life, no matter who you are, will throw terrible situations your way, and you can either let them tear you apart, or you can use them to make you stronger. In this story, Davey …show more content…

Judy uses an exquisite form of description to depict the very fine details of every place that Davey encounters, including her emotions, the people she sees and her feelings about them. For example, Davey explains her aunt and uncle’s house in New Mexico, "The smell of salt air...roasting peanuts, taffy and the musty smell of the amusement piers." To help the reader imagine the beauty of where she was, and how the scenery was one of the factors that helped her over come her pain and loss, she describes her new home, "The sky in Albuquerque is bright blue. Bright blue and perfect, without a cloud. I've never seen such a sky.” This style makes it substantially easier for the reader to enjoy the story, it allows them to visualize each encounter as if we were there with her, experiencing it with her first hand. Another style used to make the book more enjoyable, is narration. She tells the story in chronological order, along with fixated flashbacks to allow the reader to see the past while she is thinking about it. Blume also uses holidays like Christmas, to help the reader form a timeline of her recovery and her overcoming and growing

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