Stones+in+Water+Literary+Elements+Adam+Morrs

Stones in Water: Literary Elements

Main Characters: One of the main characters is a boy named Roberto. He is the younger son of a gondolier. He is fourteen and very shy. He has a great friendship with the second main character Samuele. Samuele is Jewish but he hasn’t been affected by the war yet. He is tall for his age and looks like he could be a couple years older. These are the main characters in Stones in Water.

Plot: The story starts out with a boy named Roberto going to the movies with his friends Memo and Samuele who is a Jew and his brother Sergio. During the movie German soldiers come and round all the boys up like animals. They are put on a train heading to a work camp deep in German territory. Roberto and Samuele and then moved to various other camps all the while trying to keep Samuele’s secret. They move to a camp in Ukraine for the winter. Here Samuele is beaten to death by the same boys they work side by side with. Roberto finds his only hope after Samuele’s death in running away. He quickly moves south to the Mediterranean. On his way he stops at an abandoned village to find a boy. They move together until they reach a different town. Roberto gets shot when the people in the town see him. A woman takes the bullet out. They think he is a German soldier because of his boots. They put him on a trial but the boy helps him escape. He moves to the river and finds a boat. The river goes south so he continues south. He meets an Italian soldier on the way. They both continue south with the river. Roberto is struck by a fever due to infection. The soldier performs surgery and kills the infection. They continue along the coastline for the rest of the book.

Theme: I think that the biggest theme in Stones in Water is the theme of comradeship. I think this is the biggest theme because both of them were there for each other. Roberto was there when Samuele tried to drown himself and Roberto promised that he would always be there for Samuele. Samuele returned the favor when Roberto gets caught stealing eggs and is about to be sent to another camp alone. Samuele then risks himself to be put in the truck with him. At the next camp Samuele paid the ultimate price for protecting Roberto’s boots. This shows that they would always be there for each other. Also, this shows that comradeship can over come the hardest tests in life.

Setting: The setting of this book is quite large. The setting is war-torn Europe in WW11 from the years 1939 to 1945. Roberto and Samuele are taken throughout German territories from different work camps in different countries. The countries are Italy, Germany, and the Ukraine. This is the setting of Stones in Water.