Content warning: This novel discusses the Holocaust, war, and violent war crimes.

The three children are all forced to leave their native land because of political upheaval. That upheaval is directly attributable to the dictators running their countries. Images of the men in power hover over the migrants like an evil omen in each of the three stories, and they symbolize the danger from which each character flees. As the characters move further from their places of origin, they still see images of these dictators, reminding them that they are not yet safe.

In Josef’s story, portraits of Adolf Hitler hang in many of the common areas of the MS St. Louis. Before Josef’s bar mitzvah in the ship’s social hall, the officiating rabbi asks that Hitler’s giant portrait be taken down. His presence overshadowing a Jewish ceremony is unseemly. Similarly, when a Jewish passenger is later buried at sea, the mourners object to a Nazi flag draping the corpse, representing their desire to distance themselves from danger.

In Isabel’s story, images of Fidel Castro crop up everywhere. When Señor Castillo needs a big, thick piece of cardboard to line the bottom of the emigrants’ boat, he steals a giant poster of Castro.