What are the motifs in Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read?

Faith is a recurring idea in the book. Faith enabled the survivors and their families to persevere. Faith in this novel was bidirectional- the parents, siblings and girlfriends had faith in the survivors and the survivors had faith that their loved ones wouldn't give up the search. All parents wish to protect their children. It is natural to assume that the parent will watch the child grow and that the parent will die before the child. While some parents were afraid to hold out hope, there were others who held on fiercely to the belief that their children were alive.