Between Shades Of Gray Clothing Analysis

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Clothing worn in daily life tells a story of emotions. During an extensive amount of time of labor and sadness, clothing can be seen as another emotion. In the novel Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys, the author uses the clothing worn by the characters to show their emotions. Lina, a 15 year old girl is imprisoned by the Joseph Stalin and the NKVD officers with her family. Along the way, she meets new people who become big parts in her life. Throughout the book, readers begin to pick up on the reference of the clothes they are wearing and the meaning they hold. Sepetys uses clothing as another way to show emotions throughout the novel. It is through the description that readers imagine the feelings engrained in the clothing. Lina and her family are in the midst of chaos. She is flustered, trying to focus on keeping her family with her. After being …show more content…

The clothes become a part of the characters, a second emotion that can not be said but can show how they are feeling. Sepety’s uses the clothing of the characters as an alternative way to show emotions. The clothes worn in the book shows the damage that words can not explain, the feelings that are to hard to say but can be seen through the threads in which it is made of. This time in which Stalin was ruling and taking over countries like Lithuania, Latvia and Astonia were hard, the people forced into camps were beat, starved and worked till everybone in their body was weakened. A situation so brutal took tolls on all the characters, they had emotions but could not show them, they could not show to the NKVD that they were weak and gave up. They did not say anything, they concealed themselves and let the clothes that went through it all talk for them. Clothing is used as another way of expression when words are not enough. The traits of the clothing is a way for the readers to seek the feeling of the