Between Shades Of Gray Hope Analysis

In the Merrriam-Webster dictionary, hope is defined as; to cherish a desire with anticipation. However, those words don't convey the meaning deep enough, hope is more than that. Hope is a feeling deep in the gut, a motivating force, for some hope is everything. Hope must be stronger than any fear and it must have fight in it. Lina Vilkas, a fifteen year old Lithuanian, she fights for hope. In Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys a family is ripped apart by russian soldiers and sent to prison camps. The prison camps have the worst living conditions and the soldiers are brutal to anyone. Lina meets Andrius in the camps, a friend who helps her stay strong while she is imprisoned for 12 years and loses both parents and almost her brother. Lina finds her hope even in the darkest situations, because hope is bright and believing in a brighter future it isn't giving up because of fear. Ruta Sepetys theme of the power of hope on a survivor is expressed when a young girl loses everything, finds

True love found in the darkest place and the worst of situations is a sign of hope. Like a light in a dark tunnel their love is against all odds, but it displays their hope that they'll make it through the camps because they have each other to think for. They have a love that keeps each other strong, before Lina is relocated Andrius tells her to not ‘’let her guard down’’ and makes her ‘’promise him that she’ll be careful,’’ they are strong for each other in the camps (Sepetys 245). Their love and multiple promises are just an example of their hope and is part of a bigger metaphor illuminating the good found in the darkness. They are both survivors, with deep problems from suffering in the camps, their love comes from only the strength of their hope. It takes great heart and hope to find love in a hopeless place, heart to love through the pain and hope to wait for the day that the love can prosper in