Between Shades Of Gray Theme Analysis

The brutal and immoral treatment of Jewish people during World War II is taught all throughout the world, but few people know about the horrid actions conducted towards the doctors, lawyers, artists, and many other innocent civilians in the Baltic States. The novel, Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys, follows the life of Lina Vilkas and her family as they try to survive the harsh conditions of the Siberian labor camps while also avoiding the violence of the NKVD officers imprisoning them. Their survival, however, was not always due to their own accord, but also came from the compassion and kindness of others. For instance, Andrius Arvydas is a young boy who risks his life and encourages others’ survival. Another example is Lina’s mother,

An example of this is when Lina, Jonas, and Elena are getting ready to go onto one of the cattle cars for the first time. Jonas says, “Mother… these cars are for pigs and cows,” to which she responds, “Yes, I know. We’ll have a little adventure, won’t we?” (Sepetys 30). This quote demonstrates the theme because this moment is a very terrifying time for everyone, let alone children. Elena had been previously shown to have moments of unease and panic, but she is currently hiding it for the sake of her children. She tells Jonas it will be a fun trip so he can feel more at ease about the situation around him and not be so petrified of what is to come. Another example of how Elena shows the theme is when she gives Lina and Jonas her food rations. While Lina and Jonas go to gather firewood, Lina starts to question if her mother has eaten anything at all, saying, “Think about it. We’ve seen her nibble, but she’s always giving us bread,” and that is when she realizes, “Mother was starving herself to feed us” (Sepetys 285). The family's current environment is freezing and harsh. In order to survive, one must have a good amount of food and sustenance. However, Elena is giving almost all of her food to her children so they can live. This quote helps show the theme of compassion because her love for Jonas and Lina is causing her to sacrifice herself for their