Between Shades of Gray

Have you ever felt helpless and miserable during hard times and wanted to give up? Have you ever encountered hurdles and obstacles on the path of life? Through the pained yet resilient narration of 15-year-old Lina, Between Shades of Gray tells the tragic story of Lithuanian deportees in Siberian work camps during WWII. It is an inspiring novel which demonstrates the incredible strength of love and hope in the darkest of times.

Lina Vilkas is a typical fifteen-year-old who lives a normal life just like anyone else. But everything changes drastically when Russian officers suddenly place her family under arrest without any reason and tear them from the comfortable life they've known. Lina, her mother Elena, and her younger brother, Jonas, are separated from their father, forced onto crowded and dirty train cars, and carried away. They soon arrive at a prison camp, where they are tormented and work brutal hours. After ten months, Lina, Elena and Jonas are sent to a camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. They are forced to do backbreaking work, battle immense pain and hunger, and witness people around them die from the inhumane conditions. This is when Lina finds solace in art, and at great risk, she documents the events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp. Then one day, Elena is told that her husband has been executed. Soon after, Elena’s health declines sharply until she finally dies of cold, starvation, and grief, and Lina is left to take care of herself and Jonas alone.

Not long after, Jonas grows ill, and Lina becomes desperate when miraculously, they find a doctor at their shack door. The doctor provides care for the sick and food for all the prisoners. Lina’s story ends when she knows they have successfully survived the winter despite the best efforts of the NKVD to have them perish. In the end, Lina returns to Lithuania and buries her writings and drawings so that one day the truth will be revealed, and the world will know what happened to so many innocent people. Lina also hopes that by sharing this knowledge, the tragedies will never be repeated.

The characters in the novel inspired me greatly. The character that impressed me the most is Elena, who is an example of incredible strength and love. She is intensely kind and sympathetic towards the other passengers, and never stops caring deeply for not just her own children, but everyone around her. More than once, she saves the lives of her children and of other deportees by bargaining with the guards using valuables she has hidden in the lining of her coat. Elena is also selfless and generous beyond imagination, and often goes without her own meager rations in order to feed someone else. She shares any food she is able to get beyond their inadequate bread rations, and even buys candy and cigarettes for everyone during a train stop. In the end, Elena perishes due to her own generosity—during the winter in Siberia, she gives away most of her bread rations, leading to illness, and at last, death. Elena also teaches Lina the importance of not holding onto hate, despite what they went through. Also, I especially love how Lina shows amazing courage and keeps moving forward even when she doubts herself. I learned from her that even in the darkest moments, even when things seem hopeless, you should believe in yourself and never give up.

Between Shades of Gray shows both the sinister and virtuous side of humanity; the hatred and cruelty of war contrasts sharply with the courage and resilience of human spirit. But in the end, hope will always shine through hate. This book has a great impact on me and I was moved to tears. I realized that I should be thankful for what I have now because of how quickly our precious lives can be turned upside down and into the image of hell. This book also made me appreciate my life and stop complaining about it, since the difficulties I am facing is nothing compared to the hardships that the deportees went through.