Analysis Of Between The Shades Of Gray By Ruta Sepetys

Have you ever heard about the Holocaust? Not the one that took place in Germany. The Lithuanian Holocaust. The book, Between the Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys talks about the Lithuanian Holocaust. Joseph Stalin,the leader of the Soviet Union, took over the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. These states lost a third of their populations. Citizens of those states were deported. Deportation could go all the way to Finland. The book tells the story of a mother, father, Lina and Jonas who were a nuclear family living in Lithuania. They had a normal life until the Soviet Union invaded Lithuania. Mother, named Elena, and her children, were separated from their father. One fine night, the NKVD barged into their home telling them to get out within twenty …show more content…
They were being deported. Throughout the time Elena was with the group, she was always mentally strong as she was confident that she would return home . She {Elena} was also a very selfless character as whenever someone needed help, she would help them even if it caused her to risk her life.
To begin with in the story, Between the Shades of Gray, it is clear that Elena is a strong character. Elena always tries to find some light in such a dull situation, unlike many of the others on the train car. Elena is also strong because she wants to show her children that everything will be okay. The first example of Elena being strong for her children, is when the NKVD guards push her into the mirror while she is packing up her home. The guards burst into Elena’ s house at night, shove her into a mirror, while her children are watching, but all she says is “Pardon me.” Elena is trying to show her children that the position they are in right now is not the worst. Elena knows that