Characters
The characters in the historical fiction novel, Between Shades of Gray mirrors real people in history. There are two types of people in this book, the first being the antagonists also known as Stalin and the NKVD and the second being the protagonists also known as the deportees or considered by the Soviets, anti-Soviets.
Joseph Stalin was a dictator of the U.S.S.R (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) from 1929 to 1953.
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Lithuanians and people from the other Baltic states (Latvia and Estonia) board the cattle cars to be deported to Siberia. |
In this novel Stalin and the NKVD continuously show their complete disregard for human life. "I remembered Papa talking about Stalin confiscating peasants' land, tools, and animals. He told them what crops they would produce and how much they would be paid. I thought it was ridiculous. How could Stalin simply take something that didn't belong to him, something that a farmer and his family had worked their whole lives for?" (Sepetys 105) These characteristics and actions that Stalin possess is a complete mirror of the same characteristics and actions that the real Stalin in history possessed. "The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic." (Joseph Stalin) This direct quote from Stalin himself shows how little he cared for the many people he killed. Instead of viewing them as people with families and a future of possibilities ahead of them he saw them as merely a number, a statistic.
The other type of people in the novel were the victims, people from the Baltic states that were considered anti-Soviet. These people included doctors, lawyers, teachers, military servicemen, writers, business owners, musicians, artists, and librarians. Although they were fictional characters in the book, they represented real people who were deported from their homes during Stalin and Hitler's occupation of Europe or more specifically, the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia). The victims in the novel all share a common goal, to survive. That survival, however, is fueled by helping others including, friends, loved ones, or even their country as a whole. These helpful acts however were most times as extreme as sacrifices. These sacrifices included starvation to feed others, relinquishing a coat to keep another warm, stealing to provide for a family, or something as drastic as speaking up for what you believe in. "Then I saw it, the body of a man with a stake driven through his chest into the side of the kolkhoz office...'He wrote a letter to the partisans--the Lithuanian freedom fighters. The NKVD found it,' said Mrs. Rimas." (Sepetys 147-148) This quote shows the drastic measures these people took to let the world or at least someone know what was happening to them. They were willing to risk their life in order to save millions. "I bear no hatred against the peoples of the Soviet Union. I worked for the good of my own people and wanted to fight for the freedom and independence of my people." (Teodors Jēkabsons - resistance organization "Tēvijas Sargi" or Guards of the Fatherland) "At school I was taught to go and fight for a free, independent Latvia...and my action was correct!" (Artūrs Tiltiņš - resistance organization "Tēvijas Sargi" or Guards of the Fatherland) It was resistance organizations like these that brought hope to the people and relates to our theme, people often have the will to survive to order to help others. Another resistance group includes students of the Jēkabplils middle school, which shows just how much the younger generations were affected just as much as the older generations during this time. These students were affected so much, that they would risk their lives to stand up for what the believe in. "Latvians! You must choose between freedom and slavery. Do not give your voice on 12 January 1941 - to slavery, poverty, hunger. Latvians - store your energies for the struggle for a new free Latvia. Down with foreign power!" (Jēkabpils middle school resistance - "Viesturieši") The strength of the Baltic states definitely came from the people who were willing to fight for them. This strength and courage of the characters in the book and from history are directly linked and definitely mirror each other.
Teodors Jēkabsons |
Artūrs Tiltiņš |
Jēkabpils middle school resistance - "Viesturieši" |
The Jakovičs family was deported on 14 June1941. |
"My Dear and Good Auce! I am still sending you greetings. Will I be able to send any more, I don't know. At the moment we are on our way to an unknown destination. So much remains unsaid. A long kiss to You and the children. May God help you all. From my loving heart, your Alfrēds" (Latvian army Colonel Alfrēds Plats - this note was thrown by him from a deportee rail wagon) |
Aina Roze's drawing of "A Wagon Scene" (Vagona skats) which was drawn while in the deportee wagon on 14 June 1941. |