Setting
The setting in the novel Between Shades of Gray, mirrors the particular age in history. There are many settings in the book that are similar to ones in real life like Lithuania, the cattle cars, and Siberia.
In World War 2 people got deported from Lithuania to Siberia under the rule of Stalin. This also happened in the novel. Lina and her family were deported from their house in Lithuania which happened suddenly causing a lot of tension and fear. "Thinking back, the signs were there- family photos burned in the fireplace, Mother sewing her best silver and jewelry into the lining of her coat late at night, and Papa not returning from work" (Sepetys, 3). An article by Audrius V. Plioplys who was an actual person that faced the terrible settings of World War 2 shares his experience. "June 2011 was the seventieth anniversary of the beginning of Stalin's deportations of Lithuanians to Siberia. During the night of June 17, 1941, thousands of unsuspecting people were wakened from their sleep and ordered to leave their homes immediately. Most were unable to take anything with them." This ties in with our theme of, people often have the will to survive in order to help others, because even during all of this people helped other people manage to get through the different settings, especially during the deportation.
The next setting in the novel was the cattle cars and the pandemonium around them. In the novel, Lina describes the condition of the cattle cars. "The inside of the car was stuffy and full of personal smells, even with the door open. People were wedged in everywhere, sitting on their belongings. At the end of the car, large planks of wood approximately six feet deep had been installed as shelves" (Sepetys, 31). These pictures are real pictures of the cattle cars that contained about 30,485 people from Lithuania. "June 14-18, 1941 were the dark days of the first massive arrest and deportation of the Lithuanian population. A cargo of 16,246 people were crammed into cattle cars... In the cattle cars the passengers were given hardly any food except a little water and some inedible soup. There was scarcely any air to breathe as everyone was jammed together and the cars had only a few small windows covered with bars. A hole in the floor served as a toilet. Some of the people, especially the infants became sick immediately and died. The bodies of those who died on the journey were left on the side of the tracks." This ties in with our theme of, people often have the will to survive in order to help others, because through the pandemonium of the train station, everyone helped each other stick together and get to their designated cattle cars.
The Lithuanians were deported from their homes in the middle of the night and were taken on a rough travel all the way to Siberia. In the novel, Lina lost many people that were extremely close to her and was taken into a concentration camp along with her family in Siberia. "Nearly September. We were freezing. We had learned about the polar region, the sun falls below the horizon for 180 days. Darkness for nearly half a year" (Sepetys, 274). Below is a photo of people who are working in the coldness of Siberia. They are working to build a warehouse for the Soviet Union officers.
The novel, Between Shades of Gray, mirrors the time period it took place in. The book explained in great detail the sacrifices, the fear, and the pain that these Lithuanians faced. They started from Lithuania and ended up in a concentration camp in Siberia and the novel described the whole travel and setting just like in history.