Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Between Shades of Gray, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Morality, Integrity, and Sacrifice
Strength and Identity
The Power of Art
Genocide
Women and Mothers
Summary
Analysis
Lina wakes up sometime later to realize that the door to the train car has been closed. People begin to panic. The train begins to move, and Lina peers out of a small slot and reports back what she sees. There is a lot of luggage and food outside of the train. As the train moves away from the station, Lina notices that there are men in dark suits, NKVD officers with rifles, and priests flinging oil and crossing themselves at the train. Lina realizes the priests are issuing last rites for the passengers.
As the train moves away from the station, Lina realizes that the priests are issuing last rites for deportees who will likely die, and who will not have access to a priest before they do so. The train cars suddenly transform into moving coffins, full of civilians branded as criminals destined for death. Despite all of Elena’s optimism, from this moment on the journey takes an even more sinister turn.
Themes
