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
One day while in the beet field, Kretzsky comes by looking for someone who can draw. Lina is nervous that they have found her drawings, but Kretzsky clarifies that they will pay two cigarettes in exchange for a copy of a map and photograph. Lina volunteers, despite Elena’s warnings. Kretzsky will not let Elena accompany her. When Lina is brought to the NKVD building, the offers slap and berate her, nearly burning her with a cigarette. Kretszky then drags her into the kolkhoz office. Lina suddenly regrets agreeing to the task.
Lina is eager to put her drawing to good use if it means she can get out of the fields for the day, warm up in the office, and earn some currency for her family to barter and bribe. Despite offering her services, the NKVD beat and berate her since she has not signed the documents. Even during a peaceful exchange, the officers take any chance they can to humiliate the deportees.
Themes
