Between Shades of Gray: Chapter 33 Summary & Analysis

When the pit they’re digging is more than two feet deep, the women are given a break and some water. Lina is in pain from the effort of digging. The women go into the woods to relieve themselves, and joke about passing the talcum powder, and the ridiculousness of squatting in a circle to use the bathroom. They laugh, and enjoy the feeling of a joke. Elena says that the NKVD cannot take their sense of humor away from them.

In a flashback, Lina recalls enjoying a night with her cousins, aunt, and uncle. Joana and Lina take a walk along the Baltic Sea. Lina insists they take a nighttime swim, so the girls jump into the water. Joana asks Lina if she will paint the image of them in the sea in the dark. Joana points out a boy among a group passing by on the beach, and tells Lina it is a boy she has been seeing. The girls exit the water to chat with the boys, who then excuse themselves to attend a meeting. The kind of meeting they are attending remains a mystery to Lina. The girls agree not to tell their parents about meeting the boys, or what they said about a meeting. Back in the woods, Lina wonders if Joana knew what the meeting was about. As the women head back to work, Lina wonders if they are digging their own grave.