Between Shades of Gray

Back at the shack, Elena tells them that the commander asked her to spy on the other prisoners in exchange for special treatment, and that she has refused, knowing that the NKVD guards cannot be trusted. They begin to unpack their things, and Lina takes out the framed family picture and the tablet of writing paper upon which she had started a letter to her cousin Joana the night they were arrested. She wonders where Joana is now and what she would write to her about, after all they’ve endured.

That night, Elena pays the Altaian woman for a single potato, and then again for the privilege of boiling it. Then they try to sleep on the bare floor, huddled together, and Lina remembers when she opened her letter of acceptance to the summer artist’s program and they celebrated with cake. She watches the Altaian woman pee in a tin can in the corner of the room.

The next morning, the NKVD wake them before it is light and divide them into work groups. Jonas is sent with two old women to make shoes, and Lina is in a group with her mother, Mrs. Rimas and the grouchy woman from the train. They are taken to the woods and forced to dig a hole with small, handle-less garden shovels. Elena believes they are being punished because she refused to be an informant. Mrs. Rimas mentions that there’s a town nearby, and they hope to be able to walk there to send letters. Mrs. Rimas reminds them to be careful about putting anything down in writing, as it could endanger others. She also tells them that people from Latvia and Estonia are being deported as well.

After the hole they’re digging reaches two feet, they are allowed a water break, but without cups they are forced to lap the water “like dogs” (136). Then they go into the woods for a bathroom break, squatting in a circle and laughing at the sight they make. Their laughter reminds Lina of the time she and Joana sneaked away from a family party and went swimming in the Baltic Sea, fully clothed. While in the water, they met two young men, one of whom Joana had a crush on. The boys were on their way to a meeting, and after flirting with them, the girls ran home laughing. When Lina, her mother, and Mrs. Rimas return to the dig site, Lina wonders if they are digging their own graves.

When they begin to dig again, Lina finds a stick and draws the image of her home in the dirt, while Elena talks about preparing for winter in Siberia. Lina can’t believe that they will still be here—winter is months away. It begins to rain, and the blond guard tells them to keep digging, as the dirt will be softer. When the rain stops, they are marched back to the camp and they find their way back to the shack. Jonas is waiting for them. He has put out the empty pots and pans to capture the rainwater and tells them that they will receive a ration coupon for working, which they can exchange for 300 grams of bread. On the way back from getting their bread rations, they see Miss Grybas who sneaks them a few beets she has hidden in her brassiere from her day working in the beet fields.