between shades of gray essay

Ava Mascuch                                                                                                                                 711

“between shades of gray” essay                                                                                             4/13/15

    Most people talk about the 1930s and 1940s as a time when Hitler imprisoned thousands of Jewish people. What they usually do not talk about as much is Stalin and the Soviets who killed an estimated 7,000,000 people. The book “between shades of gray” tells the story of of a girl named Lina who is sent to prison camps with her Mother and brother Jonas. The story also talks about how Lina managed to get through the camps and the reason she survived was because of her Mom. Lina’s Mother helped her and Jonas survive  the camps by always encouraging them and to telling them not to give up.  She always put her children and others before herself.

    The Mother was a hero in this story because she encouraged Lina and Jonas not to give up no matter how hard times got. She always looked on the better side of things. For example in ”between shades of gray” Jonas says, “Looking at the sky, it’s like I’m lying on the grass at home in Lithuania. That sounded like something Mother would say,throwing color into a black-and-white picture.” pg 90. This quote shows their Mother looks on the better side of things and tries to see the silver lining in each situation. Another example from the book that shows the Mother’s optimism is “The shack was approximately ten feet by twelve feet...this is filthy. But nothing a little cleaning can’t fix, right?” pg 109. This quote is shows that even though they were in a filthy shack that could barely fit all of the people in their group the Mother still did not let the situation get the better of her. This helped teach Lina and Jonas not to give up because of a bad scenario.

Another way in which the Mom helped Jonas and Lina through the camps was that she always put them and others before herself. For instance, when “Jonas found the package from Mothers cousin’s Regina. Inside was a small blanket, a sausage, and a coffee cake. Mother shared the food giving small pieces to everyone.” pg 50. This quote shows that even when the Mother could have just eaten the food with Lina and Jonas, she decided to think of the others on the train and share. A second example is, “We’ve seen her nibble, but she’s always giving us bread...Mother was starving herself to feed us.” pg 285. This example supplies that the Mother is thinking of her children and making sure they have enough to eat, instead of being greedy like most people at the camp. She is selfless.

    Overall, the Mother is one of the heros in “between shades of gray” because she was selfless and always looked for the silver lining in difficult situations. If she had not acted the way she did Lina and Jonas would have probably ended up dead. This shows that small and hopeful actions can influence peoples lives and help them survive through tough times.