Between Shades Of Gray Essay

“1944” and Between Shades of Gray: Expression Through Art
Multitudes of people were deported by the Soviets under the order of Josef Stalin during World War II, including Crimean Tatars and Lithuanians. One such example of the Soviet’s cruelty is depicted in the novel Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys: “He threw his burning cigarette onto our clean living room floor and ground it into the wood with his boot. We were about to become cigarettes” (5). Between Shades of Gray is narrated through the eyes of fifteen-year-old artist, Lina Vilkas. Soviet soldiers, known as the NKVD, take Lina and her family from Lithuania to labor in Siberian camps with little supplies and hope. As people around her die at the NKVD’s hands, she is forced to endure

harsh conditions at the age where most girls are going to their first dances and spending time with their friends. Likewise, in the song “1944,” songwriter Jamala laments the loss of humanity and her childhood, which were taken by the Soviets under Stalin’s rule. The chorus of “1944” is in Crimean Tatar, and the rest of the song is in English. The song grieves the unfair treatment of the Crimean Tatars by Stalin and the NKVD, much the same as Between Shades of Gray grieves the injustice done to the Lithuanians. Though “1944” is about the persecution of Crimean Tatars, Between Shades of Gray and “1944” contain the same meaning; both the book and the song depict Soviet cruelty, loss of childhood, and deportees’ cries for help, to show that cruelty has a lasting and terrible impact upon people.
The cruelty of Soviet soldiers was excessive towards the deportees, even leading to deaths that left a permanent impact upon those deported. In Between Shades of Gray, the soldiers of the NKVD treat the deportees as less than human, calling them fascist pigs and other obscene names. Lina explains the constant fear the deportees lived under: “We had a war of our own, waiting for the NKVD to choose the next victim, to throw us in the next hole. They enjoyed hitting and kicking us in the fields. One morning, they caught an old man eating...A guard ripped out his front teeth...” (Sepetys 163). The Soviets showed no mercy towards anyone, whether they were young or old. They had no respect for the well-being of the deportees and took pleasure in harassing them. Similarly, the Soviets cruel actions are mentioned in “1944.” The lyrics voice the deportees’ observation that the NKVD assumed they were superior, even though they mistreated the deportees. Jamala states, “You think you are gods/ But everyone dies” (Jamala 9-10). The Crimean Tatars faced the same situation as the Lithuanian deportees; starvation and disease were rampant, killing many. Despite this, the Soviets did not show any mercy and believed that they were correct in their ways. The book and song both illustrate the unfair persecution of the deportees, and show that their actions left an irremovable impact.
Many of the displaced people’s childhoods were also lost because of the deportation and camp labor ordered by Stalin. This left an emptiness inside the deportees that deeply affected them for the remainder of their lives. Instead of playing with their friends and going to school, they are forced to work under deadly conditions. Lina’s mother in Between Shades of Gray pleads, “Please, God, spare him. He is so young. He’s seen so little of life. Please...take me instead” (Sepetys 193). She laments the fact that Lina’s younger brother Jonas has only lived a few years, and yet he is already forced to endure so many things at his young age. After enduring two labor camps, Lina also wishes that she could have had a normal childhood, saying “I wanted to live. I wanted to see my brother grow up...I wanted to paint in the fields. I wanted to see Andrius with my drawings” (319). She was not able to experience all the things she would have been able to if the NKVD had not deported people. The labor camps crushed the spirit of many people, and were even more devastating for children, whose fragility is greater than that of adults. Just as Lina discusses what she had missed in her childhood, Jamala vocalizes, “My youth was unfulfilled/ (For) In this place I was not able to live” (Jamala 13-14). Jamala feels that she was not able to live as an ordinary child because of the situation she was put in by the Russian soldiers. Both Lina and Jamala, among many other deportees, were not able to do the things they wished to do as children because of the lasting impact the Soviet’s cruelty had on their life.
As a result of being pushed to the breaking point by Stalin and the NKVD, deportees could only find solace through calling for awareness.

It was risky for deportees to speak of their experiences in the camps even after returning home, so Lina expresses her cry for help through her letters she leaves for the future. She writes, “...evil will rule until good men or women choose to act...This testimony was written to create an absolute record, to speak in a world where our voices have been extinguished” (Sepetys 338). Lina wants the people of the future to inform the world of the Soviet’s brutality, so the deportees’ situation can be prevented from reocurring. Jamala calls out as well, questioning, “Where is your mind?/ Humanity cries” (7-8) and “Where is your heart?/ Humanity rise” (21-22). She appeals to humanity to rise against Stalin and NKVD, and protests that humanity is crying because of the Soviets. In addition to her lyrics communicating the deportees’ distress, her vocalizations near the end of the song, raising in pitch and intensity, convey the emotion and pain felt by the deportees. Her singing is laden with the deep feelings and cries of the many deported, exposing the torment caused by Soviet cruelty for the world to hear. The impression that the NKVD’s cruelty left was strong enough for the deportees to have to call out in fear. Between Shades of Gray and “1944” both emphasize the cries of the persecuted people that are driven to entreat the world for assistance because of Stalin and the NKVD’s inhumane

actions.
The deportation of millions of people is the reason Lina Vilkas was impacted for life, and Jamala pleads through singing for awareness. Between Shades of Gray is a moving, and poignant story that shows inhumanity causes a stain over life. Young Lina realizes the true extent of Stalin and the NKVD’s maliciousness. She is forced to grow up too quickly, and is not able to forget what she had to experience. In the same way, Jamala sings through her soul to for the voices of Crimean Tatars that were deported by the Russian soldiers. She expresses regret over the loss of peace and happiness, in childhood and through life. The labor in the camps threw a shadow over lives that had the potential of happiness and normalcy. From two different points of view, “1944” and Between Shades of Gray share the theme that cruelty has a lasting and terrible impact upon people, by portraying Soviet cruelty, loss of childhood, and cries for help. If someone intends enough evil, the darkness seeps into places where it cannot be removed. The malintent will continue to affect people for generations, no matter how much people try to eliminate its effect.