Lina Vilkas Sparknotes

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Summary: In 1941, 15 year old Lina Vilkas, her mother Elena, and 10 year old brother Jonas are taken out of their comfortable home in Lithuania by the Soviet police (the NKVD) where they are thrown into train cars along with many others. Prior to the family’s situation, their father and husband has already been captured by the NKVD. These innocent passengers can’t figure out why they have all been arrested and why they are forced to be held under harsh, unsanitary and malignant conditions. The train departs and travels miles and miles away from their homes. Weeks will pass, then months before they reach the unknown destination. Lina often wonders if she will ever see her father again and how she will ever find him. The train finally comes to a halt. After traveling 6500 miles away from their home …show more content…

Arvydas). Andrius and his mother were both arrested by the NKVD and they traveled on the same train as the Vilkas family. Lina and Andrius develop an acquaintance (which later turns into a crush). However, when they arrive in Siberia, Lina notices how the mother and son are being treated better than anybody. Angered by this, she confronts him, but it baffled when he explains their situation. She finds out that Mrs. Arvydas has been working as a prostitute in order to protect her and her son from being killed. For the 12 years that Lina was imprisoned, she documented her story through means of writing and drawing, knowing she could not tell it orally. She kept all of her secrets held in a jar that she buries, hoping that one day somebody will discover it and they will let it be known of the conditions they faced. The story ends and readers are given a note that in 1995, 40 years after Lina Vilkas buried her secrets, somebody has found the jar. The note shares that her love, Andrius Arvydas, has become her husband and that her brother made it through with her.

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