In the beginning of “ between shades of grey”, Jonas, his sister Lina, and mother are paid a late night visit from the soviet secret police. Father wasn’t there to protect hisfamily, so by force, the family has to get packed and ready to leave out the door in five minutes. Lina packed clothes and essentials, so did her younger brother Jonas. But their mother knows what has happened, and starts smashing valuables outside of the police’s sight that she has worked for, almost as if she will never see them again. Jonas and Lina saw their mother smashing dishes and expensive china, so do the police.
The mother says “ sorry it was an accident” but Lina and Jonas saw her breaking with rage. They now know that home is no longer a place of comfort, their mother destroyed the valuables because the home and everything in it was now the property of the police, and she wanted them to not have all of it, so she smashed things to make what they were taking would be less valuable. Brother Jonas and sister Lina, totally oblivious to the reasoning behind their abduction, spend their imprisoned days and nights learning to share and work with others.
In the struggle of having a father in a train cart, Lina, Jonas and Andrius, cope with each other and striving to save their loved fathers. I think that according to the book “ between shades of gray” I would match up the best with, Jonas. Jonas Is oblivious to the circumstance an just “ goes with the flow”, an plays it on the safe side. Like me, being the youngest, you have to listen and follow. While imprisoned in their cold, crowed, train cars, Lina has to associate with strangers. Lack offood, spirit, patience, and warmth keepsstresstensions high.
Lina is trapped with over 10 people in a train car, one man has an injured leg who needs a lot of attention. They are very limited on food, almost a loaf of bread to feed the whole cart. If one were to get an illness that is deadly, the whole cart has a greater possibility of getting it too, because they are all crammed, and are practically touching shoulder to shoulder. Team work is one of the many keys to getting along in the small, crowded place that was forcefully given to them.
