Intermediate Between Black and White
Gray is not a colour, but an intermediate between black and white. It can be written many ways, from grey, gray, graye, or even grai. Like the word’s different of being spelled, it also has various meanings. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, gray is used to describe the dull or cold light of twilight, or a day when the sky is over-clouded (Anonymous). However, the Oxford English Dictionary also defines gray as being a way to describe old age, the sunless light of the morning, or even a dull, anonymous or faceless person (Anonymous). Often, the phrase “shades of gray” is used in a figurative manner to portray the area between right and wrong, good and bad, or even certainty and uncertainty. Sometimes, shades of gray can be representative of hope. In the inspiring novel, Between shades of gray, set during the Lithuanian deportation by the Soviets, Ruta Sepetys examines the survival of hope in humans when they are subjected to the worst of circumstances. Together, the deportees see past the sombre reality of their situation and help each other through the difficult times. Together, they cling to the hope of one day going back home, and living again. It is that hope that keeps them alive, and pushes them to keep on going when they have nothing left. The characters that help the Lithuanians see beyond black and white are namely Kretzky, an NKVD officer, Elena, the main character Lina’s mother, Mrs. Arvydas, Andrius’ mother, and Lina, herself.
The ever-present theme of shades of gray is uncovered in even the most peculiar places in Ruta Sepetys’ heartbreaking narrative. When Lina, her mother and her little brother are taken from their home and brought to a gulag in Siberia, the reader ...
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...VD officer did so by helping the Lithuanians obtain food and some necessities. He did not fit the usual NKVD stereotype. Ruta Sepetys, through Elena and Mrs. Arvydas, proves that mothers will often do what ever it takes to ensure their children’s survival. But often, people find in themselves the will to fight for their lives, or what they believe in. This fact is proven through Lina’s character.
Works Cited
Anonymous. "Grey." 1 September 2011. Oxford English Dictionary. 29 November 2011 .
Mia, Marirosa. "Between Shades of Gray." 14 March 2011. Please Don't Read This Book. 1 December 2011 .
Sepetys, Ruta. Between Shades of Gray. Toronto: Puffin Group, 2011.
Mariam and Laila are considerate, bold and protective while all their rights as humans are being oppressed. They can be courageous when there is everything to be afraid of, yet they take the risk, because they know it is right. Both will protect when they haven’t been protected from the danger of oppression. Laila and Mariam can be sympathetic in an inconsiderate world. Together, Mariam and Laila exemplify the hidden defiance against oppression, a burning fire counterattacking the darkness.
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys, is one of the most famous historical fiction books ever written. This 352 paged book has inspired many teens to acknowledge the Genocide of Baltic people. Ruta Sepetys was inspired to write a fiction book instead of a non-fiction book based on the stories she heard from survivors of the genocide during a visit to her relatives in Lithuania. She interviewed dozens of people during her stay. Between Shades of Gray was her first novel that she had written. This book was interpreted well enough by the readers to become a New York Times Bestseller.
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Solzhenitsyn believed that it was nearly impossible to have truly free thoughts under the prison camp conditions described in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, or in any situation where there is an authoritarian ruler. In a pris...
Demetria Martínez’s Mother Tongue is divided into five sections and an epilogue. The first three parts of the text present Mary/ María’s, the narrator, recollection of the time when she was nineteen and met José Luis, a refuge from El Salvador, for the first time. The forth and fifth parts, chronologically, go back to her tragic experience when she was seven years old and then her trip to El Salvador with her son, the fruit of her romance with José Luis, twenty years after she met José Luis. And finally the epilogue consists a letter from José Luis to Mary/ María after her trip to El Salvador. The essay traces the development of Mother Tongue’s principal protagonists, María/ Mary. With a close reading of the text, I argue how the forth chapter, namely the domestic abuse scene, functions as a pivotal point in the Mother Tongue as it helps her to define herself.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn carefully and tediously depicted what life is like in a prison. Ivans monotonous life prompts the reader initially to think that Ivans day is a living death of tedious details. Yet, in truth, Ivan i...
Despite Russia being unstable during the 1860s due to political conflicts, class conflicts, and various revolutionary ideologies shaking up traditional customs, women were still constantly trapped in their own state of oppression. Women were faced with inequality everywhere - from their community, to even their own family. Compared to men, they were subordinated legally at every social level and weren’t allowed to participate in occupations outside of their domestic work. In What is to Be Done?, Nikolai Chernyshevsky implements much of the intelligentsia’s ideas for transforming the subordination of women. The novel centers on Vera Pavlovna, a woman who escapes a suffocating lifestyle and forced marriage, becomes an entrepreneur, and finds her own true love with the help of her new found independence. Chernyshevsky uses Vera’s journey as an example of how a woman is oppressed and how she is able to be liberated from that oppression.
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In Sunset Limited, Black conveys Kierkegaard’s philosophy through his own life and words. In the beginning of the play, Black and White argue over the meaning of life—the former loving it, the latter trying to end it. Early on, Black tries to identify with White’s suicidal argument by noting that “Suffering and human destiny are the same thing” (55). Of course, Black’s admittance does not mean he believes in White’s argument, but instead that he understands White’s pain. Likewise, Kierkegaard’s description of life is similar to Black’s reasoning. In his writing, Kierkegaard recounts both the painful way a person is brought into the world and then taken out of it, saying, “[…] and then tell me whether something that begins and ends thus could be intended for enjoyment.” But the undertone of both Black and Kierkegaard’s statements cannot go unquestioned, and White replies, “You’re not making any sense” (55). White fails to understand that everything is common sense for Black, who has not only suffered more than White could ever imagine, but also believes in a force outside White’s wildest dreams. Originally a convict, Black turns his life around after a near-death experience, believing God chose him of all people to talk to. He lives in hopes of delivering God’s message and love to those bereft of it, for what pain can someone experience if God is on the other side? Comparatively, Kierkegaard’s detailed analysis of despair calls the obvious solution faith alone. Somehow, Black evinces Kierkegaard’s belief through becoming a productive member of society. After believing to have heard the Savior in his sleep, Black leaves his former friends and refrains from various forms of pleasure so he can help those less fortunate than himself. I...
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