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Chapter 11
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Between Shades of Gray, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Morality, Integrity, and Sacrifice
Strength and Identity
The Power of Art
Genocide
Women and Mothers
Summary
Analysis
Lina and Jonas return to the train car, but not before they are caught by a guard. Lina claims they dropped something through the bathroom hole and merely jumped out to grab it. He searches them, and lets them go. Elena is upset with them, but relieved they found Kostas. When Lina gives her the ring, she begins to cry. Lina tries to give Elena the piece of ham, but the bald man—who Lina learns is named Mr. Stalas—demands to know where the rest of the food is. Elena instructs Lina to give him the ham, but Mr. Stalas disdainfully tells her he doesn’t want it. Mrs. Arvydas is upset that Andrius did not return with them. Lina notices a priest outside the train cars, and wonders what he is there for.
Though Elena is angry that her children, who promised not to leave her side, have left the train car, she is relieved that her husband is in one piece. Just as Elena tells white lies to Lina, Lina tells her mother that Kostas seemed well, despite his anxious demeanor and bloodied face. Elena further exhibits her unending kindness by offering the ham to Mr. Stalas, who, in his own rude way, insists that she keep it for herself. Later, we learn that he is Jewish, and can also infer in this moment that he cannot eat the ham since it is not kosher.
Themes
