Between Shades of Gray: Chapter 72 Summary & Analysis

Jonas finds an empty barrel and pulls it ashore to use as a stove. The men set to building it. Ivanov begins to steal bread rations—he once grabbed an old woman’s food, chewed it, and spit it at her feet, and she scrambled to eat the remains. They hear rumors that Ivanov had been demoted from a prison in Krasnoyarsk, and that guard assignments in Trofimovsk are demotions. The deportees must chop logs for firewood but are not given any for themselves. Jonas and Lina set off to steal some of the wood. They notice that Elena is getting weaker, and realize she has been giving them her rations—starving herself to feed her children. The polar night begins and the days and nights are freezing. Kretszky sees them, and throws pieces of wood at them to use for firewood. The first snowstorm arrives at the end of September. Janina itches and Lina realizes there are lice in the jurta. They scoop ice to melt for water, and must relieve themselves inside the hut with the snowstorm raging outside.