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
Jonas slowly begins to heal, and Lina fantasizes about seeing her father again. When Lina goes to chop wood one day, she can see a sliver of gold on the horizon—sunlight. They have survived the winter. Lina thinks of Andrius and squeezes the stone, hoping she will see him again someday.
Though the doctor is not able to end the deportees’ imprisonment, he gives them valuable hope for the future. The sliver of sunlight on the horizon symbolizes hope for a better future for Lina and Jonas.