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Komorov (The Commander)
Drawing
Lina’s drawings create an important connection between her life back home in Lithuania and her life in the Communist labor camps of Siberia. As she continues to sketch wherever she can—in the dirt on…
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Family Photos
Lina brings photos of her family among her meager possessions when she is deported, as do many of the other deportees. Images of family members give the deportees strength and comfort throughout the treachery of…
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Andrius’ Stone
While on a bucket run during the train journey, Andrius finds an oval stone full of quartz and other minerals. Stripped of all their worldly possessions, including jewelry and other ornaments, the deportees ooh and…
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Josef Stalin
Though Stalin is never actually seen or heard from throughout the novel, his presence nevertheless looms behind every scene. It is Josef Stalin who annexes Lithuania as part of the Soviet Union, and it is…
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