Setting:Overall, the story of Between Shades of Gray takes place in the
European and Asian continents. The time period of the story begins in 1941, just before the ending of World War II. The Vilkas family originally lives in Lithuania, a European country, near Latvia and Poland. As the story progresses, they travel through the Asian continent, in the hands of the Soviet Union. They are dragged through several cities in Belarus, a country bordering Lithuania. Next, they travel through Russia. They cross the Ural Mountains after traveling through Smolensk. Lastly, they make their way to what was then Siberia. They spend nearly a year working in the Altai Labor Camp before proceeding to the city of Biysk and then to the Makarov Camp. Their journey then takes them to the banks of the Angara River, a tributary in north-eastern Asia. Just before the end of the year, they continue to travel through Siberia making their way to the town of Ust Kust and Yakutsk. Still under the control of the Soviet Union, the Vilkas family and many other prisoners cross the Arctic Circle. To end their long days of travel, they finish their journey in the native village of Trofimovsk, in the North Pole. The majority of the Vilkas family's time is spent at either a labor camp in Altai or near the North Pole. At first, in Altai, they are living in a run down wooden shack. They sleep in straw and have few untensils to eat with. Every day they are in the forest cutting trees or digging holes. They have all four seasons there, so the climate varies from hot, to comfortable to cold. When they are forced to travel, they are stuffed into agricultral stock cars. These cars are covered in straw with wooden planks for beds. If they're lucky, theres a hole or a bucket for bathroom use. Otherwise, dead bodies and fecies stench the cars. On the other hand, in the labor camp near the North Pole, tempatures are always freezing. All food and beverages are supported by the Soviet police, so food and water resources are scarce. The workers shelter themselves in huts made from rocks,snow and sticks, similar to igloos. During the polar night, a season with out sunshine, the tempatures drop especially low and conditions freeze. Citations: Siberian Landscape. Photograph. n.d. Siberia. Review: Between Shades of Gray. Helen's Book Blog. Web. 14 October 2012. <http://www.helensbookblog.com/2011/04/review-between-shades-of-gray-ruta.html>. Map of Eastern Europe and Asia. Photograph. n.d. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. Book Wind. Web. 14 October 2012. <http://bookwind.blogspot.com/2012/04/between-shades-of-gray-by-ruta-sepetys.html>. |