Between Shades of Gray Chapter 40 Summary
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Lina lies awake in the straw, unable to sleep as Jonas breathes softly beside her. Her mother quietly urges her to be more understanding of Andrius, comparing his awkward kindness to the clumsy sincerity of Lina’s father, who once fell out of an oak tree trying to talk to her mother. Lina resists at first but eventually admits she is upset about her own harshness toward Andrius. Later that night, she confesses to Joana that she finds Andrius devastatingly handsome and can’t wait to see him again.
The next afternoon, Lina and Joana hurry to brush their hair before going out. Lina carries a portrait she drew of Andrius during a sleepless night; Joana suggests she give it to him as a gift. As they walk, Andrius’s brother greets Joana, and Lina looks past him to the ice cream shop. There she sees Andrius with his arm around a red‑haired girl, laughing and sharing a cone. Devastated, Lina pretends she forgot something, walks away, and tears the portrait into pieces before throwing it in the trash. She concludes that boys are idiots.
Key Events
- Lina’s mother tells a story about her father breaking his arm while trying to impress her, illustrating clumsy sincerity.
- Lina admits to Joana that she is infatuated with Andrius.
- Lina draws a portrait of Andrius and plans to give it to him.
- Lina sees Andrius with another girl and feels betrayed.
- Lina rips up the portrait and discards it, declaring that boys are idiots.
Character Development
- Lina: Her romantic idealization of Andrius shatters, revealing her vulnerability and the emotional toll of hope in a harsh environment. She also shows pride by hiding her hurt from Joana.
- Mother: Offers wisdom about love and clumsiness, using her own past to teach Lina that sincerity can be awkward. Her story humanizes Lina’s father and softens Lina’s judgment.
- Joana: Acts as a confidante and practical friend, encouraging Lina’s romantic feelings and later trying to comfort her.
- Andrius (off‑stage): The glimpse of him with another girl builds ambiguity—is he thoughtless or unaware of Lina’s feelings? His character remains a source of dramatic tension.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- The Portrait: Symbolises Lina’s hope, artistry, and emotional investment. Destroying it marks her rejection of that hope and her growth in confronting disappointment.
- Clumsiness vs. Sincerity: The mother’s story and Lina’s own awkwardness with Andrius reinforce that genuine emotion often appears imperfect.
- Ideal vs. Reality: Lina’s “prince” is destroyed by a simple, everyday scene of Andrius sharing ice cream, highlighting the gap between romantic fantasy and real life.
- Waiting and Disappointment: The chapter builds anticipation for a happy meeting, then subverts it, mirroring the larger narrative of deferred hopes in the Soviet labour camps.
Why This Chapter Matters
This is a turning point in Lina’s emotional arc. Her naive crush gives way to a more complicated view of relationships. The chapter also deepens the mother‑daughter bond, as Mother’s wisdom becomes a lens through which Lina might re‑evaluate Andrius later. The destruction of the portrait is a small but potent act of agency in a world where Lina has almost no control. Thematically, it reinforces that love—like survival—is rarely straightforward and often demands painful adjustments.
Study Questions and Answers
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How does the mother’s story about the father falling out of a tree relate to Lina’s situation?
The story shows that awkward, clumsy gestures can be sincere expressions of love. Mother implies that Andrius’s “clumsy” attempts at kindness should not be dismissed, because they may come from genuine feeling—just as her father’s awkwardness was sincere. -
Why does Lina rip up the portrait instead of keeping it?
The portrait represents her idealised image of Andrius and her hope for a romantic future. Seeing him with another girl makes that image feel false, so destroying the portrait is a symbolic rejection of her own fantasy and a way to cope with humiliation. -
What does Lina’s declaration “Boys were idiots” reveal about her emotional state?
It shows she is hurt, angry, and trying to protect herself by universalizing her disappointment. The line also hints at her immaturity—she swings from adoration to dismissal in a single moment, a typical adolescent reaction.