Chapter summaries Between Shades of Gray Ruta Sepetys

Chapter 70 Summary: Building the Jurta in Trofimovsk

⚠️ 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

At dawn the NKVD orders everyone to work. Lina has slept poorly on her suitcase; Jonas and Mother sheltered under a fishing boat. During the night Lina sketches Janina’s mother strangling Janina and writes a letter to Andrius wondering how to mail it. The prisoners are divided into twenty-five groups of fifteen. Strong men are sent to finish NKVD barracks, boys to fish in the Laptev Sea, and the rest must build a jurta (a hut) for their group using only scraps and driftwood—bricks and wood are reserved for the NKVD. Mrs. Rimas organizes the search for materials. Lina gathers stones, sticks, and moss. The fishermen return empty‑handed: all fish go to the NKVD. Over a week, they collect enough logs to frame a small hut. The ground is frozen, requiring hacking at ice. Ivanov and Kretzsky mock their efforts; Ivanov refuses them a stove. After two weeks, the finished jurta is a crude heap of logs, mud, and moss. Meanwhile, the NKVD barracks and bakery are proper brick buildings with stoves. The prisoners realize the authorities expect them to die in the arctic winter.

Key Events

  • NKVD divides prisoners into work groups; Lina’s group is number eleven.
  • Men and boys are assigned to barracks construction and fishing; women and elderly must build a jurta.
  • Scavenging for driftwood, stones, and moss; Janina and Lina gather moss as mortar.
  • Fishermen return with no fish—all catch is confiscated by the NKVD.
  • Over two weeks the group constructs a small, flimsy hut from scavenged materials.
  • Ivanov refuses to provide a stove or proper building supplies.
  • The finished jurta is described as a dung heap, while NKVD buildings are brick with stoves.
  • Lina sketches during the night and writes a letter to Andrius, though she has no way to send it.

Character Development

  • Lina continues to use drawing and writing as emotional outlets, sketching Janina’s mother and composing a letter to Andrius. Her private hope (“Papa, you’re coming for us. Hurry.”) persists even as reality sets in.
  • Jonas takes on the role of provider but returns empty‑handed from fishing, showing his helplessness in the face of systemic cruelty.
  • Mother works alongside Mrs. Rimas, dragging heavy logs and insisting they need a stove, demonstrating quiet resilience and practical thinking.
  • Mrs. Rimas emerges as a leader, organizing the scavenging and construction efforts.
  • Ivanov is further established as a sadistic guard who enjoys the prisoners’ suffering.
  • Kretzsky shows a flicker of conscience when he looks down after Mother’s plea for a stove, but he does not intervene.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Dehumanization – The NKVD’s refusal to let prisoners use bricks or fish, and Ivanov’s mocking response to requests for a stove, reduce the prisoners to subhuman status.
  • Survival and Resourcefulness – Building a jurta from driftwood, stones, and moss illustrates the prisoners’ determination to endure despite impossible conditions.
  • Art as Resistance – Lina’s nighttime sketching and letter‑writing preserve her identity and memories, a small act of defiance against erasure.
  • False Hope vs. Grim Reality – Lina’s belief that Papa will come is contrasted with the NKVD’s clear intention that the prisoners not survive the winter.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter marks the prisoners’ arrival at their final destination, Trofimovsk, and the beginning of their struggle for shelter and food. The stark contrast between the NKVD’s comfortable barracks and the prisoners’ miserable jurta crystalizes the systematic cruelty of the Soviet labor camp system. Lina’s ongoing internal life—her art, her letters, her hope—becomes a vital survival mechanism that will be tested in the chapters ahead.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. Why does Lina sketch Janina’s mother strangling Janina?
    Answer: Lina is processing the trauma she witnessed earlier—Janina’s mother attempted to kill her daughter and herself to escape deportation. The sketch is Lina’s way of making sense of horror and preserving the memory, however painful.

  2. How does the allocation of resources (bricks, fish, building materials) reflect the NKVD’s attitude toward the prisoners?
    Answer: By reserving all quality materials for their own use and denying prisoners even basic necessities like fish and stoves, the NKVD demonstrates that they consider the prisoners expendable. The system is designed to kill them slowly through exposure and starvation.

  3. What does Lina’s inner dialogue (“Papa, you’re coming for us. Hurry.”) reveal about her emotional state?
    Answer: It shows that Lina still clings to the hope of rescue despite mounting evidence that neither her father nor Andrius can reach her. This hope is both a comfort and a potential source of deeper despair when it inevitably collides with reality.

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