Symbols Between Shades of Gray Ruta Sepetys

The Oak Tree: A Symbol of Hope and Reunion in Between Shades of Gray

What the Oak Tree Literally Represents in the Novel

The oak tree is first introduced as a secret code. In Chapter 12, Kostas Vilkas whispers to his children through a latrine hole in a train car, telling them to “remember an oak tree.” He gives no further explanation, but the phrase becomes a private promise between him and his family. The oak tree is not a physical object in most of the story—it is a word, a mental image, and eventually a symbol woven into Lina’s art. For the Vilkas family, the oak tree represents the hope of reuniting after the war. It is a quiet, encoded message that Kostas expects his wife and children to carry in their hearts during their forced journey to Siberia.

The tree itself is never described in detail, but its meaning builds through the narrative. In the context of Baltic culture, the oak is a longstanding emblem of strength and endurance. Although the novel does not explicitly state this, the oak tree mirrors the resilience of the deportees who, like an oak against harsh winters, cling to survival. More directly, the oak tree functions as a testament to Kostas’s love—a simple, portable promise that his family can hold onto when everything else is stripped away.

Where the Oak Tree Appears and How Its Meaning Grows

First Appearance: The Train Station (Chapters 11–12)

Kostas is found under the seventh car of the men’s train. He has been beaten but gives his children ham, his wedding ring, and instructions. The oak tree is his parting gift—a seed of hope. At this moment, the oak is practical: a code to prevent the NKVD from intercepting their plan. But for Lina, it immediately becomes more. She begins to associate the oak tree with her father’s love and his belief that they will see each other again.

Recurrence in Lina’s Art

Later, as Lina draws constantly to survive the camp, the oak tree reappears in her sketches. In the author’s note, Sepetys writes that “sketches of symbols from their homeland were sometimes enough to push a deportee onward.” The oak tree is one such symbol. Lina draws it alongside other images to encode messages of hope. For example, when she makes paint from ashes (Chapter 74), she is creating a visual language that includes the oak. The tree becomes not just a code word but a visual anchor for her family’s reunion.

Recurrence in Dreams and Memory

In Chapter 85, Lina dreams of her father walking toward her through the snow. She imagines him saying, “I’m right on time.” Although the oak tree is not named in that dream, the promise of reunion is alive in her mind. The oak tree is the vessel that holds that promise. As the story progresses, the meaning shifts from a survival code to a spiritual compass—something that keeps Lina walking through the five‑kilometer trek for wood, her numb toes, and the death of friends.

Final Echo in the Sun’s Return

At the end of the novel (Chapter 85), Lina sees “a tiny sliver of gold appear between shades of gray.” She squeezes a stone in her pocket. While the stone is not the oak tree, the moment captures the same essence: hope after darkness. The oak tree has already done its work by keeping Lina’s spirit alive long enough to see the sun again.

Character Connections

  • Lina Vilkas: The oak tree is entrusted to her by her father. She keeps it alive through her art. Her drawings of the oak (and other symbols) become acts of resistance—they preserve her family’s story and her own will to survive. As she tells Jonas, her art is a way to help Papa find them later.

  • Jonas Vilkas: He repeats the oak tree message to their mother after the train encounter. Jonas’s role is to share the secret and later to help Lina interpret the coded letters from home. The oak tree binds brother and sister in a shared mission.

  • Kostas Vilkas: He is the originator of the symbol. His decision to give the oak tree rather than a map or money shows his understanding that hope is the most portable resource. Kostas’s love is the trunk from which the oak tree grows.

  • Elena Vilkas: As the mother, she does not receive the oak tree directly but learns of it through Jonas. She supports Lina’s drawing and reinforces the family’s commitment to survival. Her strength is an extension of the oak’s resilience.

  • Andrius Arvydas: Though not connected to the Vilkas oak tree, Andrius has his own symbol of hope—searching for his father. He and Lina share a parallel journey of clinging to a private promise. Their bond deepens as they each nurture their respective symbols.

Theme Intersections

Survival Under Totalitarian Oppression

The oak tree is a direct response to oppression. The NKVD tries to erase identity, but Kostas smuggles a secret code into his family’s minds. The oak becomes a tool for psychological survival—a way to maintain human connection when the state treats people as numbers.

Family Loyalty and Sacrifice

The oak tree is a promise from father to children. It demands sacrifice—Lina must trust that her father will find them, and Kostas must endure his own imprisonment. The symbol cements the family’s loyalty even when they are scattered across Siberia.

Art as Testimony and Resistance

Lina’s drawings of the oak tree align with the real‑life practice of hiding symbols in art. As the author’s note explains, “paintings and drawings were not shared publicly. Art was passed secretly, encoded with messages.” The oak tree is a prime example of art serving as both personal testimony and political resistance.

Dehumanization and Loss of Innocence

The oak tree contrasts the dehumanization of the gulags. The NKVD tries to reduce the Vilkas family to “enemies of the state,” but the oak tree reasserts their humanity—it is a private, loving gesture that outsiders cannot steal.

Hope and Resilience in Darkness

The oak tree is the embodiment of hope. Sepetys has said that survivors survived through love, and the oak tree is a vessel for that love. It reminds Lina that there is a life beyond the camp, a reason to keep drawing, walking, and breathing.

Four Study Questions with Answers

1. Why does Kostas choose an oak tree as the secret code instead of a specific location or date?

Kostas chooses the oak tree because it is a natural symbol that can be remembered without written evidence. A location or date could be discovered or forgotten. The oak tree is timeless and can be passed orally. More importantly, it represents endurance—an oak tree stands for years, just as Kostas believes his family’s bond will endure the separation. The code is also flexible: it can be spoken, drawn, or thought of without raising suspicion.

2. How does Lina’s use of the oak tree change from her father’s instruction to her own artistic practice?

Initially, the oak tree is a verbal code—a word to whisper and remember. After the train, Lina transforms it into a visual symbol through her drawings. She uses ash, dirt, and paper to sketch the oak, embedding it in images that carry hope. This shift from oral to visual makes the symbol more concrete and personal. It becomes part of her identity as an artist and a witness to suffering.

3. In what way does the oak tree connect to the theme of “family loyalty and sacrifice”?

The oak tree is a contract of loyalty. Kostas sacrifices the chance to keep a physical memento—he gives away his wedding ring—but he holds onto the idea of the oak tree as a promise. Lina and Jonas sacrifice their comfort to hold onto this promise, refusing to give up hope even when their mother is taken or when Andrius doubts. The oak tree reminds them that their family is still a unit, even when separated by thousands of miles.

4. The author’s note mentions that deportees “sketched symbols from their homeland” to keep themselves going. How does the oak tree fit this pattern beyond the Vilkas family?

The oak tree is both a personal symbol for the Vilkas family and a cultural symbol for Lithuania. Oaks are native to the Baltic region and are often associated with strength and national identity. By choosing an oak, Kostas ties his family’s survival to the survival of their homeland. Lina’s drawings of the oak tree connect her individual suffering to the collective experience of the Baltic deportees. In this way, the symbol moves from private to public, representing hope for an entire displaced people.

Final Thoughts

The oak tree in Between Shades of Gray is a deceptively simple symbol. It begins as a whispered code and grows into a lifeline. Through Lina’s art, it becomes a form of protest against the NKVD’s attempt to erase identity. The oak tree cannot be confiscated or crossed out—it lives in memory and in sketches passed from hand to hand. For readers, it illustrates how something as small as a tree can carry the weight of love, survival, and the hope of reunion.

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