Between Shades Of Gray Themes

“I became frustrated with living in fear. I felt as if I was always waiting for death to come to

    Fear plays an important role in Shakespeare's tragic play, Hamlet. Within the play, the main character, Hamlet, attempts to overcome his fear and fulfill his father's revenge. Hamlet's apprehension toward death prevents him from carrying out the murder of Claudius. Although confrontation with death is avoided for as long as possible, Hamlet comes to recognize his weakness, and faces this anxiety.

The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” (Mark Twain). This quote from the famous American writer is the basis for what became one of the hardest ideas to comprehend, death. Death has always been a complex term, causing one to struggle with what the true definition is. It is also hard to wrap your mind around what does it truly mean to die. These are the questions we long for the answer. Whether we acknowledge it or not, death has always been feared by many. Death remains an impossible question, one that has been unexplained since beginning of time. Even though dying is a natural, we as a human race still fear it. What can be done to defeat this never-ending battle? According to Montaigne’s “To Philosophize is to Learn to Die” and Cory Taylor’s “Questions for Me About Dying” we can overcome this by living to the fullest, living with no regrets, living a legacy, and lastly not fearing the inevitable. If you want to conquer the question of life, live in the moment.

Death is an unknown place that people tend to avoid because of the fear that surrounds it. But, there should be fear or anxiety that has built up because being in a strange place will definitely add anxiety and fear to a person. Ron Scranton confirms this idea by saying. “learning how to die isn’t easy… I was terrified by the idea”. From the time when he was in the army, he had no choice but to face the idea of death. What seems to scare individuals the most is the thought and process

Everybody has a different perspective on fear and everybody is affected differently. The Mental Health Foundation stated that, “Fear can last for a short time and then pass but it can also last much longer and stay with us. In some cases it can take over our lives, affecting appetite, sleep, and concentration for long periods of time. Fear stops us from travelling, going to work or school, or even leaving the house.” This quote shows that fear does not affect people as much as it does to others. Although, fear can affect people for a long time which can cause them to stay isolated from others. There are many types of fears and some examples of fears include: the fear of the number 13, the fear of spiders, the fear of heights, and many others. There are hundreds of fears and many people have these fears and everybody is affected differently.

One of the ways the setting is so impactful throughout the book is it shows the decay of a city and country through an awful winter. The setting is so important during this book because it adds to the challenge that both Lev and Kolya face. A scene that really demonstrates the utter atrocity and discrepancy of the setting in the book is when they find the young boy at the chicken coop. During which, they see the boy cold and dying of starvation. One of the most powerful quotes in the book is, “The fierce souls who survived winter after winter in Siberia possessed something I did not, great faith in some splendid destiny, whether God’s kingdom or justice or the distant promise of revenge. Or maybe they were so beaten down, they became nothing more than animals on their hind legs, working at their masters’ command …. and dreaming of nothing but the end.” (Benioff, 34) This brings perspective to the reader and shows them the hardships that people faced each day. Lastly, the most important characteristic of the setting in the book, were the morose people of Leningrad. The reason why the people are so important to the setting of this book is because they add a depth of detail that cannot be described by the landscape of Leningrad itself. The people’s suffering is represented strongly in one quote, “You have never been so hungry; you have never been so cold, when we slept, if we slept, we dreamed of the feasts we had carelessly eaten seven months earlier.” (Benioff, 1) This quote shows how the people suffer and how remiss they were about the food they had available months before. Another powerful example of how desperate people were, was when you hear of them eating paper mixed with glue just to fill themselves up, or even saw dust. The setting in this book adds a tremendous amount of detail, (Active Voice) and

She also saves her pride and arrogance as the Choragos remarks, “Like father, like daughter: both headstrong, deaf to reason! She has never learned to yield.” She had many chances to prevent her demise but her pride stood in the way. Through the progression of scenes leading to her tragic ‘fall’, she is every bit of the woman she was at the beginning.

Out of the Past is definitely an interesting movie with a lot of things to talk about. I will touch briefly upon two main things I have noticed during the screen: the film noire genre and the image of the femme fatale.

A few weeks ago, I finished reading your bestseller Between Shades of Gray which quickly became one of my top three favorite books ever. From the heartbreaking moments to the unique setting of the book, I could not put it down. I also was able to learn new information. I love this book so, so much, and I am definitely going to start reading some more of your amazing books!

Lina Vilkas is an average 15 year old girl with a prestigious art school to look forward too, typical

When people ponder death they wonder about the unknown with trepidation. As a young man, William Cullen Bryant wrote the "Thanatopsis." His thoughts progress from the fear of death to the acceptance of the event. People should not fear death because everyone dies and becomes a part of nature.

In Between Shades of Gray, pages two hundred sixty-eight to three hundred thirty-eight, Lina’s group from the camp gets on a ship, hoping it is going to America. Unfortunately, they end up going to the Arctic circle and are forced to make jurtas, for themselves; finish a bakery; make a fish factory; and find and chop wood. In addition, the polar night is coming, so there is no sun and lots of snowstorms. Mother starves herself and dies for Jonas and Lina and Lina finds out why her family was deported. Also, Kostas may have died, but there is hope that he did not. In this section, the thing that made me dismal was when Mother died.

In tense situations things like death can make someone want to lose their cool or freak out. But in order to push through the situation

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time”, an insightful quote by Mark Twain. Escaping the inevitable is a task sought after by many, however, always results in disappointment. Leaving life with incomplete business is a fear that will haunt the entire soul if allowed. The life of Charles Wade has been plagued with the fear of death, leaving unfinished business in the world.

What fears does this person feel? He fears death, and the things that come with death, such as pain and suffering.