Between Shades Of Grey Analysis

In the book Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Septys the main character Lina and her family are captured by the NKVD. The NKVD is the Russian secret service. The NKVD took them to a farm where they lived for a while in relative comfort before the NKVD told them to sign some “confession papers” which state they agree they are criminals, agree to a sentence of 25 years hard labor, and will pay a fine of 200 rubles a year for every family member, including children. After they sign, there are special privileges such as being allowed to go to the village and being allowed to sleep through the night. If someone refuses to sign the papers then the NKVD would keep them up all night every other night and threaten them until they sign. In addition, by not signing they get sent to the far north and have to endure harsh winters in shelters made of drift wood.
By staying at the forced labor camp farm, they would have been assured of at least a little food and shelter instead of being sent up north and getting sick due to the cold and malnutrition, which lead to Lina’s mom’s death. Another reason to sign the papers is the sentence lasts 25 years which one might be able to survive through instead of survival being improbable at best. Another reason to sign the papers is the benefit of being allowed to sleep through the night every night instead of being kept up every other night by the