Symbol for devotion
When Lina finds her father, he gives her his wedding ring to take it to Elena. When Elena saw the wedding ring, she felt moved and knew that Kostas still loved her and thought about her. The reason why he gave up the wedding ring is also impressive, considering that a piece of jewelry could save a man’s life in those times but Kostas gave his up to make sure that Elena and his children were safe. Thus the ring here can be considered as being a symbol that stands for Kostas’s love and devotion for his family.
Symbol for wealth
From the third chapter, it becomes clear that Elena and her family belong to the upper-middle class because they can afford buying things that are not considered necessities. Elena has beautiful plates and china that she tries to destroy before being taken away by the Soviets. She also curls her hair, something only those who had a good financial situation used to do. The fancy hair and the expensive plates and china that are more decorative than useful are all used here as symbols for wealth and for a better financial situation.
Dangerous group
A motif found in the novel is the idea that people who belong to the intellectual class are dangerous for the Soviet regime and for any totalitarian regime. Kostas is a member of this group, a university teacher who has ideas that go against the Union’s ideology. But he is not only one who is considered dangerous but rather journalists, doctors and other teachers as well. They are the first ones to be rounded up by the army and they are the first ones to disappear.
Pigs
A common motif found in the novel is the idea that the Soviets see the people they arrest as being animals, not worthy of being left alive. As a result, they treat these men, women and children as one would treat livestock. The prisoners are denied medical care, basic rights and are even transported in train cars designed to transport animals. All these elements have the purpose of reminding the prisoners of their place and remind them how the Soviets see them and what place in the world they are given.
Symbol for danger
When Elena and her children enter the train car, the first thing she notices is that no healthy men are present: the only men present in the car were either extremely ill or old and thus not endangering the NKVD officers and their attempt at controlling the other people in the train car. The absence of men proves that the Soviet Union saw the healthy men, those powerful enough to do something on their own as dangerous and a problem. Thus, the NKVD did their best to get rid of the healthy men as quick as possible so that they would not create any problems. It is clear then that for the NKVD, the healthy men were a symbol for danger.
