No the same ideas
Kostas is presented as an intelligent man, with radical ideas that go against the ideas promoted by the Soviet Union. Because of this, he is considered dangerous by the regime and is followed closely by the NKVD. Despite his radical ideas, Kostas is against his daughter having the same ideas as him. Kostas realizes that his ideas put his family in danger and tries to make Lina more malleable and accepting of the new regime. This is ironical however because while Kostas doesn’t hesitate to push his daughter to have a point of view acceptable by the Soviets he also doesn’t stop himself from having secret meeting with men he knows will put his family in danger.
Everything has a price
The reason that Lina and her children were taken away was that their families had different ideas that went against the Soviet Union’s interest and because they had money. These two elements put their life in danger and forced them to leave their homes. Ironically, Elena’s money is also the thing that saves her little boy from certain death and what stops the NKVD from separating the little boy from his mother.
Not the land of opportunities
For many living in Lithuania, Vilnius represented opportunity and a better chance of living a good life. Many dreamt of moving to Vilnius and starting over and Lina as well dreamt of one day going to Vilnius and pursuing her dreams of being an artist. Ironically, many people got the chance to see Vilnius when they were taken by the Soviets and deported to distant lands. For them at that moment however, Vilnius did not represent hope but a death sentence because they knew they were going to be shipped out of the country.
Pride
For a portion of the road, the train cars transporting the abled men and the others are connected. When the train reaches Vilnius however, they are separated and they go on separate ways. Before being separated, the men sing the national anthem to prove that they still had courage left. The way they chose to express their happiness and strength is ironic considering that their nationalist spirit was what got them in trouble in the first place.
The voice of reason
Elena tries to keep a positive attitude and inspire the same point of view in her children. By doing that, she hopes that it will help her children survive. Elena interprets every small event as being something positive even when the situation is foolish. The only person why remains anchored in reality is the bald man. He tells the rest of the passengers that they will probably all day, reminds them that the German invasion could mean more problems for them and doesn’t hesitate to tell the children about their fathers’ possible future. Ironically however, the bald man is hated for his frank attitude and many can’t stand him because he refuses to lie.
