The novel’s many personal tragedies stem from the victorious communists' efforts to impose Marxist principles on their society. According to Marxism, every society experiences a conflict between the exploiters—such as landowners or factory owners (the bourgeoisie)—and the exploited, which includes peasants and the working class. In the story, the communists' "land reform" disastrously fails, leading to significant injustice and "sowing only chaos and misery in its wake," particularly in Que's village. Here, even those with small landholdings are branded as enemies of the peasants, despite never exploiting anyone. Their land is seized arbitrarily at the command of Que's brother, Chinh, who strictly adheres to Marxist class struggle ideology. Chinh's unwavering commitment to this ideology fosters and perpetuates injustice within his own family. He prioritizes ideology over familial bonds, denouncing his brother-in-law, Ton, merely because Ton’s family employed farm workers, categorizing them as part of the exploiting class. Chinh’s ideological zeal leads to Ton's exile and death, Que's suffering, lifelong animosity from Ton's sister, Tam, and leaves Hang growing up without a father.

In addition to the rigid enforcement of Marxist theories without considering local realities or common sense, the Communist Party in the novel is portrayed as corrupt. Chinh and his Party associates exploit official trips to Russia to profit by trading luxury goods on the black market. This hypocrisy is apparent in Moscow when Chinh, fully aware of these activities, scolds his colleagues, insisting they "must behave in an absolutely exemplary manner while you are in this brother country." Moreover, Chinh enjoys the privileges granted to government officials, owning a new Japanese television set, which he refuses to sell even to help raise funds for his sister Que, who has recently had a leg amputated.

Additionally, there is the corruption of Duong, the vice president of Aunt Tam's village, who unlawfully seizes land. The strongest critique of the communist rulers' hypocrisy comes from a student Hang refers to as the Bohemian. In Khoa's Moscow apartment, the Bohemian criticizes Chinh: "They decreed their thousands of rules, their innumerable edicts, each one more draconian than the last. But, in the shadows, they paddled around in the mud, without faith or law." The Bohemian argues that Party officials were not concerned with the nation's welfare but with power and personal benefits. This theme is evident in Chinh's life. For instance, although he pretends to care about his sister’s well-being, he secures her a factory position because he believes her being a street vendor damages his prospects of advancing in the Party. It is ironic that Chinh lectures his sister about prioritizing her class’s interests over her own, while he himself acts in contradiction to this under the guise of ideological purity.

The devastation wrought by land reform, which led to the persecution and eventual death of Hang's father, Ton, leaves Hang with deep feelings of isolation and permanently fractures two families. Ridiculed by her neighbors for being without a father, Hang reflects on her childhood, describing it as "like a ball kicked across the road, aimless, without any purpose." She grows up lacking self-esteem, unaware of her father's identity, and likens herself to "an anonymous weed [that] grows between the cracks of a wall." She carries a persistent sense of shame and injustice. One night, she dreams of being beaten, and this feeling of random oppression continues as she matures. She feels embarrassed about her connection to her uncle, who has caused her family significant distress. During a visit to him in Moscow, she describes her life as "this slow torture, this bottomless sadness." At...