This entire weekend I've had a horrible headache, so some of the writing might have escaped me. The way the characters acted in the book sort of reflected what people in my grandparents and parents days used to be like whilst under Soviet intervention. Avoiding talking about politics and such out of fear that someone would be listening, and would get them in trouble.
In the story we see that the characters only seem to have extremely surface level and shallow conversations. Ioana shows up because she feels like it's required rather than to form a genuine connection. She reflects on the lack of community in her life, the paranoia that the people you know might turn against you is prevalent during these times. Government surveillance is extremely isolating and you can only truly depend on yourself and maybe your partner. The state surveillance tears communities apart, at every turn and interaction it could be a trap. In Mongolia, it was the same, you could accuse your neighbours and get rewarded so it only increased the number of innocent people suffering at the hands of the government. My dad told me a story a while ago of when he was a kid. He was playing outside and he called a politician stupid or something, no deeper meaning behind it really because he was just a kid and didn’t really understand what was going on. My grandparents hurriedly came outside, sat him down and told him to never say things like that again. If they had been caught perhaps they would have lost their jobs and been unable to take care of their children or even worse, thrown in jail. I think about that sometimes.
The trenchcoat showing up in Dina’s home just made me think how deep the paranoia and surveillance goes, even in your own home you might not feel safe and comfortable. Even nowadays, I am always super paranoid that my devices are used for surveillance. Although I guess it's not too far off, I love giving my private information to billionaires! The trenchcoat might not even represent the secret police but maybe the presence of it being a source of anxiety and paranoia is the point. IDK!!
It was interesting seeing how some of the characters don’t have names, just “the kid”, “the learned one” and whatnot. Why is that? These characters are stripped of any sort of characteristic that would make them seem like actual people, they are just reduced to whatever purpose they serve in this story. Or maybe to the state, they aren’t really people at all? Maybe I am making things up!!!
What do you guys think the trenchcoat represents? and what do you think about the characters not being named? :0
