The black hole at the center of this novel's orbit is the loss of life constituted by Kenneth's untimely suicide. As a veteran of a popularly controversial war, his own community for whom he enlisted and risked his life betrayed him by accusing him of murderous intentions. While he is dealing with intense and historically misunderstood feelings of panic and agony, the people he fought to protect are a new kind of enemy. He succumbs to the influence of community, and in this man vs. community conflict, he comes up staggeringly short.
Two lessons should be instantly derived from this plot: Firstly, suicidal depression is often invisible. No one knew that he was on the brink of death. His suicide note is written right in front of his mother, while she is in the room chatting about life and fate. She has no idea. Secondly, it must be mentioned that shame is a very complex emotional experience, and one can never be too careful about the influence of community. That is the value of the novel's exposé of the community's racism; they are not the most trustworthy folks, and Kenneth trusted their opinions at the expense of his own peace.
There is another connection between racism and Kenneth's suicide. The racist community accused him of xenophobia, which is a symbolic depiction of hypocrisy. If those people oppose the war in Korea, they ought to oppose racism on their own streets, because hatred is hatred. But instead, they virtue signal, picking and choosing political opinions based on the way it makes them feel about themselves. Meanwhile, they ignore their own character flaws while antagonizing others.
