Maoist China was paranoid.
Everyone in China during Mao's reign was incredibly paranoid, since they'd been instructed by the government to spy on each other and to report suspicious behavior. What's worse is that people were actually then abducted by the government and never seen again, so people were incredibly worried. What constituted "suspicious" behavior? Instantly, everyone was left to hyper scrutinize every interaction they had while hoping simultaneously to be "not suspicious."
Mao made a community of enemies.
Instead of uniting China, Mao did the opposite. He made next door neighbors into enemies and spies by inciting panic in communities and then brainwashing people into telling on each other.
Actions were detached from fate.
Ultimately, it seems that Anchee is most bereaved by the surreal suffering of her situation. Instead of actions receiving their consequences, China had become complete capricious, worsening feelings of paranoia and invoking a competitive, free-for-all type of survival mode.
