And how old was I then? Sixteen. Sixteen is young, but it can also be a grown man. (235)
“Communist” is a coming-of-age story about a boy and his struggles with only a mother figure in his life. Les looks back at all of the moments in his life with his mother and Glen, his mother’s then boyfriend. Les says that Glen was a communist and a hunter, which ties in to the story because Glen takes Les out hunting. On the hunting ‘adventure,’ Les learns about somethings. He learns that his mother really never loved Glen and that Glen is scared of commitment, which is what Les’ family needs right now. Les took on the role of being an adult in the family when he should not have, but he didn’t really have a choice.