I'm having trouble believing someone claiming that the Soviet citizens were jealous of the relative prosperity of the family in the story has read the story in

I'm having trouble believing someone claiming that the Soviet citizens were jealous of the relative prosperity of the family in the story has read the story in the past 20 years. They've got a car, but it's the last thing the bank didn't take when they repo'd the farm. It was presumably required for their work on the farm. Then everyone dies of either starvation or violence. There's heartless employers trying to squeeze out every scrap of profit and literally starving their workers to death. There's corrupt cops working as enforcers for the employers. I know Soviet times were hard, but the situation in the story isn't any better. I've only read the book. Unless the movie is much brighter and cheerier though, I'm having a hard time believing this articles claims. References or no references honestly; the US does propaganda too.