The story pretty nicely hinted at the point that romanticizing the punch is bad. When the protagonist did finally something against the suffering he was immedia

The story pretty nicely hinted at the point that romanticizing the punch is bad. When the protagonist did finally something against the suffering he was immediately reprimanded. And of course the absurdity of the physical abuse is a mere literary device, the heavy hitter (oof, sorry) is the emotional one. (As the story spells it out. It's cPTSD from struggling in this unfamiliar world every day, with not knowing what exactly is going to happen, not being able to connect to humans, being alone.) Maybe the darkest aspect is how sidelined any support is. Spouse? Only mentioned as a healthcare package. An old friend? Good for telling the truth, but that did not help at all! Lots of supervisors are dicks.