Basic desires existed for those on both sides of the barbed wire, but neither those within nor outside the camps admitted that they all had an equal right to freedom. Ivan witnessed people's natural longing to escape and be back with their families, but he also saw how a man could leave the camp, become a free laborer, and succumb to an even greater imprisonment brought on by the fear of their own thoughts, being arrested again and an innate sense of submissive hypocrisy. Even though laborers clearly could imagine a better life for themselves, Grossman makes it almost seem like that, due to taking in their idea of the outside world into camps with them, forced laborers had a hard time equating their hardships outside with the ones in camp. Unfortunately for many of those condemned to forced labor, their lives prior to being sentenced contributed greatly to their submissive condition, and thusly to the horrors of what they were going through. The fact that their was little they could do regardless, made their situation that much more of a terror. .
It is far easier to understand their sense of helplessness and submission when taking into account the lengths that individuals were willing to go in order to oppress these people, as well as avoid becoming like them. The situation in Russia at this time was grim for a people still experiencing the after-effects of a bloody revolution, and one that drove many individuals to get what they wanted regardless of the cost. The decision to completely alter one's life and sentence them to forced labor often came on the mere suspicion that an individual could potentially oppose the Soviet State. People were sent to camps for corresponding with family who lived abroad simply because this provided a greater opportunity that they were involved in espionage. State terror was directed in such a way that not only those guilty of crimes were punished, but also those who were "more likely" to commit crimes.