it undeniably reflects the liberal politics of the author, but to me it reads as more incidental than a pointed anti-communist allegory, since the society as presented doesn't really make sense, and it's not made clear why the elements of total central control are necessitated by the elements of stability and material comfort. i think it works better at a baser emotional level in its depiction of a single, secret point of cruelty shattering the protagonist's understanding of his apparently harmonious world. i know it definitely affected me greatly as a kid.