I went back and reread this after it was mentioned on the cast.
I read it originally in 7th grade 79 - 80 school year. I remember we had in depth discussions of the evil. How being forced to be exactly like other people would be horrible and the parallels with the communism. How we should celebrate differences and be glad we could decide who we are and what we want to be.
Now I see and hear people who want nothing more than to have all the kids lined up on the sidewalk bouncing their balls and skipping rope in the same rhythm. They react in horror to kids running around and playing in the neighborhood. “It is to dangerous” - Except crime is down. 