Son Of the Revolution- thoughts about the beginning of the book

So far, this novel makes me have sympathy for the main character. Overall, he seems easily convinced by the communist party and society about how he should live his life, yet he still questions certain aspects of this such as why he should not be allowed to join certain groups because of his mother. I find it so hard to believe and so mind boggling really that his mother can be shunned from society based on her "crime". In reality, she was only doing what the party asked her to do, and yet her whole family is torn apart by it. Communism, in this light, seems to me like a cult of brainwashing of sorts. How can her husband honestly believe that she acted wrongly? Does he truly believe this, or is it more of a result of the pressures of society? It is scary to me that eventually even the children turn against their mother because of her "rightest actions". Through the beginning the novel and the family's experiences, I see communism as the ultimate way ato mold individuals into a specific ideal to be easily manipulated.