- A neighbor, Marfa Ivanovna, gives Sasha a treat—a carrot. Sasha eats this while he is waiting for his Dad to show up for dinner.
- We learn that Sasha's Dad sometimes does not come home until morning, because he is a member of the Soviet secret police. Their job is to root out infiltrators who are just pretending to be good Soviet citizens.
- His Dad is one of the best secret policemen around. Stalin himself awarded him the "order of the Red Banner" (which seems to be totes important) (3.1).
- While waiting, Sasha takes tiny bites of the carrot to make it last. He's hungry, but he knows that a Young Soviet Pioneer has to learn to repress such cravings, since they have much more important goals.
- Like achieving full Communism (which is tantalizingly close) (3.2).
- Once full-on Communism kicks in, there will be lots of food. Carrots galore!
- In the meantime, Sasha imagines what it's like for those poor capitalist kids who have probably "never even tasted a carrot" (3.2).