Throughout Requiem, Akhmatova paints a bleak portrait of life under a totalitarian regime. The defining feature of Stalin and his henchmen is their wanton cruelty: They do not hesitate to destroy the lives of millions of innocent Russians in their quest for total power.

Akhmatova provides both general and specific details throughout the cycle to illustrate this. She describes a society that is falling apart under the weight of fear and violence, identifying the cycle as having been written in response to “the frightening years of the Yezhov terror” (“Instead of a Preface” Line 1). It is a world where the living envy the dead, as “only the dead / Were smiling, glad of their release” (“Introduction” Lines 1-2). Dying appears “so simple and so wonderful” (“To Death” Line 4) in contrast to continuing to live under the dictatorship. Her fellow Russians bear the signs of suffering in their physical appearance, as “suffering can etch cruel pages / Of cuneiform-like marks upon the cheeks” (“Epilogue” Part I Lines 3-4). Akhmatova details her own personal suffering, describing deep despair that leaves her “screaming” (“Poem V” Line 1), apathy: “I don’t care anymore” (“To Death” Line 14), and even “[m]adness” (“Poem IX” Line 1).