chunk: The strategic value of Red October was not lost upon Ramius, but other factors have spurred his decision to defect. His wife, Natalia, died at the hands of a doctor who was incompetent and intoxicated; however, the doctor escaped punishment due to his status as the son of a Politburo member. Natalia's untimely death, combined with Ramius' long-standing dissatisfaction with the callousness of Soviet rule and his fear of Red October's destabilizing effect on world affairs, exhausts his tolerance for the failings of the Soviet system.