The Grass isn't always Greener...

The Russell Banks piece is an echo, from my perspective, of what Marx was trying to unravel through the German ideology, mainly blurring of class lines in an attempt of creating a united one. Also there can be a connection drawn between the conclusion of the story and the historical end communism itself, this is seen through Ron ending his relationship with Sarah.
Banks links the communist ideal through Ron, who is regarded as beautiful by his peers and the community, and his inexplicable passion for the less attractive and grotesque Sarah. The connection here is the blinding of class lines, two people from opposite sides of the Social spectrum. Ron is from a prominent, educated, upper class society (bourgeoisie) and Sarah is from a lower, less educated class (Proletariat). The differences between the two are clear cut and visible, Ron prefers to be oblivious to these differences in the name of love, in the beginning he does not care what others think of him. It is not until Sarah begins to make demands of Ron to asses her needs and desires, what belongs to her, that the relationship begins to head downhill and Ron realizes that the two of them are different.
Sarah’s demands correlate with the Revolution described by Marx. The Proletariat demand from the bourgeoisie to be seen and respected as one, not looked at as a second class. The end of the relationship is representative of the end of Communism; Ron realizes that it would be impossible for them to be together because socially they are different. Things go back to the way they were Sarah returns to her ugly husband and Ron moves onto a new wife.