2 ideas
The author describes the young man's windowless room as an image of a life closed off from possibility. The room is also haunted by death, so the space he lives in mirrors the narrowing of his prospects as he reads and starves.
The novel sets one man's private decline against the pressures of contemporary Jordanian life. Refusing or failing to meet expected economic and social roles can lead to gradual disappearance, as scarce money, weakening ties and inward retreat feed one another. His hunger is presented as a result of his place in society as well as his own choices.