In the Country of Men is about political tyranny, there's no getting around that, but there is another meaningful element that deserves mentioning. In its own way, the novel demonstrates the decay of society into the paranoid, horrifying state of totalitarianism. This happens within Suleiman's character. The central plot detail of the novel is the moment when Suleiman, understandably overwhelmed and confused, helps the government by sharing secrets.
Now, it would be hard to criticize the 9-year-old given the difficulty of his situation, but nevertheless, Suleiman is an example of the way societies tend to turn against themselves, and often people work against their own interests because they are confused or emotionally unstable. This only strengthens the Qaddafi regime, because the panic and paranoia that their constant surveillance causes in the Libyan communities also corrupts people and causes them to make mistakes, mistakes that can be exploited by the government.
Therefore, it seems that the only reasonable solution available to a person under this regime is to escape, like Suleiman does. The novel serves as an insightful tool for understanding the modern developments that caused the Arab Spring revolutions. The novel was published in 2006, 5 years before the Qaddafi regime was finally overthrown.
