The Futility of Human Life
The novel is existentialist in tone, perhaps because Said's own perspective about life is bleak. As a criminal, Said considers himself an enemy of normal life, rejecting the futile, meaningless ways that humans strive for meaning, like career and family. However, Said is also highly dependent on others, and he himself seems driven by the search for meaning. He hopes to find meaning in revenge, for instance. Therefore, the futility depicted in the novel is not exactly futile. For people like Rauf and Ilish, life seems meaningful and pleasant. Life is meaningless to Said because Said has chosen the life of a pariah.
Utilitarian Relationships
As a dependent person who can't sustain himself, Said finds himself constantly using people, such as his prostitute friend Nur who provides him with shelter after he overstays his welcome with al-Junaydi. Said is a misanthrope at heart, and secretly, he resents those on whom he depends, as if their willingness to help him were some kind of attack on his character. This only worsens his outlook on people, and it's no wonder he finds himself compelled to exact revenge, since his basic view of people is framed by his own flawed approach to relationships.
Memory
Memories can be sustaining and motivating, offering context and meaning to one's present and inspiring one's future. Said spends a great deal of time locked in his own head, particularly dwelling in his memories of his former life. But he sees these memories through rose-colored glasses, and we are not sure how much he has embellished or over-exaggerated their significance in order to make his current situation seem more terrible and his desire for revenge more understandable. His memories are torture to him, and instead of deciding to make new positive choices—get a real job, be worthy of Sana, find a new woman—he remains in his past and denies himself a future.
Failures of Revolution
The Egyptian Revolution of 1952 is referred to only obliquely, but Mahfouz comments on the various disappointments that resulted. The revolution allowed men like Ilish and especially Rauf to flourish—men whose revolutionary ideals were easily corrupted by power and privilege. Those who couldn't parlay their military experience into something lucrative languished, their service forgotten. The ubiquity of the police is also a comment on the post-revolutionary period, which became authoritarian in a way the revolutionaries either didn't expect or hypocritically protested against.
Fate
There seems to be something larger than society and Said's choices and mistakes at work in the novel. Fate plays a role, for very little else can explain why Said manages to kill two innocent people in his quest for revenge. Critic Rasheed El-Enany explains, "It is society and character that lead Said to his perdition—there is no doubt about that. But what is it which lays waste his effort and deprives his actions of meaning?...The phenomenon...is not short of a name: fate (also known as coincidence or the interplay of space and time)—a key concept in Mahfouz’s world-picture and a prime agent in the life of his characters."
Ownership of One's Life
Said finds it difficult to take any responsibility for or ownership of his life. He is constantly blaming others for the condition he finds himself in, even going so far as to deem himself a "great man" who is worthy of others' adulation. He explains away the killing of Rauf's innocent doorman by saying he worked for Rauf so it was more or less justified. He is in contrast to the other characters who have indeed taken ownership of their life, the most obvious example being the prostitute Nur.
The Futility of Revenge
Said has been planning his revenge on Ilish and Nabawiyya since he was in jail, and soon adds Rauf to his list. He tells himself that he simply cannot go on living if he does not do this; it would be wrong, unjust, and deeply unsatisfying. Yet not only is Said denied his revenge, it is unlikely that such revenge would offer much solace beyond an initial rush of satisfaction. Said would still be poor, unhoused, daughter-less, and alone. He would probably end up back in jail, this time without anyone to blame but himself, and would never create a new life for himself. All of his choices are grim; thus his anger is understandable. But, as the novel suggests, revenge rarely results in happiness.
