Pauline Vinson explains that Samman's usage of symbolism is not only tied up to socio-political and historical conditions but is also let into the world of fantasy and the surreal, a style close to magic realism.

She lived with her brother, Shadi, whom one day got arrested for "owning illegal weapons", leaving her with only her neighbours as company: the elderly, Amm Fuad, and his son, Amin.

The narrator digs deep into the layers of stress and anxiety towards hiding from snipers invading her home, along with the trauma resulting from war causing her to barely have the courage to even eat the meat of an animal.

Also, she tended to reflect upon the writer's and intellectual's helplesness towards violence, where the only thing they have is a pen and paper, yet she eventually came upon writing thoughts that became "Beirut Nightmares".

She would see that snipers were surrounding houses and street battles were happening all day long, yet the radio presenter would only talk about the weather or "how blessed the country is today", which she considered as "biased and untruthful".