Esp look too, the end of the dream, I'm thinking the cardboard has more of the 'starving artist' symbolism, in a way, because homeless folks are known to live in cardboard boxes. Then you have all the danger elements, but your friend/writer uses the cardboard boxes as a shield from the chaos out there, but he says he's lived in the ghetto, he knows that chaos. What I suspect with this, is there is something he still needs to dig out to be able to complete this work, he may be holding back. It could be, fear of a reaction, to what could be brought forth in the writing, yet could be valuable to the whole thing.

It's kinda interesting, like the novel you want to write, came to life in your dream, in some way. Which is, course, what writers are supposed to do.