The first 8-10 minutes are crucial. The endless circles the character makes around his apartment are a circle of his own making. He is bound by his own rules and cannot live his life any other way lest it lead to him questioning himself, which he never wants to.

Despite the wedding ring on a potential suitor, it is entirely superfluous to his own needs and his pursuit of the married woman is the only goal but this almost identical shot is repeated at the film's end but he doesn't reciprocate because he understands who he is and doesn't like what he has become.

He experiences erectile dysfunction for the only time in the film when he actually engages with someone yet the next scene sees him in the same hotel room happily banging a prostitute and achieving his goal.