Cliff is homeless, hungry, and desperate for food and shelter. he will do almost anything to satisfy these needs. according to abraham maslow's hierarchy, cliff will ignore his other needs which do not include his:

Cliff will ignore his needs of self-fulfillment (self-actualization), his psychological needs (esteem, belongingness, and love), and possibly even the higher basic needs such as safety and security, in order to obtain his physiological needs such as food, water, shelter, rest.