“The Guest” by Albert Camus
Plot Summary
Daru is a French schoolteacher who teaches Arab children. Though he is French, he has
established a trust with the Arabs in that he both teaches their children and gives food to their
families in times of drought. However, Daru leads a solitary existence; he lives by himself in the
schoolhouse. In the beginning of the story, he sees outside two men; one on horseback, the other,
on foot.
The horseman is Balducci, a gendarme and old friend of Daru. An Arab trails behind him, his
hands tied together and to Balducci's horse. As the horse approaches the schoolhouse, Balducci
greets Daru, and Daru invites him into the house. He offers Balducci some tea.
Balducci orders Daru to take the prisoner and deliver him to the prison the next day, and offers
him a revolver in defence. Daru initially refuses. It isn't his job to take care of prisoners, and he
doesn't want to be tangled into such an affair. During tea Balducci informs Daru of the Arab's
crime; murdering his cousin. Balducci orders him again, and then leaves, and Daru has no choice
but to keep the prisoner in the schoolhouse.
Daru cooks some galette for the Arab, and they eat and drink together. That night, Daru cannot
sleep; he hears footsteps outside, but dismisses it as his dream. The next morning, he makes
coffee, and the two eat breakfast together. Daru then packs some sugar, money, and dates and
starts to lead the Arab to the prison. Just after starting the journey, Daru again hears a slight
sound coming from near the schoolhouse. He investigates, finds nothing, and moves on.
Partway there, Daru stops, he gives the prisoner the food and money, and allows him to choose
for himself whether to continue on the path to prison or to escape. Daru starts to walk away. He
turns around, and sees the prisoner standing there. Daru keeps walking away. When he turns
around again, the prisoner is gone. Daru is curious as to which way the prisoner went and when
he goes back, he sees the prisoner on the path to prison. When Daru returns to the schoolhouse,
he sees a note scrawled on the blackboard: "You turned our brother in. You will pay." Alienated
from the Arabs as well, Daru feels alone.
Major Themes
This piece is characteristic of Existentialism, the prevalent school of thought among the era's
literati. It also presents Camus's concept of Absurdism, as well as many examples of human
choices. The dilemmas faced by Daru are often seen as representing the dilemmas faced by
Camus regarding the Algerian crisis and there are many similarities between the character of Daru
and his creator Camus. Both are French Algerians exiled by the choices they have made. The main
themes of The Guest are of choice and accountability. Camus emphasizes, characteristically of
existentialist philosophy, that there is always a choice, that the only choice unavailable is not to
choose. Daru chooses how he will handle Balducci and whether he will turn in the prisoner; the
prisoner chooses whether to go to jail or to freedom. More important, however, is the theme of
accountability. The essence of Camus's philosophy is that everyone is "condemned" to an
eventual, inevitable death, and accepting this allows for a certain freedom; the prisoner, having
achieved self-awareness when Daru gave him the choice to flee or go to jail, realizes the futility of
fleeing from the inevitable punishment and goes willingly to jail, thus revolting against the
inevitable by making the decision of his own accord and holding himself accountable for the
murder.
Yet another theme can be extracted from this short story, however: complete neutrality is
unattainable. This is evidenced by Daru's attempt to not make a decision; in the end, the Arab
made the decision for him, and he lost his neutrality.
Character Analysis
The Protagonist, Daru:
-He is a large, strong man; he is said to be husky and able to break the Arab in two.
-He abhors violence; he feels personal disgust at those who are violent, and avoids harmful
behavior himself.
-He is caring; he distributes grain to the poorer pupils that attend his school. Also, he cares for
the Arab by untying him and giving him tea.
-Daru does not wave when Balducci waves to him at the story's beginning. This would signify
that Daru accepts his lot in his duties.
Story Elements
Symbolism. The specific location of Daru's home is symbolic of the ethnic conflict in Algeria. He
requested to be placed at the foothills, between the desert and the dark plateau. However, he was
placed upon the plateau where he would be a schoolmaster. In this symbol, the desert represents
the Arabs and the plateau represents the French. He was placed upon the plateau, or in other
words, he was forced to join up with the French (though he wanted to remain neutral, as was his
character).
Irony. Balducci was the "bad guy" character in this story. Though he was callous and rude to the
Arab prisoner, in the end he will just return to his post and live a normal life. On the other hand,
Daru was the only person to treat the Arab kindly, and yet he will most likely die for "handing
him over."
Foreshadowing. Frequently throughout the short story, the reader is hinted to that trouble might
come to Daru. The author says that the village was beginning to stir, and that was the reason for
the transportation of the prisoner. Also, Daru hears sounds of footsteps around the schoolhouse,
but he found nothing to materialize from them.
(from: Wikipedia, Sept. 2007)