Major Themes

Morality

Daru faces a moral dilemma when he is ordered to turn in the Arab. Like all the themes in the narrative, morality is
treated with ambiguity. Daru's course of action leads him into moral trouble: he does not know whether the Arab
deserves to be punished or let go, and he allows this uncertainty to overwhelm him. He fails to choose at all, instead
allowing the Arab to choose either freedom or trial. Daru's ensuing moral despair should be understood in the light of
Camus's philosophy. Camus believed that once a decision was reached, it should be stuck to, and that the freedom to
choose one's action gives meaning to human life. Daru certainly believes that turning in the Arab was wrong, yet he
fails to simply release the prisoner. He fails to make a decision, and as a result he is left in complete moral solitude.
Solitude

There are two kinds of solitude in The Guest. Throughout the story Daru faces physical isolation on his the remote
plateau. This physical solitude is not a negative state, however; Daru has accepted his living conditions and indeed feels
at home within them. Though the landscape itself is unfeeling and unforgiving, Daru makes himself comfortable within
it.

At the end however, Daru occupies a state of moral solitude. His failure to act with regard to the Arab's fate has left him
disconnected from himself. He looks at the harsh landscape, once his home, and sees only his failure to choose. This
moral solitude is most clearly symbolized by the mysterious writing on the blackboard. If he wrote it himself, it
represents his despair and his alienation from himself -- he has betrayed his own principles in allowing the Arab to
choose punishment. If someone else wrote it, it represents a clear threat. Daru, who failed to use judgement, will now
be judged by others who do not understand him. Thus his situation is one of extreme isolation from human
understanding.

Freedom

Freedom lies at the core of The Guest, and is inherently connnected with the human right to choose a course of action.
Freedom gives life meaning, and Camus believed that through independent action one finds value in life. The narrative
represents this philosophy. Daru's choice to live in the plateau region is a choice motivated out of what Camus would
call an understanding of the "absurd." Any human needs to belong to a place, and the cruel plateau region embodies a
type of home for him despite its desolate climate. Just so, Camus feels, we all need to make a home for ourselves
within an essentially uncaring universe. The way we make this home is through individual choice.

However, the freedom to choose is also paradoxically an obligation. When we decide not to choose we fall victim to the
essential cruelty and ambiguity of the universe. Indeed, we cannot decide not to choose -- we must choose in order to
retain freedom. Daru attempts to pass along his obligation to choose to the Arab. However, when the Arab decides to
turn himself in, Daru suffers for it. Daru should have made a decision, one way or the other, and stuck with it. Instead,
he finds himself in a state of desperate moral ambiguity.

Limits of Human Knowledge

Everyone in The Guest has limited knowledge of the happenings of the story. Balducci doesn't know why the Arab killed
his cousin, or why Daru must take the Arab to the police; he simply has his orders and follows them. Daru doesn't know
whether the Arab should be released or punished, though he constantly tries to glean information about why the Arab
committed murder -- if he even did. Meanwhile, the Arab displays confusion when Daru asks him difficult questions and
when Daru explains his choice to either escape to the south or turn himself into the police.

The reader, too, occupies a limited vantage point. We never learn whether the Arab deserves punishment or freedom.
We never learn who wrote the message on the blackboard at the end of the story. Camus denies us crucial knowledge,
thus putting us in a similar position to Daru -- or to any individual who must make choices despite his or her limited
perspective.

And indeed, we all must do so every day, though rarely in the dramatic fashion Camus sets up in The Guest. Because
human knowledge is always subjectively situated -- that is, it always happens from a particular individual's point-of-
view -- it's always going to be limited. If we let this fact haunt us, the way that Daru does, we open ourselves up to
moral despair. However, if we make choices anyway and own our choices, we may avoid such despair. Daru becomes
preoccupied with the limitations of his knowledge and thus fails to choose -- opening the door to despair.

The Absurd
Camus envisions the universe as silent and indifferent (his portrayal of the cruel plateau region fits this vision very
neatly). Despite this indifference, human beings must survive. They continue to build meaning and pursue certainty,
even though such aims are impossible. This combination of a godless, uncaring world and human striving leads to a
condition that Camus dubs "the absurd." He writes, "The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need
and the unreasonable silence of the world."

Although it might sound pretty depressing to live in an inescapable state of "the absurd," Camus feels that this is the
only way we can exist. One must continue striving, choosing and pursuing freedom, even though the universe does not
care whether we live or die. Daru's ability to find comfort and within the harsh plateau climate bodes well for his ability
to sustain life in absurd conditions; however, his failure to respond to the moral dilemma represented by the Arab
ultimately crushes him. In the face of ambiguity and uncertainty, one must act with an absurd confidence. One must
choose anyway. Daru fails to do so, and thus falls into despair.

The Guest Summary

The Guest follows the story of Daru, who is a schoolteacher in a remote plateau region. The area has gone through a
draught, but recently a blizzard has passed through, leaving everything covered in snow. This has kept away Daru's
pupils.

The narrative opens as Daru watches two men approach his schoolhouse. He watches them climb the hill. One of the
men, a gendarme named Balducci, is very familiar to Daru. He leads an Arab prisoner who has been accused of
murdering his cousin in a family squabble. Balducci has been ordered to bring the Arab to Daru, and then return
immediately to his post. Likewise, Daru has orders to turn in the prisoner to police headquarters at a town
approximately twenty kilometers away. Daru refuses this task, considering it dishonorable. Balducci agrees with the
schoolmaster, but insists that in war men must be prepared to do many different jobs. The gendarme is insulted by
Daru's stubborn refusal, and leaves in anger.

Daru feeds the Arab and spends the night sleeping in the same room as the prisoner. During the night the Arab gets up
for water, and Daru mistakenly thinks he has escaped. The next day Daru leads the Arab to a point on the plateau, and
equips him with money and food supplies. He points him in the direction of imprisonment, and then also points him in
the direction away from police headquarters, where he will find shelter with the native people. He leaves the Arab with
the choice, but when he looks back, he is upset to see the Arab ultimately chooses the direction leading towards
imprisonment. The story ends with Daru looking out the window of his schoolhouse.

The events in the story take place at the outset of the Algerian War. They follow the schoolmaster Daru as he faces the
moral dilemma of what to do with an Arab prisoner who has been delivered to him by a gendarme named Balducci. The
story is primarily about the problematic nature of having a prisoner in one's home, and thematizes aspects of Algerian
culture and free will.

The Guest is a very ambiguous narrative, and leaves the reader grappling with several mysteries in terms of the plot: Is
the Arab even guilty? Who writes the words on the blackboard? Are Daru and the Arab being watched by his brothers,
and if so, why do they decide not to save him? Finally, why does the Arab choose imprisonment?

One of the major themes of The Guest is the problem of partial knowledge. Daru struggles to reach a judgment on the
Arab because he knows nothing about him. In the end, he transfers to the prisoner the power of free choice, and this
leaves him with a moral burden. The impossibility of attaining complete knowledge is a major frustration for Daru, as
well as for the Arab. The Arab wants to know what will happen to him.

Likewise, Camus leaves the reader with several uncertainties, and readers must analyze the story with these in mind.
There is no real logic in the narrative, no definite principles or guidelines with which to understand the events that take
place. The only meaning comes from the events that occur, and this is for a large part left up to the reader. Camus saw
the world as an illogical place, and believed that people find meaning through their freedom to choose despite the
absurdity that surrounds them. The Guest captures the struggle to choose in morally ambiguous conditions. Daru's fails
to choose whether to turn the Arab over to authorities or let him go, and this failure results in moral despair and total
isolation.

Character List

Daru
He watches Balducci and the Arab approach the schoolhouse at the start of the narrative. The schoolhouse is his home,
although with the sudden snow none of his pupils attend anymore. He spends the blizzard in his room, only leaving it to
feed the chickens, get coal, or go to the shed. The administration has given him wheat to distribute to his pupils. During
the draught he felt like a lord in his crude house because he was surrounded by complete and utter poverty. He is from
this region, which is described as cruel, but he feels exiled anywhere else. Daru argues against delivering the Arab to
Tinguit, and is plunged into a state of moral despair at the end of the narrative when he realizes that the Arab has
chosen certain imprisonment.
Balducci

Balducci is the man on the horse who leads the Arab up the hill to Daru. He holds the horse back so not to hurt the
Arab. Once within earshot he shouts a greeting to Daru. He is an old gendarme and has known Daru for a long time. He
looks upon Daru as a son, but is insulted by Daru's refusal to turn in the Arab. It is Balducci who first speaks of a revolt,
and speaks about the obligations that men face during war. He clearly longs for a peaceful retirement, but is resigned to
his duties.
The Arab

The Arab is being led by Balducci. He walks while the gendarme rides a horse, and his hands are tied. He keeps his
head bowed, which fascinates Daru, and does not raise his head once during the ascent. He wears a blue jellaba,
sandals, and a cheche on his head. He is very timid and fearful throughout the narrative, and even does not try to
escape despite many opportunities. At the end, he decides to walk towards imprisonment, and in this way symbolizes
the absurdity and despair of the human condition.

------------------------------

Camus' "The Guest"

Commentary by Karen Bernardo

In Albert Camus' "The Guest," an idealistic teacher -- possibly very much like Camus himself -- has chosen a teaching post in the Algerian desert
as an escape from the pressures of urban life. His school -- which is also his home -- has become an important center of village activities; even in
the winter, when it is too cold for the students to come to school, Daru continues to serve as the custodian of the grain provided by the
government to relieve last summer's drought, doling it out to those who need it. He lives simply but happily, content with little.

This voluntary simplicity and self-imposed isolation on the part of the protagonist is important. Camus believed that we are all ultimately alone
with our decisions, and in fact that is the best way to be. It is significant to note that the motif of the grain establishes him as both a respected and
a compassionate man. He has been entrusted with a saving mission, and he delights in carrying out its requirements.

However, politics intrudes into the midst of this scene. A soldier with whom Daru is acquainted, Balducci, rides up with an Arab prisoner trailing
on foot. Balducci has some official papers which will transfer custody of the prisoner from himself to Daru; it will then be Daru's obligation to
take the prisoner to the jail in Tinguit, several miles away. Surprised and shocked, Daru refuses. He sees no reason to get involved; he does not
want to play God. But Balducci insists; regardless of what Daru chooses to do with the prisoner afterwards, Balducci is leaving the Arab with
Daru, and Daru will have to deal with the consequences if he fails to follow through on the government orders.

On the other hand, Daru recognizes that he will have to deal with his own conscience if he does. Daru sees as well as Balducci does that the case
of this Arab -- a man who killed a cousin in a family feud -- is not a case for the French colonial courts. This is something that could be settled
perfectly well -- if, possibly, bloodily -- by the families involved. This particular Arab is fated to serve as a political example, and all three of
them know it. His fate will not be pretty, and he may well wish he had stayed in his village and risked the wrath of his rivals. As it is, he is to be
hauled into Tinguit, subjected to a travesty of a trial and an all-too-real fate.

And with this Daru refuses to cooperate, because he will not assume the awesome responsibility of casting dies for other people's lives. Even
before Balducci leaves, Daru unties the prisoner's bonds and makes him tea, treating him more like a guest than either a prisoner or even an
imposition. Balducci had assured Daru that the prisoner spoke no French, but Daru discovers that he most certainly does; and from conversing
with him Daru learns that learns that the man is terrified. Daru's feeding of him has established some sort of bond between the two men, which is
simple charity on Daru's part but which the Arab takes as a sign of political solidarity, the food symbolizing the exchange of life between them.
"Come with us," the Arab implores him. But Daru does not want to go with anyone, he wants to stay in the little desert schoolhouse where he
lives; he does not want to fall into any political camp, that of the French or that of the Arabs.

The next morning Daru again tends to his guest's needs, supplies him with food, money, and provisions, and then sets him back on the road. First
he points to the east. "There's the way to Tinguit," he tells him. "You have a two-hour walk. At Tinguit are the administration and the police.
They are expecting you."

He then points to the south. "There's the trail across the plateau. In a day's walk from here you'll find pasturelands and the first nomads. They'll
take you in and shelter you according to their law."

In other words, the schoolteacher makes no attempt to influence the prisoner that one course might be honorable or even just, but is suicide; or
that the other, less honorable, could mean freedom. He simply points out that there were two choices, and what they are. The prisoner starts off in
the direction of the east and prison, and this seemingly bizarre decision Daru also does not judge.

In this story, Daru the Existentialist resents having his own life directed by outside forces, whether they be the loyalty of friendship or the
pressures of politics, and similarly refuses to direct the life choices of anyone else. It is ironic at the end of the story that the townspeople believe
that despite the fact that Daru really did not make a choice -- despite the fact that he simply relocated the burden of choosing back onto the
person most affected by the ramifications of the decision -- that he "turned over [their] brother." Camus would argue, however, that because Daru
refused to intrude on the Arab's free will, it was Daru -- and not the townspeople -- who really acted as a brother.

---------------

Kitabın baş kahramanı Meursault,bir boş bilincin ürünü olarak kayıtsız ve edilgen.Camus herkesin zaman zaman hissettiği yabancı olma
durumunu oldukça abartarak vurgulamak istemiş.Okuduğumuz her kitapta kendimizle özdeşleştirdiğimiz bir kahraman veya bir olay olur, Camus
bu özdeşleştirme olayının sınırlarını zorluyor kitapta.Roman İnsanın hayatta mutluluğu yakalaması için bir takım şartların gerekli
olmadığını,önümüze mutlu olmak için engeller ve koşullar koyarak asla mutlu olamayacağımızı vurguluyor.Dünyada var olan ahlaki değerlerin
her durum ve şart için uygun olmadığını,dünyada yaşamak için zaruri ihtiyaç olmadığını anlatıyor.Siz ne kadar kendinizi dünyadan soyutlasanız
da,kendi dünyanızda yaşasanız da dünyanın bir şekilde sizi gelip yakalayacağının altını çiziyor.

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