The Guest

Albert Camus (1913-1960), born in what was then the French colony of Algeria in northern Africa, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957, making him the first African to receive the award. Camus's focus falls on the individual as a rebel, whose choices and actions bring existence, awareness, and newfound identity to what often referred to as "the other; " a separate group, or even a nation of people. Camus acknowledges the inevitable relationship marked by responsibility between the individual and the other. The other becomes a complex term concerning colonialism and post colonialism, as seen in Camus's short story "The Guest." The work concerned with colonialism and its negative effect on indigenous cultures (Camus, pp. 356-567).

An ethical dilemma plays out in Camus's "The Guest." The story sets in the author's Algerian homeland, on the eve of a turbulent and armed rebellion against French rule. Camus does not directly describe the broad epic struggle of Algeria's fight against colonialism, but instead takes readers to a remote desert landscape where three men of different backgrounds are facing daunting choices. Daru, a fledgling schoolmaster, is the enigmatic protagonist; a loner who has chosen to live an isolated existence in an impoverished and remote desert region, in the African country. Daru's safe, secret world, invaded by Balducci, the second character. He is a French gendarme soldier from El Ameur, who brings with him an unnamed Arab prisoner. The third character, the prisoner, known only as the Arab (Camus, pp. 356-567). He has been arrested by the French authorities for the murder of his cousin over a dispute about some grain, and now he faces a French government trial.

The thrust of "The Guest" examines the relationship between Daru and the Arab, and the choices they make regarding freedom. Daru desires to be free of the Arab and not responsible for the other man's fate. The two spend a chilly evening under the same schoolhouse roof. Daru, shares hot tea and a meager meal with the prisoner. They speak little, always in Arabic. Daru is not unfriendly, but he maintains an indifferent, harsh tone. He dislikes that he has been placed in this predicament, as he wants no involvement in the other man's fate (Camus, pp. 356-567). During the night, the murderer is neither bound nor confined, as Daru hopes that his "guest" will escape and thus relieve him of his responsibility.

An overarching point ...