The Guest

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For the Phantom Planet album, please see The Guest (album)

"The Guest" (L'Hôte) is a short story by the French writer Albert Camus. It was first published in 1957 as part of a collection entitled Exile and the Kingdom (L'exil et le royaume). Camus employs this short tale to reflect upon issues raised by the political situation in French North Africa. In particular, he explores the problem of refusing to take sides in the colonial conflict in Algeria, something that mirrors Camus' own non-aligned stance which he had set out in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

[edit] Explanation of the novel's title

The title of the story, "L'Hôte", presents ambiguity in that "hôte" means both "guest" and "host" in French. We are constantly unsure throughout the story whether Daru is a host to the Arab, or whether he is a guest in his own home.

[edit] 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, because he is a Frenchman living in Africa, he is very lonely; 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. 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. It is during this that Daru learns that the Arab was guilty of murdering his cousin. That night, Daru cannot sleep; he dreams that there are footsteps outside. 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.

Partway there, Daru stops, and offers the prisoner a chance to escape. 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 a the blackboard: "You turned our brother in. You will pay." Alienated from the Arabs as well, Daru feels alone.

[edit] 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 to one's self. 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 his own and holding himself accountable for the murder..