"The Guest"

The character I liked the most in Albert Camus’ short story “The Guest” was Daru. He exhibited the traits we have been discussing in these past few weeks about what real love is. Daru had been living alone for a while, away from all contact with other human beings. Then two people enter his center of solace, one of them he knows and the other a prisoner who had killed someone. We have been talking about being objectivity in everyday occurrences and Daru obviously exhibited this. He did not automatically pass judgment on the prisoner. He questioned why he had killed, but when he didn’t get an answer, that didn’t stop him from still being civil to the man. At times, Daru would show his nervousness about the situation, but he still fell through in caring for the man. He provided food to eat and a bed to sleep on. He could have left him to starve and sleep on the floor, but instead he acted with compassion. He treated the prisoner as an equal, not truly taking into account his misdeeds. When it came time to walk the prisoner to prison, Daru chose to let the prisoner either run free or turn himself in. People have the free will to do as they please, and once someone makes a choice, they are to live with their results and actions of that choice. By giving the prisoner his own choice, Daru was left without the guilt of turning someone in. This is probably the best way Daru showed objectivity. The prisoner was left with deciding his own fate, instead of Daru deciding to turn him in.