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Exile and Isolation through the Character Daru in The Guest
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The theme of alienation and exile in the world is recurrent in the short story The
Guest by Albert Camus. Although there are other instances of Isolation, like in the case of the
Arab being taken as a prisoner and thus carried away from his people, the most prominent
themes of Isolation and exile from the world are seen through the character of Daru, the
headmaster, who lives in the school during a season of snow. Through exploring Daru's
Isolation and exile, this essay aims to discuss how Daru deals with his isolation/exile and
whether it was his choice or imposed on him.
The author first depicts Daru's Isolation through the weather (Camus, 1-2). The fact
that there is snow and the trails are covered in it makes commuting difficult. Additionally,
even ordinarily, people do not travel a lot during the winter unless it is necessary; given that
this story is set between the mid-1950s and the early 1960s when technology was less
advanced than now, the weather most definitely made it tough for people to move from place
to place. As a result, the weather is a representation of Isolation, as many people would not
have moved to see him at the school unless they needed supplies like grain.
Another way through which the author describes Daru's Isolation is through the empty
school. Although it is snowing and the children had not come to school for three days since it
started snowing (Camus, 1), if the narrator did not want Daru to be isolated, he would have
done that by having a teacher or someone else at the school with Daru. However, Daru is
represented in solitude in the school. To enhance the fact that it is not the weather alone that
makes him isolated, the author ensures that he sets him in the school alone, even when it is
not winter. For example, about the room that he had been living in, the author explains that
Daru had slept alone in the room for a year (Camus, 8).
Darus's Isolation and exile are also vivid in how far away from the community he
lives. The narrator described where he lived as a "Wasteland peopled only by stones" (Camus,
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6). This description means that the place where Daru lived did not have any other inhabitants
except himself. Additionally, to further reinforce Daru's alienation from his people and the
exile he lived, the narrator pointed out that the children who came to the school were
scattered across the villages. Given that the school had only twenty pupils, and the narrator
states a scattering across the villages, it can only mean that where the school was, there was
no village, yet there were villages around. Therefore, Daru lived alone away from the villages
.
Daru's view of people around further cements the themes of exile and Isolation. The
narrator explains Daru's situation by stating, "This is the way the region was, cruel to live in,
even without men--who did not help matters either" (Camus, 2). This view of Camu's
Isolation shows how he lived without community in a place that was already difficult. The
additional statement is that men did not help things. This is how the region was, cruel to live
in, even without men--who did not help matters either. This shows a disconnect between
Darius and the community where he lived; this disconnect is a key indicator that he was
exiled from his community.
Additionally, Daru’s exile from the community and the land is described through his
lack of information. When Balducci arrived with the prisoner, Daru was unaware of what was
happening in the villages. Therefore, although he could see the landscape from the plateau, he
did not know what was happening in the villages. He did not know that a man had killed his
brother or that the village wanted to start a war. This paints how the landscape signifies his
Isolation because the author uses it to show that he lived so far away from the villages that he
did not know what was happening. The fact that he also does not feel that what his
community is doing is right further highlights his Isolation.
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Additionally, one could only see a mountain to the school's south when the weather
was fair (Camus, 6). There is nothing else that is described in this part of the school. The
narrator also states that when Daru first saw the men coming, he knew it would take them
about thirty minutes to reach the school (Camus, 2). The distance the narrator makes the
audience see indicates that Daru was physically alienated and exiled from the communities
around him.
Therefore, through the use of the landscape, the land he lived within and how far he
was from the community, the narrator ensures that the audience can see Daru's Isolation in
every way possible, from the landscape to distance to his feeling that he does not support the
people’s decision of bringing the Arab to him. This Isolation is loud and leads us to the
second part of the paper: why is Daru so isolated? Is it forced on him or his own decision, and
how does he deal with it?
Daru's isolation is definitely by choice, seen in several ways. Firstly, the narrator
indicates that men did not help things either (Camus, 2). This is the first indication of
Camus's feelings toward people. His feeling that way towards other men indicates that he was
okay living without them. Additionally, in the same section, the narrator points out that Daru
felt exiled everywhere except where he was at the moment. Daru's feeling about the place
reflects that he was not forced to live in the area because, first, he was in a position to live
everywhere else; he felt at home in this isolated place.
Additionally, although he had asked to be posted at the base of the foothills and to the
plateau instead, only the first few days of his stay there had been painful, and he eventually
became accustomed to the solitude (Camus, 6). As the narrator puts it, Daru knew neither
would have lived outside the desert. This depiction indicates Daru's love for the place where
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he lives. Although it was a wasteland, the weather was unpredictable, and he was isolated; he
knew he could not live outside the desert.
Additionally, the presence of a guest in the room where he slept bothered him
(Camus, 8). The fact that instead of enjoying the Arab's company, he is bothered by it shows
that he enjoyed his solitude. If the decision to live in this part of the country had been
imposed on him, he would have enjoyed company, even if it were just for the night. He would
have even established a friendship with the Arab and, therefore, had a friend over the years.
Instead, he kept wishing that the Arab would escape so that he did not have to decide on
sending him to the police or letting him go and so that he would go back to his normal life.
There are several ways through which Daryu dealt with his exile and Isolation. Firstly,
he is hospitable. He issues food and supplies to the pupils and their families and even to the
Arabs, even though he knows that the Arab killed his brother. This choice to be hospitable is
a way of dealing with Isolation because he is kind to others and does not have to deal with the
guilt of not showing kindness. Again, being hospitable helps him deal with his Isolation as it
reminds him that he is of help to the community.
Additionally, Daru also dealt with his solitude by looking into the vicinity. Alone at
the school, he notices two men climbing toward the school (Camus, 1). The narrator also
stated that the window to his room and the classrooms faced south, where they could see a
mountain on clear days. Therefore, on clear days, the protagonist seemed to have spent much
time observing the views.
Conclusively, the protagonist is an isolated and exiled man. He lives away from his
community, and at the same time, he lives alone. However, the decision to stay alone was not
forced on him, as he never complained about where he was placed; instead, a few days after
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staying where he was placed, he became accustomed to the place. Moreover, he prefers to be
alone even when faced with a guest.
Work Cited
Farahbakhsh, A. “Guests in Albert Camus’s “The Guest”: Essence in Tartarus.”
Contemporary Literary and Cultural Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2019, pp. 167-183.
Greenlee, James W. “Camus’ ‘Guest’: The Inadmissible Complicity.”
Studies in 20th & 21st
Century Literature
, vol. 2, no. 2, Jan. 1978,
https://doi.org/10.4148/2334-4415.1052
.
Harrington, Marin. "Bridging Cultural Difference in Albert Camus's 'The Guest' – Writing
Anthology."
Central.edu
, 2020,
https://central.edu/writing-
anthology/2020/07/07/bridging-cultural-difference-in-albert-camuss-the-guest/
Kamus, Albert, and Translated by Justin O’Brien.
“The Guest”
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