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Nov 24, 2024

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Surname 1 Student Name Instructor Date Exile and Isolation through the Character Daru in The Guest

Surname 2 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,

Surname 3 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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