I thought The Guest by Albert Camus was a okay story, but it was not my favorite this semester. I do not have any active complaints about it; I just do not think it was outrageously interesting.
The story leaves the reader wanting to know more about the Arab prisoner. The story tells us that he killed a man, “We had been looking for him for a month, but they were hiding him. He killed his cousin.” (2576) The reader wonders why did he kill him? The reader also knows that he killed a family member. Arabian families are very tight knit, so the cousin must have done something horrible or prisoner must be different from his people. The reader also knows that he had ample opportunities to run away, but he chose to stay. “the Arab... closed the door carefully, and came back to bed.” (2580) The last piece of evidence that the reader is given is that he chose prison (which he knew would be death) over freedom. “made out the Arab walking slowly on the road to prison.” (2582) The reader is left to wonder why he chose his own death.
Given all the facts, the reader can assume a few things. First, the prisoner did not want to go home. This could be for many reasons. I think it is because his family is unhappy that he killed his cousin. This would lead to him choosing prison over freedom. The prisoner did not have a home. Plus, he would have to hide out for the rest of his life. If I was in his shoes, I think death would be the more agreeable option too.
I did think that The Guest was a pretty good story, even though it was not flashy or action packed. I do agree with you on how it leaves the reader to wonder about a few different things. The one thing that stands out, as you mentioned, would have to be why the prisoner killed his cousin. The story gives us no reason for the killing, and I also agree with you that the cousin must have done something rather terrible to be killed. The only detail the story gives about the murder was, "he killed his cousin with a billhook." (Camus 2577). This detail does not give any reason why the prisoner killed his cousin.
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