Home > The Guest Summary & Study Guide > Essays and Criticism > Camus’ ‘The Guest’: A Subtle and Difficult Story

The Guest | Camus’ ‘The Guest’: A Subtle and Difficult Story

In the following excerpt, Perrine gives an overview
of Camus’ ‘‘The Guest’’ and discusses common
misinterpretations of the story.

When I entered the classroom that morning, I was just in time to catch the class wag writing some ‘‘clumsily chalked up words’’ on the blackboard: ‘‘You have handed us a difficult assignment. You will pay for this.’’ She was absolutely right. When I read the papers my students had written defining the theme of Camus’ short story ‘‘The Guest,’’ I found that, though they had sped their arrows bravely, none, in my opinion, had nicked the center of the target. The assignment was more difficult than I had anticipated. I paid by having to write lengthy notes in...

[The entire page is 2909 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

Summary and Analysis – Themes – Characters – And much more...