Camus makes the Arab a murderer to influence the reader's response to the dilemma Daru faces in the story, based upon Camus' political concerns at that time between Algiers and France.
The reader expects Daru to find the Arab repugnant so that when Daru is "ordered" to take him to jail, we expect that Daru would follow directions without a second thought. First, because the Arab has committed a terrible crime (murder), rather than just assault or...
(The entire section contains 240 words.)
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