Student Question
What are the attitudes between Daru and Balducci in "The Guest"? Are either of them cruel?
Quick answer:
Daru is a French citizen and member of the French military. He has been ordered to deliver an Arab prisoner, Ferral, to the prison. Balducci is a gendarme who works for the French government in Algeria. Darul feels Balducci should not be in his home country but Balducci does not feel he is unwelcome in Daru's home country. In fact, he feels he is Daru's guest because he outranks him and lives with him; thus, Daru should serve him even though he only stays there because it was convenient for him. Daru feels sorry for Ferral but knows he must follow his orders or face punishment himself.In Camus' short story "The Guest," Balducci is a gendarme and a member of the European colonial powers that be. He tells Daru his orders:
Those are the orders.
...In wartime people do all kinds of jobs.
...the orders exist and they concern you too. Things are brewing, it appears. There is talk of a forthcoming revolt. We are mobilized, in a way.
Since Daru is of European decent and not a native Arab, Balducci presupposes that Daru will carry out his orders and deliver the Arab to prison.
Daru tries to stay out of the decision whatsoever. He feels he is a schoolteacher and schoolteachers should not be enlisted as marshals to deliver prisoners. However, Daru fails to realize that he is complicit in the colonial power because he works for their educational system--an institution which wages cultural war on the Arabs as much as Balducci's armed forces.
Daru dislikes Balducci, but he is afraid to disobey his orders for fear of reprisal. Balducci values "orders" above all, and sees Daru only as a means to an end. Despite Daru's protest, Balducci knows that the schoolteacher is powerless to disobey him.
Daru feels Balducci is his guest because he feeds and harbors him. Balducci thinks Daru is his guest because he outranks him. Neither feel the Arabs are welcomed guests. To the Arab, both colonists are certainly unwelcomed guests of his native country.
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