112 lines
6.0 KiB
Plaintext
112 lines
6.0 KiB
Plaintext
Individual Anarchy in Albert Camus' Short Story,
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"The Guest"
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by
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Uncle Buster
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[[ "The Guest" is a small story which can usually be found in a
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compilation of Camus' works or in a World Literature
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anthology. Here, I have used the translation of "The Guest"
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found in the Norton Anthology of World Literature, 5th
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Edition. Since this is a critical essay on a particular
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story, it assumes that the reader has read the story.
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I do not believe that it will be nonsensical if you have
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not read "The Guest" yet, but I do encourage you to read
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the story so the ideas I put forth can be understood better
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in their context. ]]
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It is my firm belief that the individual is the key to understanding
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human existence; further, anarchy is the key to living human existence.
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I call it Individual Anarchism. After all, in the view of society, is
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there anything more chaotic than for one single person simply to be him-
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self? And is there any more individual philosophy within the theories
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of politics than to say that there is no need for government?
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I have thought about anarchism for some time, but I could not see
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how it could really work. It always seemed that mankind and the world
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would have to have an epiphany or Utopic conversion before people could
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be free of government and societal restrictions. Then I read a small
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story by Albert Camus called "The Guest". It did not really seem to say
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anything novel to the world which it addressed; however, it did say
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something novel to me. It opened my eyes and allowed me to understand
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that Anarchy is personal; it is not a collective possibility. It rests
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upon the idea of a person acting within a sphere where his existence is
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not intrusive upon the existence of another human being unless invited
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to be so. Should a person find that he has uninvitedly trespassed upon
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the serenity of another, Individual Anarchy points that man toward ac-
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cepting the responsibility for his own actions while not condemning the
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failure of others to own up to the things they may have done wrong.
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For example, the very fact that Daru has separated himself from
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society by taking the teaching post in the desert demonstrates the idea
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of Individualism. He must free himself from the constraints of a smo-
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thering civilization by moving to a region which is completely open,
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bounded only by the horizon and the sky. Camus wishes to show that only
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when a man realizes that he can be distinct and separate from the whole
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of humanity is he capable of becoming whole within himself.
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The forcing of the prisoner into Daru's care shows the unwanted and
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unrequested obligations which governments thrust upon individuals. When
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Balducci tells him that he must take the Arab to the prison in Tinguit,
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the teacher can hardly believe the officer is telling him the truth.
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After he realizes that the people in power expect him to follow their
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orders, Daru is almost Cain-like in his objection, "'The orders? I'm
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not... I mean, that's not my job'" (1898). Certainly, such a reply does
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remind the reader of Cain's reply to God after the murder of Abel: "I am
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not my brother's keeper." However, this is not the intent of Camus.
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Daru is not the killer; the Arab is the one who has committed murder.
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It would be more appropriate to consider Daru as Seth, the new brother
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who has too allow Cain to live out his guilt and punishment.
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Furthermore, Camus clearly shows the importance of an individual being
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invited into another person's life rather than imposing himself or his
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beliefs on someone else. This is seen in the request of the Arab to Daru
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to accompany him to Tinguit. Daru does not wish to take the prisoner
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because he feels it to be dishonorable; however, he reconsiders when the
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Arab asks him to come, Camus writes,
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The Arab didn't move. He called to Daru:
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"Tell me!"
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The schoolmaster looked at him.
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"Is the gendarme coming back tomorrow?"
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"I don't know."
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"Are you coming with us?"
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"I don't know, why?"
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...The Arab opened his eyes under the blinding light and
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looked at him...
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"Come with us," he said. (1902)
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Obviously, the author intends that people should be careful not to ma-
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nipulate others or seek to manipulate them. A person should wait until
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asked, by word or sign, before getting involved in the fate of another.
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Above all, Camus demonstrates how the Individual can demonstrate to
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others the general truths of Individual Anarchy. By recognizing that he
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does not have the moral power to judge another, Daru trusts that the
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Arab will not kill him. This fulfills his job as teacher, for it gives
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to the prisoner the opportunity to learn how to treat other human beings.
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Moreover, when Daru takes the Arab into the desert and gives him the
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choice of running away from his trespass or accepting the responsibility
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of his actions, the reader is asked to ponder what might happen when
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society quits shoving its judgements on a person's shoulders and allows
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him to pick up and carry his own cross.
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I realize that in "The Guest" Albert Camus does not specifically say
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anything about the Individual Anarchy I would like to clarify in my own
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mind. Yet the author opens within me channels and connections of thought
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I had been unable to pull together before. This is true even though much
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of what I see now has always been present in my spiritual and philosophic
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research. However, the last piece of the Puzzle, the one which had
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fallen under the table, if not the hardest to fit into place, is always
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the most rewarding to find. Maybe that is because Truth is its own
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reward.
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At any rate, having finished the puzzle and having looked at it for
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a while, I must now unscrammable it and put it back together again. So
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strange that the Labors of Sissyphus are so much fun. Still, each time
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I look at the pieces, crying out to be put together, they seem so dif-
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ferent. Indeed, they have fallen in a whole new pattern which I am
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seeing for the very first time. What matter that they lead to the same
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end?
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