Short Stories by Albert Camus (Study Guide) - The Guest, the Renegade, the Adulterous Woman, the Silent Men, the Growing Stone, the Artist at Work (Paperback)

This is nonfiction commentary. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: The Guest, the Renegade, the Adulterous Woman, the Silent Men, the Growing Stone, the Artist at Work. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: "The Guest" (L'Hote) is a short story by the French writer Albert Camus. It was first published in 1957 as part of a collection entitled Exile and the Kingdom (L'exil et le royaume). The French title "L'Hote" translates into both "the guest" and "the host" which ties back to the relationship between the main characters of the story. Camus employs this short tale to reflect upon issues raised by the political situation in French North Africa. In particular, he explores the problem of refusing to take sides in the colonial conflict in Algeria, something that mirrors Camus' own non-aligned stance which he had set out in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. The major theme of "The Guest" is that decisions and choices have consequences and the ultimate consequence of death is not a result only by chance, but by the fact that everyone will eventually die and that life does not matter after you die. This piece is characteristic of Existentialism, the prevalent school of thought among the era's literati. It also presents Camus' concept of Absurdism, as well as many examples of human choices. The dilemmas faced by Daru are often seen as representing the dilemmas faced by Camus regarding the Algerian crisis and there are many similarities between the character of Daru and his creator Camus. Both are French Algerians exiled by the choices they have made. The main themes of "The Guest" are of choice and accountability. Camus emphasizes, characteristically of existentialist philosophy, that there is always a choice, that the only choice unavailable is not to choose. Daru chooses how he will handle ...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=174261