In Albert Camus short story "The Guest," Camus raises numerous philosophical questions. ... In the same way we say the car, or that dog, and mean an object identified only by what class of object it falls under, Camus gives us "the Arab," leaving us no option but to see the man as simply a small part of a larger Arab nation, and not as a man with a name and a personality all his own. ...
By leaving the Arab a non-man, Camus presents a particular predicament-the Arab is not given a personality because that would mean when Daru gave the Arab the choice, Darus actions were performed in a vacuum, the Arabs particular personality had no bearing on whether Daru chose to make options available. ... No man lives in a vacuum, but Camus perhaps chooses to write the story this way because he is a philosopher, vacuum-packed characters can give definite conclusions about the possible nature of man as a species, which is one of the philosophers ultimate aims. ... If Camus truly wanted the Arab to be as the dog, it makes sense that the Arab didnt leave. ... Daru perhaps secretly wished that the Arab would go towards freedom because his escape would mean Darus punishment, and Daru was probably itching to tell the authorities that he didnt agree with the laws of society (regardless of whether he used the society and its conventions or not). ... By answering some philosophical questions through use of characters in a vacuum, Camus raises many more questions, which is the modus opernadi of the philosopher: not to find answers, but to ask questions that will eventually have the answers inherent in them.
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