The Guest

The Guest Summary | Detailed Summary

The beginning of "The Guest" introduces readers to the protagonist, a schoolmaster named Daru, whose schoolhouse resides onto of a desert plateau and is isolated from the villages beneath it. The story takes place in winter after a three-day blizzard has just past. In the story's opening, the schoolmaster watches as two men climb up the hillside toward the schoolhouse. One man is on horseback, while the other is on foot. The visitors travel slowly through the snow. Daru can see that one of the men knows the region well because he is able to follow the trail up the hillside even though it is covered in snow. As he watches the two travellers, he estimates that it will still be another half-hour before they reach the schoolhouse. He goes back inside to wait for them. His classroom is empty. The blackboard shows the four rivers of France, which were drawn in colored chalk days before.

The snowfall came suddenly in October after eight months of drought. The twenty pupils who live in the nearby villages have stopped coming to school, but they will return when the weather is better. For three days, Daru is left alone to wait out the blizzard. Luckily, a deliveryman from Tadjad, the nearest village to the south, brought supplies two days before the blizzard began. Many of Daru's students are from poor families who suffered during the drought. He gives them rations of wheat from the supplies delivered to him when they come to school. During the drought, the earth became scorched, and sheep died by the thousands. Some men died as well. Daru's life in the isolated schoolhouse resembles that of a monk, but he is satisfied with the little he has: his white painted walls, small couch, unpainted shelves, a well and weekly supply of water and food. The harsh elements of the desert region are difficult to live in, but Daru was born there and feels exiled anywhere else.

After some time passes, Daru steps onto the terrace at the front of the schoolhouse to see the travellers' progress. Now he recognizes the man on horseback as Balducci, a gendarme for the French National police. An Arab walks behind Balducci with his head lowered and hands bound. Daru wonders who the second man could be. Balducci waves to Daru as they get closer to the schoolhouse. He yells out that they made the three-kilometer trek from El Ameur in one hour. When the men arrive at the terrace, Daru invites them inside. Balducci has a moustache, a tanned forehead and wrinkles around his mouth, as well as dark, deep-set eyes. Daru leads the man's horse into his shed and heats up the classroom for the visitors. Balducci sits down on the couch in Daru's room. The Arab stands near the stove. His hands are still bound. The Arab has large lips, a straight nose and dark eyes that appear to be full of fever. His face has a restless and rebellious look. Daru tells the men to wait in the heated classroom while he makes tea. Balducci says something to the captive man in Arabic and leads him into the classroom.

Daru brings the men tea. Balducci is sitting at a student desk, while the Arab squats against the teacher's platform. Daru tries to hand the Arab tea, but his hands are still bound. Balducci unties him. Daru asks Balducci where they are headed. Balducci says that the schoolhouse is their destination. Daru asks if they intend to stay the night, and Balducci replies that the Arab is not returning to El Ameur. He says that Daru has been ordered to take the Arab to Tinguit, where he is expected at police headquarters. Daru denies that this could be an order intended for him. Balducci says that in wartime, people do all kinds of jobs. Daru responds that in that case he will wait for a declaration of war. Balducci explains that there is talk of a revolt. There are only twelve workers at El Ameur to patrol the whole territory, so he must return in a hurry. Daru must take the Arab the twenty kilometres to Tinguit before the next night.

Daru looks out the window and sees that the weather is clearing. He asks if the Arab speaks French. Balducci says no. The schoolmaster wants to know what the Arab's crime is. Balducci explains that the Arab killed his cousin over a family squabble. People were hiding the Arab for a month after he committed the crime. Daru feels anger toward the Arab after hearing this. He dislikes men who get carried away with spite and bloodlust. Balducci approaches the Arab to tie his hands again after he finishes his tea. Daru tells him not to bother because he is armed. He has a shotgun in the schoolhouse. Balducci warns him to keep his gun close, saying that if there is an uprising no one is safe. Daru jokes about the schoolhouse's location on the plateau. He says that he can see the enemy coming. Balducci gives Daru an extra gun. Daru doesn't want to take the prisoner to Tinguit. He insists that he will not hand the captive over, and he will deny that the prisoner was ever left with him. Balducci wants Daru to sign a paper that verifies that the prisoner was left with him. Daru signs, and Balducci leaves. Daru has offended him. The schoolmaster watches out the window as Balducci gets on his horse and disappears.

The Arab stares at Daru, as he tells the prisoner to "wait" in Arabic. Daru puts the revolver that Balducci left him in his pocket and then goes to his room. He lies down on his couch. The silence that filled that schoolhouse in his first days living there was painful for him. Now he enjoys the silence. After the war Daru had requested a post at the base of the foothills but was given a post further north instead. Here he is surrounded by solitude. The region encloses nothing but stones that were harvested for building. When Daru finally gets up, the classroom is quiet. He hopes that the Arab has fled because then he would not have to make a decision. The Arab is lying down in the classroom, staring at the ceiling. Daru motions for the Arab to follow him into the next room. He points out a chair near the window, and the Arab sits down. Daru asks him if he is hungry, and the captive says yes. Daru sets the table, putting out some of his food rations, and begins to cook an omelette. As he is cooking he feels the gun in his pocket and leaves the room to put the gun in his desk, in the classroom. He tells the Arab to begin eating without him. The Arab asks Daru if he is the judge. Daru explains that he is keeping him overnight and bringing him to the police station the next morning.

After the men finish eating, Daru brings blankets and a folding bed into the room for the Arab. Daru sits down on his own bed. He looks at the Arab's face, and he cannot imagine it filled with rage. Daru asks the man why he killed his cousin. The Arab replies that his cousin ran away, and he ran after him. He asks the schoolmaster what will happen to him now, but Daru doesn't answer. Daru asks if he is afraid, and the Arab doesn't answer. The Arab doesn't understand these questions. He wants to know if Daru is coming with him to police headquarters.

Daru has trouble sleeping that night. He stares out the window, at a starless sky. The Arab lies motionless in the cot, but his eyes are open. The wind increases during the night. Daru turns on his side, no longer facing the Arab, and listens to the guest's breathing becoming heavy and regular as he falls asleep. The presence of a stranger in his room bothers Daru, which is odd because he was a solider and should have been used to sharing a room with others. Daru knows that soldiers build alliances when they share rooms together. They become a community, brought together by shared dreams and fatigue. Daru hears the Arab stir, and his body tenses in alert. The Arab lifts himself up, with the motion of a sleepwalker, and sits upright in his bed. Daru doesn't move. He thinks about the gun in the other room. The Arab puts his feet on the ground and stands up slowly. He begins to walk silently across the room. He heads for the door that opens to the shed and lifts the latch carefully. When he walks through the door, he leaves the door slightly ajar.

Daru stays still while this happens. He hopes that the Arab is running away. He hears a faint sound of water from outside the schoolhouse and then sees the Arab in the doorway again. The guest closes the door and gets back into bed without making a sound. Daru turns his back to him and falls asleep. As he sleeps, he thinks he hears footsteps around the schoolhouse, but he doesn't know if he is dreaming them. When Daru wakes up in the morning, the sky is clear. The guest is still asleep. Daru shakes the man to wake him up, and the Arab stares at him with a terrified expression. Daru tells him not to be frightened. The Arab nods at the schoolmaster, agreeing with him. The two men sit together while they drink coffee and eat breakfast. Daru shows the guest to the shed, where he can wash up. Daru tidies up his bedroom and goes out to the terrace. The sun is rising and melting the snow. Daru looks out over the deserted land beyond the plateau. He thinks about Balducci and is regretful that he offended him. He hears the Arab cough, and in a sudden rush of fury, Daru throws pebbles and watches them sink into the snow. He is revolted by the Arab's crime but still does not want to be the one to turn him over to the police. He tells the Arab to come back inside as he walks back into the schoolhouse.

Daru puts a hunting jacket on over his sweater and waits for the Arab to get dressed. He tells the Arab to begin walking ahead of him while he collects some food for the journey. Once Daru is a short distance from the schoolhouse, he thinks he hears a noise and goes back to see what is happening. He traces his steps, but there is nothing there. He starts to walk away from the schoolhouse again. After walking for an hour, the men stop to rest beside a sharp peak of limestone. The snow is melting fast now, clearing the plateau. Daru is awed by the vast expanse of deserted land before him. They continue to walk on, heading south. They reach a level height, made up of crumbling rocks. From there the plateau slopes down in two directions. The eastern direction leads to a low plain with a few trees. The south reveals outcroppings of rocks and a chaotic looking landscape. Daru surveys the two directions, seeing nothing but sky on the horizon. He holds out the package of food to the Arab and tells him to take it. He also offers the man 1,000 francs. The Arab takes the offerings but looks like he doesn't know what to do with them.

Daru points east and explains that it is a two-hour walk east to Tinguit, where the police are waiting for him. Next he points south, to a trail across the plateau. A day's walk south will lead the Arab to pasturelands where nomads reside. The nomads will take the Arab in and shelter him according to their law. The Arab turns to Daru, looking panicked. He begins to speak, but Daru shakes his head to quiet the man and tells him that he is leaving. Daru turns and takes two long steps in the direction of the schoolhouse. He looks back, hesitantly. The Arab is not moving. Daru begins to walk toward the schoolhouse again. For a few minutes, he hears nothing but his own footsteps. When he looks back a second time, he sees the Arab standing at the edge of the hill, staring at him. Daru feels a rise in his throat, but he continues back to the schoolhouse. As he passes a greater distance, he looks back again. The Arab is gone from the edge of the hill where Daru left him.

Daru hesitates. The sun is high now, as he retraces his steps home. He is uncertain at first, but then he is decisive. Bathed in sweat, he climbs a little hill as fast as he can. At the top he stops to catch his breath. In the distant east, he can see the Arab walking slowly toward the prison. Daru is heavy hearted. Later that day, Daru stands before the window of his classroom. He watches the clear light over the surface of the plateau. On the blackboard behind him, among the drawings of the French rivers, the words, "You handed over our brother. You will pay for this," are written in chalk. Daru looks at the sky, the plateau and the vast distance beyond. In this landscape that he loves so much, he is alone.