The Guest

What is the main conflict in The Guest by Albert Camus?

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The conflict(s) in Albert Camus's The Guest are both external and internal. The external conflict comes from the fact that Daru is living in French occupied Algeria. There is, of course, resistance among Arabs to this French occupation. Revolution is breaking out and Daru is caught in the middle. Daru is a native Frenchman who teaches in the sparse mountainous regions of Algeria. Although Daru looks French he feels quite at home in his one room schoolhouse, everywhere else he feels "exiled". The internal conflicts in Daru are many. Can he ever be accepted by the Arabs as more than an occupier? Should he deliver the Arab prisoner as the gendarme asks? All these conflicts swirl around the mild teacher who strives to make peaceful decisions in a threatening time.