In the following excerpt, Tarrow offers an interpretation of Camus' "The Guest," particularly in regard to the motifs of Colonialism and the character of Daru. Tarrow also examines Camus' use of imagery.

Daru, the protagonist of "The Guest" [is a misfit in the landscape]. The ambiguity of the title word, l'hote, meaning both "guest" and "host," and of which meaning should be applied to which character, is resolved by the landscape. Paul Fortier has shown how the landscape and its changing aspects offer an interpretation of historical events and of moral values ("Decor," pp. 535-42). Daru believes himself in harmony with the natural world around him. But it is an illusion. The sun is dominant during the drought, "the plateaus charred month after month, the earth gradually shrivelling, literally scorched." The snowfall represents a brief reprieve, a temporary truce before hostility is renewed. When the sun shines...