L’hôte and choice

The idea of choice again echoes in L’hôte. There seem to be a lot of descriptions of Daru tirelessly caring for the Arab prisoner, where often the detail of the passages highlights this kindness. Yet is there a sense that it is essentially untenable? At one point, the prisoner can hear Daru’s breathing as he sleeps: “Dans la chambre où, depuis un an, il dormait seul, cette présence le gênait. Mais elle le gênait aussi parce qu’elle lui imposait une sorte de fraternité qu’il refusait dans les circonstances présentes” (94). On Daru’s part, the proximity between him and the prisoner is also emphasised; at one point, he hears the prisoner coughing: “Daru l’écouta, presque malgré lui, puis, furieux, jeta un caillou qui siffla dans l’air avant de s’enfoncer dans la neige. Le crime imbécile de cet homme le révoltait, mais le livrer était contraire à l’honneur: d’y penser seulement le rendait fou d’humiliation” (96). This moment in which he is “furieux” seems to be the one where he thinks of giving up the prisoner, which he knows would be dishonourable. I think here we see Daru stuck and trapped by these thoughts, which is crippling for him, particularly when he does not act upon them: “Daru se leva, tourna en rond sur la terre-plein, attendit, immobile, puis entra dans l’école” (96). Camus maintains this idea of torturous indecision up until the end, when Daru witnesses the prisoner exercising the ability to choose and watches with “ le coeur serré” (99). I think the final sentence appears ambiguous: “Dans ce vaste pays qu’il avait tant aimé, il était seul” (99). I’m not sure if we’re meant to believe that his kindness was entirely pointless, or that the numbing, almost nihilistic atmosphere at this point (with “les terres invisibles” and the message scrawled into the table: “‘Tu as livré notre frère. Tu paieras’”) will be a haunting result of Daru’s lack of resolve and failure to take the decision for himself.