The author of an allegory expects readers to look for meaning below the surface of the story. To what extent can this story be considered an allegory? Consider Daru's physical environment as symbolic of Camu's universe and Daru himself as symbolic of the human conditions.,
The Guest is essentially a moral allegory of making moral decisions in a hostile world. Daru wants to do the right thing but, in a country on the brink of revolution, he does not know exactly what the right thing to do is. Will it be dangerous for him to let the prisoner go or take him to jail? Can Daru ever be accepted as more than French by Algerians? Unfortunately none of this matters in the end. In Camus's existential tragedy, Daru discovers that he cannot make a difference and that he has no real home.
