Exile and the Kingdom

The character from Camus “The Guest” that interested me the most was the teacher, Daru.  He was given a task that he does not want to do, yet does not have a choice.  Daru enjoys his quite life, although his country is in the mist of an on coming war and a famine.  Even with such hard times, Daru claims he feels “like a lord, with his whitewashed walls, his narrow couch, his unfinished shelves, his well and his weekly supplies of water and food” (p.69).  I like the fact that even in rough times, he sees the positive in it.  This is hard to see when in a situation like that.  This shows the good within him.

As always, when one becomes content with life, something happens to bring one to reality.  In this case Daru’s interruption is the arrival of a prisoner that he must take to jail.  Daru knows of what the Arab has done to deserve to go to jail but does not feel he needs to be the one to turn him in.  It is as if he is torn between what he is expected to do and what he wants to do. 

Even though he is upset about this predicament, he never treats the prisoner poorly.  Unlike Balducci, Daru lets the prisoner enjoy a meal and sleep on a bed.  This prisoner does not deserve to be trusted yet Daru does.  He leaves his weapon in the other room and even sleeps naked, which is a symbol of high vulnerability.  With these steps of trust, the prisoner shows respect for Daru by not running away with his newfound freedom.  When it comes time to turn the Arab in, Daru leads him about half way to the jail.  He then gives him food and directions to turn himself in.  This is what intrigued me the most, why does he not take the prisoner all the way?  He gives the Arab the choice, to do what he is supposed to do or to run.  When Daru first speaks with the prisoner alone at the schoolhouse, he asks him if he is sorry for what he had done.  The Arab gives no reply.  Maybe this was Daru’s way of testing the real answer, without pushing it. 

Daru was an interesting character because he showed kindness.  He was given a task by his country, which conflicted with how he felt.  Preferring not to get involved, he is left to take this man.  Instead of being rude to him he treats him as a guest.  This kindness leads the Arab to feel truly guilty, which results in turning himself in.  Daru is a good example of the saying kill with kindness.  By showing the Arab kindness, he convinced him to do the right things after doing something so wrong.

Art of Loving

I used to work at a coffee bar in a grocery store.  One day a lady got in line behind a co-worker I was ringing up. She seemed very impatient, to a point were she started to order before I was done with my co-worker.  I get her some coffee and still she is being rude to me.  Treating me as if I was an idiot and she was a queen.  After she was done, she went over to put cream in her coffee.  I start to help someone else. Once I was finished, I saw her reaching around the plexus-glass to steal some cups.  When she notices that I was watching, she demands I give her lids.  I politely tell her that next time she wants more cups she should ask because customers are not allowed behind the glass.  At this, she starts yelling at me about how she is a regular (yet I had never seen her in the whole year I worked there) and that the manager said she could do whatever she wanted.  She then proceeds to tell me that I am extremely rude and that she will be reporting me.  The lady storms off, leaving her keys because she was so focused on being rude to me.  I call someone over to take the keys to the lost and found.  Not even a minute later, she storms back in accusing me of stealing her keys. She is yelling at the top of her lungs, embarrassing me in front of customers.  Finally, when I get a word in, I tell her that they are where all the lost items belong, at the front desk.  

            This situation taught me to be patient not only with angry customer but also situations in which someone is emotionally lashing me.  The lady clearly came from a different background. Maybe she felt I was not treating her with the same respect that elders are treated in her country.  Whatever the cause, yelling back at her would have done nothing.  Instead I chose to stay calm and let her yell.  In the end she was the one that made a fool of her self.  This is something that is hard for me.  I am naturally an impatient person, after this situation I found my self not wanting to be like her.  She was rude and pushy for no reason.  I served her to the best of my abilities yet it was not good enough for her.  Had she come in with a better attitude she would not have forgotten her keys.  Later I found out that my manager had to ask her to not come back due to harassment of the workers.