Exploring free will and decision making in Albert Camus' short story "The Guest", In Albert Camus' short story "The Guest", Camus raises numerous philosophical questions. These are: does man have free will?, are an individual's decisions influenced by what society demands, expects, neither or both? and finally, how does moral and social obligation influence decision making? Balducci brings the Arab to Daru's door, informing Daru that "I have orders to hand over the prisoner and I do so" (90), thus freeing Balducci from responsibility for where the Arab ended up. Balducci did not want the Arab's responsibility to escape, and by only doing what was expressly asked of him (delivering the Arab to Daru's door and giving Daru orders about the Arab's destination), he was also setting the story so that any decision made by Daru thereafter was Daru's act alone and not directly dependent on any other decision made by another man previously. Balducci avoids the social obligation he should feel. He should follow the prisoner's management to the end, but he is not obliged to do so. Balducci knows this and decides to avoid the effort and instead justifies leaving the Arab there by simply following his orders and not reading between the lines of the order. Daru ended up accepting the Arab, both because the prisoner was handed over to him, and because he had a sense of responsibility towards the French government (or society) to at least accept him, if not actually hand him over to the Tinguit police (social obligation not to let him go free, justice must be done because if he hadn't been, society would fall into chaos). Daru's orders were to escort the Arab there as he was "expected at police headquarters"... middle of paper... do some men think about decisions and others react to their environment like a glorified plant? Do all men know they have free will and understand what it means? Daru gave the Arab a choice, was it right for the Arab (and society) or was it a selfish action based on what Daru thought was right, fair or just? Why did the Arab's final choice depress Daru, and why did neither Balducci nor Daru want to be responsible for another man? In the end, the Arab is truly the "dog" of society. No decision was ever his (from the reader's and Daru's point of view), but still, how do we know if Daru is different? By answering some philosophical questions through the use of characters in the void, Camus raises many more questions, which is the philosopher's modus operadi: not to find answers, but to ask questions that will ultimately have the answers inherent in them..