The Guest
by Albert Camus

The Guest: Foil 1 key example

Foil
Explanation and Analysis—Balducci and Daru:

In “The Guest,” Balducci acts as a foil for Daru, meaning that his presence in the story reveals important qualities of Daru’s character. Camus intentionally portrays the French military policeman Balducci as an uncompromising rule follower in order to highlight how modest schoolteacher Daru is the opposite of this—Daru believes that people should act morally, whether it means following the rules or not.