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Irony
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Mood
Explanation and Analysis:
The mood of “The Guest” is angsty and bleak. The angst in the story emerges from the fact that Daru, a French schoolteacher stationed in Algeria during France’s colonial rule of the African nation, spends the story navigating a moral dilemma: should he turn an Algerian criminal in to the French authorities (as a military officer instructs him to do) or should he allow that man to go free (as his conscience tells him to do)? Neither option feels like the right one to Daru and, instead of making the decision himself, he passes it off to the Arab prisoner, leaving him at a fork in the road and telling him that one leads to the police station and the other to freedom. In this way, Daru's moral torment is never fully resolved.
Related Themes:
