“The Guest”
When it comes to making decisions, sometimes, one must fight with his or her conscience. Depending on the situation, the better decision could feel like the wrong action to take. But in some situations, like in the case of the protagonist in the story “The Guest,” no matter what decision is made, it could have unfortunate consequences. For Daru, it appeared to be a lose-lose situation no matter what decision he made, although he clearly made a bad one. Had he taken the prisoner to the jail himself, it would have weighed heavily on his conscience, while turning him loose could have meant capture or death anyway. But, if Daru had taken the prisoner to complete safety, it could have meant trouble with the law for him, too. And, unfortunately, it appears some of the prisoner’s acquaintances were ready to dish out some justice of their own, not knowing the full truth themselves.
It appears, from the context of the story, that the protagonist was a nice man, and was not partial to treating people poorly. This was evident when he refused to take the prisoner to the jail himself.
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He was faced with making decisions that did not favor him, regardless of which one he made. He could have led the prisoner to complete safety and risked legal action himself or taken the prisoner to jail and have that weigh on his conscience. But, evidently, neither of those decisions would end up having a positive ending, as he faced the wrath of the prisoner’s unruly acquaintances, even though he never wanted anything to do with the situation from the beginning. Many times in life, people will have to make decisions or undertake actions they do not necessarily want to do. And the decisions a person has to make will not always favor him or her or the rest of society. This story makes it clear that no matter what choice a person makes, good or bad, it could always come back to haunt him or