Comparative analysis of Albert Camus' short story "The Guest" and Michael Haneke's 2005 film Caché

1. Tychus 1
Kay Tychus
Dr. Rebecca Walsh
ENG 539-001
16 December 2019
(Post)colonial anxiety and shame in Camus’ “The Guest” and Haneke’s Caché
Introduction
In psychoanalytic theory, defense mechanisms may be employed by the conscious or unconscious
psyche to combat feelings of anxiety. The concept of defense mechanisms was initially proposed
by the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and later enumerated by his daughter, the psychoanalyst
Anna Freud. The ten defense mechanisms discussed featured regression, repression, reaction
formation, isolation, undoing, projection, introjection, turning against the self (self-harm),
reversal, and sublimation (Freud 44). Later psychoanalysts, such as George Vaillant and Mardi
Horowitz, proposed further defense mechanisms; for the purposes of this paper, the mechanisms
of repression and suppression, undoing, projection, and denial will primarily be discussed, though
others may be mentioned. Repression involves the unconscious subdual of impulses or desires,
while suppression involves the conscious subdual of impulses or desires (Kline 4). Undoing entails
one performing actions contrary to the negative event and subsequent consequences they wish to
avoid (Kline 5). Projection is the attribution of one’s own unacceptable impulses or desires to
another (Kline 4). Finally, denial pertains to the psyche’s rejection of certain perceptions from the
external world that may bring one pain (Kline 4). In our contemporary, postcolonial era, trauma
stemming from earlier colonial histories of violence and subjugation lingers in the cultural
consciousness not only of the peoples occupying former colonial outposts, but also those
occupying the former metropoles. In encounters with colonialism and its postcolonial legacy, one

2. Tychus 2
may feel a sort of (post)colonial anxiety, which I define as a mental anguish that arises from
awareness of the effects of colonialism. Some may address this occurrence by feeling shame, while
others may, consciously or unconsciously, employ the defense mechanisms referred to previously.
This paper, in a way, employs a case study of the colonial trauma in the cultural consciousnesses
of France and its former colonial subject Algeria. Literary and cinematic representations of
France’s colonial and postcolonial relations with Algeria abound. I suggest that the phenomenon
of (post)colonial anxiety may be seen in two texts: the short story “The Guest” by Albert Camus
and the 2005 film Caché, directed by Michael Haneke. Anxiety is discussed more heavily in regard
to Haneke’s Caché, while anxiety is not often discussed in regard to “The Guest”: my paper aims
to address this gap. Ultimately, I argue that in these texts, the characters experience (post)colonial
anxiety from their involvement or encounters with the system of colonialism or its legacy.
Camus’ “The Guest”
In “The Guest,” Daru, a schoolmaster in an Algerian village, is confronted with the arrival of two
men to his empty schoolhouse. One of the men proves to be a familiar face: Balducci, a police
officer, while the other is his charge, an Arab prisoner. Balducci brings Daru the order of
conducting the prisoner to police headquarters. Daru refuses, he and Balducci argue, and
eventually Balducci departs and the prisoner is left in Daru’s care. In the company of the man,
Daru treats him fairly, but internally struggles with what decision he must make in regard to the
prisoner’s fate. I argue that in “The Guest,” Daru feels anxiety from his interactions with the
colonial system; he unsuccessfully employs conscious and unconscious defense mechanisms but
ultimately feels shame from his inadvertent complicity in the colonial system.

3. Tychus 3
For context, Camus’ story occurs in the lead up to the Algerian War, which occurred from
1954 to 1962. The war was fought between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front; as
a result, Algeria eventually gained its independence from France.
After Balducci leaves and the prisoner has been left in Daru’s custody, Daru briefly leaves
to reflect on his situation. As he returns, the text states, “When he got up, no noise came from the
classroom. He was amazed at the unmixed joy he derived from the mere thought that the Arab
might have fled and that he would be alone with no decision to make. But the prisoner was there,”
(Camus 112). Daru’s colonial anxiety is relieved at the thought of, on one level, not having to deal
with the “problem” of the Arab prisoner. On another level, though, he is relieved at not having
decide whether to be directly involved in the French colonial system. Soon after this moment, Daru
cooks and dines with the prisoner; the prisoner questions why Daru eats with him, to which Daru
responds that he is hungry, which suggests that Daru sees the man not just as a prisoner or the
other, but as a fellow human being worthy of respect. Daru goes on to retrieve a cot and blankets
for his charge. The text then states: “Then he stopped, felt useless, and sat down on his bed. There
was nothing more to do or to get ready. He had to look at this man. He looked at him, therefore,
trying to imagine his face bursting with rage. He couldn't do so. He could see nothing but the dark
yet shining eyes and the animal mouth,” (112). I interpret this as Daru attempting, but failing, to
alleviate his recurrent colonial anxiety by imagining the Arab man as guilty of the accused crime.
Later, as Daru listens to the other man sleep, he starts to again feel uncomfortable with the
presence of the Arab man. The text states: “But it bothered him also by imposing on him a sort of
brotherhood he knew well but refused to accept in the present circumstances. Men who share the
same rooms, soldiers or prisoners, develop a strange alliance as if, having cast off their armor with
their clothing, they fraternized every evening, over and above their differences, in the ancient

4. Tychus 4
community of dream and fatigue. But Daru shook himself; he didn't like such musings, and it was
essential to sleep,” (114). Daru first attempts to deny both the humanity he intrinsically sees within
the Arab man and the sort of camaraderie he naturally feels with his sleeping companion. When
that fails, he disassociates to relieve his anxiety.
After breakfast, Daru shows the Arab man the washing facilities and leaves. He starts to
feel anxious once again and reflects:
That man's stupid crime revolted him, but to hand him over was contrary to honor.
Merely thinking of it made him smart with humiliation. And he cursed at one and
the same time his own people who had sent him this Arab and the Arab too who
had dared to kill and not managed to get away. Daru got up, walked in a circle on
the terrace, waited motionless, and then went back into the school house. (115)
Thinking of the paradox of the situation he is in triggers Daru’s colonial anxiety once again, and
utilizes the defense mechanism of displacement in order to direct blame for the unfair situation on
the French colonial system and the prisoner for involving him in it. His anxiety is then manifest
physically (“Daru got up, walked in a circle on the terrace, waited motionless, and then went back
into the school house,”).
Daru ultimately settles on a decision that he feels will not force him to take a side: he gives
the Arab man a bundle of rations and money and the decision of whether or not to turn himself in.
The Arab man is stricken and attempts to speak to Daru. Daru refuses and departs for the
schoolhouse again. The text states:
He turned his back on him, took two long steps in the direction of the school, looked
hesitantly at the motionless Arab, and started off again. For a few minutes he heard

5. Tychus 5
nothing but his own step resounding on the cold ground and did not turn his head.
A moment later, however, he turned around. The Arab was still there on the edge
of the hill, his arms hanging now, and he was looking at the schoolmaster. Daru felt
something rise in his throat. But he swore with impatience, waved vaguely, and
started off again. (116)
I interpret this as Daru now starting to feel shame for his refusal to firmly take a stance for or
against the French colonial regime. He attempts to suppress the feeling and continue his return
trip. His attempt at suppression fails though, and he hurriedly goes back to see what the Arab man
decided. The text says, “And in that slight haze, Daru, with heavy heart, made out the Arab walking
slowly on the road to prison.” (116). In the end though, Daru feels shame that his actions have
resulted in his complicity with the colonial regime.
Haneke’s Caché
In Caché, Georges and Anne Laurent, a successful couple living in Paris, begin to receive
anonymous videos suggesting that they are being stalked. The tapes are often accompanied by
disturbingly violent, yet childish, drawings. Anne comes to suspect that an incident in Georges’
past is behind the increasing torment. Viewers eventually learn that Georges has not been
forthcoming about an act he committed at six years of age, in which he had Majid, an Algerian
child that his parents intended to adopt, sent away. I argue that in Caché, Georges, similar to Daru,
feels instances of (post)colonial anxiety, but, unlike Daru, is able to successfully utilize conscious
and unconscious defense mechanisms to inhibit feelings of shame from his interactions with and
involvement in the legacy of colonialism.

6. Tychus 6
It is first necessary to establish the historical context of the film as the reason in the film
for the death of Majid’s parents is attributed to the events of the Paris Massacre. The Paris
Massacre occurred on October 17, 1961. Prior to the end of the Algerian War, French Algerian
demonstrators held a peaceful demonstration in protest of police suppression (House and
MacMaster 1). The police had previously instituted a discriminatory nighttime curfew for Algerian
workers, many of whom occupied enclave zones of the city (1). Heavily armed riot police officers
killed up to 200 protestors and disposed of their bodies in the Seine, though official numbers vary
due, in part, to the French government initial refusal to allow historians access to restricted police
and judicial archives (6). It has been argued in scholarship on Caché that the brief and trivialized
manner in which Georges refers to the event in the film mimics the way in which the event is
suppressed in the French cultural consciousness.
Postcolonial anxiety and shame have been discussed in much scholarship related to Caché.
Celik (2010) touches briefly on postcolonial history in contemporary France and differences
between Anglo-American and French scholarship on the film; Ipek ultimately argues that certain
inconsistencies in representation in the film undermine its progressive agenda. McFadden (2009)
suggests that in Caché, the very different trajectories of Georges’ and Majid’s lives is
representative of the power and privilege of the white bourgeois intellectual elite that rarely
interacts with the underprivileged French-Algerian citizen. Virtue (2011) argues, “By fostering
critical and active viewership, Caché helps its audience to recognise and bear witness to a cultural
trauma whose witnesses were silenced for years, and that many people would no doubt still prefer
to forget,” (292). In Penney (2011), Penney argues that the timeworn theme of post-war conscience
disturbance is made original in Caché by the film’s attention to the psychodynamics of
postcolonial guilt in the visual field. Restuccia (2010) ultimately concludes that, “Caché conveys

7. Tychus 7
that only upon reclaiming our desiring subjectivity—that is, only upon reseizing our sense of
ourselves—will we be able to bear witness to the Other’s pain and hence no longer subordinate
him or her in the dehumanizing role of the Other,” (169).
In an early scene, Georges visits his ailing mother after the arrival of a tape that captures
the exterior of Georges’ childhood home. He mentions having recently had a dream of Majid to
which his mother inquires after who Majid is. He expresses surprise at his mother’s inability to
recall the child she once nearly adopted, and Georges and his mother discuss dreams and the ability
to remember childhood memories. Georges asks his mother whether she ever thinks of him,
indirectly referring to Majid. The conversation goes as follows:
GEORGES. Do you ever think of him?
GEORGES’ MOTHER. About who?
GEORGES. Majid. [Georges’ mother shakes her head.] How come?
GEORGES’ MOTHER. “How come?”
GEORGES. How come you don’t think of him ever? It was a big thing for you and Dad at
the time.
GEORGES’ MOTHER. It was a long time ago. And it’s not a happy memory. As you know
only too well.
Whether consciously or unconsciously, Georges’ mother has repressed the unpleasant memory of
Majid’s presence in her life. If consciously, then there is possible precedent for the ways in which
viewers eventually see Georges deal with his own (post)colonial anxiety. Majid is thus transformed
from a living human being into a specter of the past that threatens to encumber the present and the
psyche with unpleasant or uncomfortable feelings.

8. Tychus 8
A subsequent scene shows Georges readying for departure from his mother’s home. He
arrives in the foyer, walks toward his mother’s room and hesitates before turning to open the door
of the opposing room. The room is recognized as the one from a previously shown flashback from
Georges’ memory, in which a young Majid sits near a window, face bloody. Georges stares at the
room for several moments, before turning, shutting the door, and returning to greet his mother. I
interpret this scene as Georges making an effort to confront his memories, but ultimately choosing
to repress them. Georges successfully, if temporarily, is able to subdue his (post)colonial anxiety
and avoid the unpleasant feeling of shame.
In another scene, after tracking down a residential building shown in one of the tapes,
Georges is faced with Majid, who now lives in a small, drab apartment. Majid is initially gracious
and polite but, in the face of Georges’ sullenness and accusations, is forced to verbally
acknowledge the bad terms on which they were separated and Georges’ part in his being sent away.
He says, “What wouldn’t we do not to lose what’s ours?” to which Georges responds, after a long
silence, “You were older and stronger than me. I had no choice.” In response to his (post)colonial
anxiety, Georges utilizes the defense mechanism of rationalization to justify and explain his
actions—telling malicious lies about Majid to stop the adoption from occurring—and to keep a
clear conscious, thus again avoiding feelings of shame.
Following the previous scene, viewers see Anne confront Georges with a new tape showing
the preceding conversation between Georges and Majid, this time from Majid’s perspective.
Georges is forced to come clean to Anne about what happened between the two. Georges vaguely
admits to telling lies about Majid, and she presses him for specific details:
ANNE. What kind of lies?
GEORGES. I don’t know. The usual stuff kids lie about. Things you make up. Stupid stuff.

9. Tychus 9
ANNE. Well?
GEORGES. Well what?
ANNE. Stop acting like an idiot! If it was over a teddy, he wouldn’t want revenge 40 years
on.
GEORGES. I don’t remember!
ANNE. You don’t want to tell me, you mean?
GEORGES. What do you want? I’ve no idea. I don’t remember. You remember stuff you
did aged six?
ANNE. [After a long pause] What happened to him?
GEORGES. He was sent away. He was sick. To a hospital or a children’s home, I don’t
know which. I was glad he was gone. I forgot all about it. It’s natural.
ANNE. [Another long pause] And your parents?
GEORGES. Forgot it too, I guess. It was only an interlude of a few months.
ANNE. [Incredulously] An interlude?
GEORGES. What should I call it? A tragedy? Maybe it was a tragedy, I don’t know. I
don’t feel responsible for it. Why should I? It’s all so absurd.
Georges utilizes several coping mechanisms against his (post)colonial anxiety throughout the
conversation. First, he uses minimization to diminish the severity of the event and avoid stress
(“The usual stuff kids lie about. Things you make up. Stupid stuff,”). Anne presses him, and
Georges then attempts to suppress and deny the truth/memory (“What do you want? I’ve no idea.
I don’t remember,”), before trying projection (“You remember stuff you did aged six?”). He then
uses rationalization to excuse his previous repression of the event (“I was glad he was gone. I
forgot all about it. It’s natural,”). Georges employs minimization again (“It was only an interlude

10. Tychus 10
of a few months,”), which frustrates Anne, likely because an outside observer can see the
trivialization of the event and see the event from Majid’s point of view: as a life-altering event
instead of an interlude. Finally, Georges uses reaction formation when he says he doesn’t feel
responsibility; the viewer can tell deep down that Georges does likely feel some sort of
responsibility and instead chooses to verbally express the opposite feeling (“I don’t feel
responsible for it. Why should I? It’s all so absurd.”). Georges is able to allay feelings of shame
once again.
A succeeding scene shows Georges arriving home from the police station following the
disappearance of his son, Pierrot, and previous scenes showing him and the police barging into the
apartment of Majid and his son. Majid and his son have denied involvement, and Georges
communicates news to Anne and their friends Pierre and Mathilde that the two were locked up
after outbursts first from the son and then Majid. The two will spend the night in police custody
and be released as there is only suspicion and no actual evidence of involvement in Pierrot’s
disappearance. Georges then locks himself in the kitchen to have a meal. Georges tries goes
through the process of fixing something to eat, but quickly breaks down crying. The scene may be
interpreted in two ways: Georges may be overwhelmed with worry for Pierrot, but, I argue, that
Georges is actually consumed with (post)colonial anxiety about his contribution to the detainment
and unfair of Majid and Majid’s son by the police. This possibly traumatizing event will likely
leave a lasting, traumatic impression on Majid (and his son) and further contributes to Georges’
past and now present malignment of Majid. Georges tried to isolate himself and suppress the event,
but, for once, Georges actually feels shame.
The climax of the film occurs when Majid calls Georges over to his apartment. Majid
notably says the line, “I called you because I wanted you to be present,” and commits suicide in

11. Tychus 11
front of Georges. Viewers see Georges from the back, but from what is seen, he seems visibly
shaken. The next scene, astonishingly, shows Georges leaving a cinema. I interpret this as Georges
attempting postponement of affect, disassociation, and suppression to deal with his trauma.
Later, Georges is confronted at his workplace by Majid’s son. He initially refuses to speak
with him, but acquiesces after Majid’s son threatens to make a scene. The conversation goes:
GEORGES. Is that a threat? I have nothing to hide.
MAJID’S SON. Really?
GEORGES. [After a long pause] Young man, your father’s death must hurt, but I refuse to
be incriminated by you. [Another pause after an interruption by a coworker] The
police corroborated my statement. It was suicide. So, please, get out of my face.
[Pause] I’d advise you to desist from terrorizing us with stupid tapes.
MAJID’S SON. They were nothing to do with me.
GEORGES. Before he died, your father insisted it wasn’t him.
MAJID’S SON. Believe what you want, I’m not lying.
Georges uses intellectualization in order to avoid feelings of shame. Intellectualization occurs
when, “emotional implications of a topic are avoided by treating it on a purely intellectual level,”
(Kline 7). After Georges returns to his office, Majid’s son loudly asks to talk with him again. The
two are then shown entering a bathroom, a furious Georges leading Majid’s son. Georges again
accuses Majid’s son of sending the tapes, as he now believes Majid was not capable of doing it.
Majid’s son acknowledges the wrong Georges committed against his father as a child but says that
despite the poor upbringing his father was subjected to, Majid was able to raise him well. Georges
asks if the son wants a fight, to which Majid’s son responds that if Georges want to become violent
with him, Georges could likely beat him as he is stronger. This seems like a callback to Georges’

12. Tychus 12
earlier statement that Majid was older and bigger than him as an excuse for Majid’s mistreatment.
Georges responds, “Know what? You’re sick. You’re as sick as your father. I don’t know what
dumb obsession he fed you, but I can tell you this: you’ll never give me a bad conscience about
your father’s sad or wrecked life. I’m not to blame! Do you get that? If you ever try to hurt me, or
my family, you’ll regret it. I guarantee it.” Georges has now rationalized his behavior by
villainizing Majid’s son and repressing any feelings of shame he may possibly have to keep a clear
conscience. The penultimate scene of Caché shows Georges returning home early, taking two
sleeping pills, and falling asleep. In taking these pills (cachets), he consciously suppresses his
(post)colonial anxiety, and, for the time being, will continue to absolve himself of feelings of
shame.
Conclusion
As mentioned, defense mechanisms are generally employed in response to feelings of anxiety. In
this paper, I argue that defense mechanisms may be deployed in response to feelings of
(post)colonial anxiety, which I define as a mental anguish that arises from awareness of the effects
of colonialism. (Post)colonial anxiety may occur in encounters with colonial regimes, as in Camus’
“The Guest,” or in encounters with the legacy of colonialism, as in Haneke’s Caché. If defense
mechanisms are employed unsuccessfully, feelings of shame may ensue, as in Camus’ “The
Guest.” While if defense mechanisms are successfully utilized, feelings of shame may never be
allowed access to the conscious psyche, as in Haneke’s Caché. In regard to Haneke’s Caché, I
propose that future studies of the film discuss the role of Pierrot’s swimming scenes, which I
interpret as having something to do with Camus’ ideas about swimming, in which swimming
represents “some glimmering of collective harmony, the possibility of transcendence,” (Martin
42). In the final scene, the revealed connection between Pierrot and Majid’s unnamed son points

13. Tychus 13
at a certain postcolonial unity between the French and French-Algerian populations. Future
scholarship may ask whether the swimming scenes further contribute to this idea.

14. Tychus 14
Works Cited
Caché (or Hidden). Directed by Michael Haneke, Sony Pictures Classics, 2005.
Camus, Albert. “The Guest.” Continental Short Stories: The Modern Tradition, edited by Edward
Mitchell and Rainer Schulte, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1968, pp. 106–117.
Celik, Ipek A. “"I Wanted You to Be Present": Guilt and the History of Violence in Michael
Haneke's Caché.” Cinema Journal, vol. 50, no. 1, 2010, pp. 59–80.
Freud, Anna. The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence. Translated by Cecil Baines, London,
Karnac Books, 1993.
House, Jim, and Neil MacMaster. Paris 1961: Algerians, State Terror, and Memory. Oxford
University Press, 2006.
Kline, Paul. “A Critical Perspective on Defense Mechanisms.” The Concept of Defense
Mechanisms in Contemporary Psychology, edited by Uwe Hentschel, Gudmund J. W.
Smith, Wolfram Ehlers, and Juris G. Draguns, Springer-Verlag, 1993, pp. 3–13.
Martin, Andy. “Swimming and Skiing: Two Modes of Existential Consciousness.” Sport, Ethics
and Philosophy, vol. 4, no. 1, 2010, pp. 42–51.
McFadden, Cybelle H. “Franco-Algerian Transcultural Tension and National Allegories.” South
Atlantic Review, vol. 74, no. 2, 2009, pp. 112–128.
Penney, James. “'You Never Look at Me from Where I See You': Postcolonial Guilt in Caché.”
New Formations, no. 70, 2011, om pp. 77–93.
Restuccia, Frances L. “The Virtue of Blushing: Assimilating Anxiety into Shame in Haneke's
Caché.” symplokē, vol. 18, nos. 1–2, 2010, pp. 155–170.
Virtue, Nancy E. “Memory, Trauma, and the French-Algerian War: Michael Haneke’s Caché
(2005).” Modern & Contemporary France, vol. 19, no. 3, 2011, pp. 281–296.