Being born in an occupied territory - a part of an empire, basically - granted Albert Camus some insight into cultural otherness that most probably wouldn't have been able to discern on their own. In the same time and place from which the basis of Battle of Algiers was culled, Camus witnessed divisive politics, oppression and even revolt. That's a lot to take in when you're still figuring out what's what in life. But because of this Camus' writing took on qualities unknown prior to his time.

The Casbah - aka the ghetto - in Algiers was a cloistered community made up of a specific people, religion and set of traditions. And while Camus wasn't privy to being a part of it, he was able to observe how the Muslim population of his city, country and town were basically becoming  a class of dispossessed people. To figure that this experience cemented his philosophic outlook in life might be a bit beyond the realm of reality, but it must have had an impact. The writing that make up his Nobel Prize wining novella - The Stranger - is ample proof of all of this. Even in this narrative, while portions of his overall feelings of being ostracized become clear, there's an odd aggression towards an Arab population.

But while the choices that man has to face in life are explored in The Stranger alongside some violent dismissal of life's purpose, a few of these notions are tackled on a smaller and more succinct level in the collection short stories entitled Exile and the Kingdom. The writings coming from this collection might not be the most cogent explanation of Camus' philosophical bent, - check out The Myth of Sisyphus - but a great many ideas that would be revisited over and over again by this writer appear here.

"The Guest" pits duty and personal belief against each other. And as a civilian is asked to deliver a prisoner into bondage, the individual must decide whether his country or personal opinion is more important. The kindnesses shown the prisoner finally culminates in the man's freedom. Even as the climax of this short tale is fast approaching, the protagonist searches himself for the ultimate answer to his problem. Most likely, the reader will end up agreeing with the man's decision, but the summation of Camus' thought is the end of this story, which could be considered a distillation of existentialist thought.

In another expurgated explication of philosophy, Camus examines the career of a painter from the time that the individual didn't intend to pursue the arts until he is no longer able to. "The Artist at Work" follows the arc of a man's life who eventually rejects fame - something that Camus more than likely had to work to do. But amidst vague and meaningless adoration, the artist - a painter in this case - dismisses concentration only to find his works growing stagnant whilst he's unable to control his life any longer.

Whereas The Stranger might be Camus' most refined examination of his beliefs, the range of settings within Exile and the Kingdom might lend the reader a greater insight into who the author was.