The Sheltering Sky

The next day, three Americans sit in a café somewhere in North Africa, discussing their travel plans. The man who appears in Chapter 1, Port, thinks himself a traveler rather than a mere tourist; thus, his ideas of where they should go are informed by the idea that “civilization” is rather far away (6). His wife, Kit, and their traveling companion, Tunner, discuss the war and its aftermath: World War II has wrought changes throughout the region by homogenizing the area and stripping it of culture. This is why, Port reasons, they should go deeper into the Sahara, where the colorful adventure they seek will still be intact.

Port proffers to tell the others his dream of the night before. While Kit protests, Tunner encourages him, so Port describes the dream: “It was daytime and I was on a train that kept putting on speed. I thought to myself: ‘We’re going to plough into a big bed with the sheets all in mountains’” (9). However, the thought of his imminent death in the dream does not disturb him because he thinks it would allow him to live his life all over again. Kit begins to cry and leaves the café. Port blames the heat.

Later that evening, while they are in their adjoining rooms, Kit confronts Port about telling his dream with Tunner present. She argues that Tunner is a “gossip. You know that. I don’t trust him. He always makes a good story” (12). Port doesn’t think it matters, as there is nobody here in North Africa to tell. Kit reminds him that they will have to return to New York someday. Still, Port doesn’t understand why Kit worry about such an innocuous dream. She says it is “a humiliating dream” (12), and Port questions her about why she doesn’t trust Tunner. Kit asks him to leave it be. Port decides to go out. As he is leaving, Kit says with annoyance, “After all, it’s much more your business than it is mine” (13), referring to Tunner.

Port walks through the dark streets, assessing the natives of the region. He thinks that they are inscrutable—”[t]heir faces are masks” (14)—and concludes that they think nothing of him, except perhaps what he can offer by way of money. He thinks about Kit, waiting for him back in the rooms. A native approaches him, and Port grows anxious, telling the man his name is Jean. The man, Smail, wants to take Port for a drink; Port tries to refuse but ends up following him anyway. They end up in a café full of locals—a place Port didn’t think existed anymore, after the war. Smail mentions a beautiful girl Port might want to meet, insisting that she is not a prostitute. When Port asks what he would do with the girl, Smail replies, “you’ll do whatever you want” (24)—for a price, of course.

Port follows Smail to an encampment “at the edge of town” (25). As he waits for Smail to retrieve the girl, he remembers Kit’s last remark to him. He finally realizes that she is warning him about Tunner’s intentions toward her. Nevertheless, he stays, as Smail returns with “a slim, wild-looking girl with great dark eyes” (28). He is bothered that he cannot communicate with the girl, Marhnia, but he is also aroused by her beauty and foreignness.

Marhnia urges Smail to tell the story of the three young women who “want to drink tea in the Sahara” (30). All the men in their village are ugly or unsuitable, and the women are seduced by a Targui man who gives them silver coins in exchange for sex. After he leaves, they are sad and realize that they will never get to drink tea in the Sahara if they do not act now. They pool their money together to buy a teapot and bus tickets, and they finally travel to the Sahara. When they are in the desert, they keep searching for the highest dune so that they can see the farthest. The sun climbs higher, and the day gets hotter, but they decide to climb the tallest dune before making their tea. Once there, they are tired and decide to sleep, setting out the teapot and glasses for when they awake. Many days later, they are found, their glasses full of sand.

Smail leaves after telling the story, and Port proceeds to have sex with the woman. Afterward, he rests briefly, then “was seized by an abrupt desire to be out of the place” (34). As he tries to leave, Marhnia pulls him back to her, feigning desire as she attempts to steal his wallet. He runs as fast as he can out of her tent, up the stairs, and back onto the street. Port isn’t quite sure where he is, and when he stops to catch his breath, he realizes that he has dropped his wallet.

Kit wakes up in her room, already sweating from the early morning sun. She thinks about how she relies too much on omens and signs to tell her how to act; her superstitions often lead to “paralysis” (38). This was why she did not want Port to tell Tunner of his dream, the fear that portends something awful. Tunner interrupts her thoughts, knocking on the door. She is irritated by his presence but knows that she will eventually have to let him in. On impulse, she puts on Port’s unattractive robe and musses up his bedsheets (which have clearly not been slept in) before she opens the door.

Tunner invites Kit to go out for a walk, and she grudgingly accepts. Port returns while Tunner waits in Port’s room to allow Kit to get dressed. He is suspicious about Tunner’s presence so early in the morning, and when he sees his rumpled bedclothes, he angrily questions Tunner about his motives. But Port is exhausted, so Tunner easily deflects his concerns, telling him to get some sleep while he and Kit go for a walk.

Port sleeps until evening, then goes down to the hotel bar. For the first time since they arrived, there are other people at the bar, a young man and a loud, matronly woman who appears to be his mother. Later, he and Kit are seated near them in the dining room, where Port urges Kit to eavesdrop on the British pair’s ridiculous conversation. Port also questions Kit about the rumpled bedclothes, but she refuses to answer. He should understand, she thinks, that she didn’t want Tunner to think Port had been gone all night.

After dinner, Kit retires to her room, but Port is still restless and returns to the bar. The young man is there, as well, and introduces himself as Eric Lyle. He claims that he is an Australian, though his mother is English, and talks at length about the French banking system. Port finds him untrustworthy but interesting, and he discovers that Mrs. Lyle fancies herself a travel photographer. They enjoy traveling the world—an older brother died in India—and have survived countless diseases picked up on their travels. When Port expresses interest in meeting his mother, Eric says that she’s gone to bed for the night. Still, she would be waiting for Eric to come into the adjoining room before going to sleep: “Unfortunately she knows just when I go to bed. Isn’t married life wonderful?” (55). While Port is somewhat shocked at the strange remark, Eric acts as if it is a joke. Eric tells Port that they’ll be leaving for Boussif in the morning and hands him a business card.

When Port returns to the room, he tells Kit that he wouldn’t be surprised if Eric invites them to Boussif. Kit is bothered by the possibility, feeling equally anxious about traveling by train or car. In the morning, Eric comes by and does, indeed, invite the couple to journey with them by car to Boussif. Alas, they do not have room for Tunner. Eric looks around the room—a little too carefully, as Port observes uncomfortably—and notes the name on the luggage: Porter Moresby. In the meantime, Kit has slept poorly, and when Port tells her of the offer, she refuses to leave without Tunner. Her superstitions will not allow it. Thus, she and Tunner will travel by train, and Port will go with the Lyles. Tunner is secretly pleased by this turn of events—his natural charm does not work well on the Moresby couple, and he hopes to ratchet up his efforts with Kit—and brings along champagne for the ride. Kit exclaims in protest at the extravagance and the expense; it was an indulgence Port would never countenance. But, as Tunner reminds her, “Port isn’t here” (63).

The journey to Boussif with the Lyles is pretty exhausting for Port. Mrs. Lyle spouts racist diatribes about Arabs, the French, and the Jews who are taking over Spain. She claims that the priests within the Catholic church in Cordoba are Jews in disguise. Port turns to looking out at the landscape and remembers his dream about the train: “The hesitation was automatically resolved by one’s involuntary decision to refuse participation in it” (70)—by which he means life itself. As they enter Boussif, Port reads aloud the words on a roadside sign, which causes Mrs. Lyle to startle: “Derb Ech Chergui,” he says (71). Translated, it means “The Eastern Way.” Port notes “the massive dark clouds” that hover over the horizon (72).