The Sheltering Sky

Port is drinking coffee on the hotel’s terrace when Mrs. Lyle comes in. She warns him not to get involved socially with Arabs; this is why Eric is so ill, she says, because he contracted “an infection” from “[s]ome filthy swine of an Arab woman” (87). Port tries to remain neutral, and he assesses his new traveling companions’ motivations as “fear” in the case of Mrs. Lyle, while “greed” propelled Eric (89). He looks out onto the streets of Boussif, which he considers modern—it is neatly laid out on a grid—even if the sun’s piercing rays penetrate without trees for shade. He calls for more tea and stays on the terrace “until lunchtime” (90).

The next morning at the hotel, Kit awakes with “a bad hangover” (91). It takes her a minute to realize that Tunner is sleeping in the bed next to her; she quickly gets rid of him and his luggage. She asks him only for another bottle of champagne to ease her hangover. Port comes by to see that they have arrived and notes that Tunner is in the room he had intended for Kit. The error is corrected, and the three then get together for lunch later.

Their conversation turns to the war and its aftermath, and Port exclaims that “Europe has destroyed the whole world,” saying it should be “wiped off the map” (93). Kit protests his ill wishes towards humanity, and Port retorts that the mass of humanity is uninteresting. Tunner, in turn, suggests that Port himself is humanity, and Tunner finds him quite interesting. After lunch, Tunner goes up for a nap in his room while Port asks Kit to go to the market. She says she is tired, too, so Port suggests she sleep until the evening when they will rent some bicycles to tour the city. She agrees and, before turning in, tells Port what she has discovered about the Lyles: They both have British passports, listing her as a journalist and him as a student; she was born in 1899, while his birthdate was in 1925. Kit thinks it ridiculous that anyone should believe that Eric was a student.

The Moresbys go for a bike ride to the edge of town, toward the base of the mountains. They come across a native, entirely naked and shaving his pubic hair with a knife. They pass him without comment and talk about the encroaching evening, revealing disparate views: “It made her [Kit] sad to realize that in spite of their so often having the same reactions, the same feelings, they never would reach the same conclusions, because their respective aims in life were almost diametrically opposed” (99). Port, in turn, wishes that “she, too, would be touched in the same way as he by solitude and the proximity to infinite things” (99). Kit also feels that Port distances himself from her, residing in “the cage that he had built long ago to save himself from love” (100).

Port has a revelation, as the two discuss the immensity of the sky and the blackness of night: “We’ve never managed, either one of us, to get all the way into life” (101). Kit interprets this to mean that, since they are not all in, they are more likely to fall off the precipice. While they are having this discussion, a native sits nearby in prayer. They return to town, and Kit fears that Port knows about her infidelity with Tunner. After dinner, Port decides to rent a bike again, with a headlight to go back to the base of the mountain, without Kit. He doesn’t tell her what he is doing because “[s]he would not understand his having wanted to return without her. Or perhaps, he reflected, she would understand it too well” (103).

They decide to travel by bus to Ain Krorfa in Algeria. All three sit in the front, alongside the driver, where the dust is less prominent. Port thinks about how, when he travels from “one place to another, he was able to look at his life with a little more objectivity than usual” (105). He also determines that he would like to strengthen his relationship with Kit, and “he remained convinced that never under any circumstances would she yield to a person like Tunner” (106). He also remembers an incident, back in Boussif, when Eric Lyle approached him, asking him to lend Eric ten thousand francs. Port flatly refuses, but Eric persists. Finally, Port says that he will give him three hundred francs, knowing that Eric will never pay him back. Eric is “shameless” enough to take the money (107).

The bus continues on overnight, stopping briefly at a small encampment for coffee. Port falls asleep before he can witness the breaking dawn.

As they approach the city of Ain Krorfa, they are inundated by flies; this seems to bother Tunner the most, who says he “can’t stand […] filth” (113). On the other hand, Kit finds the city “the only visually attractive place she had seen since arriving in Africa” (114). However, the town leaves much to be desired: As they enter the courtyard to the hotel, they see a fountain full of “reeking garbage” and “three screaming, naked infants” who are covered in sores (115). The hairless dogs sleeping nearby seem more human to Kit than the infants. The dining room has no lighting, so they must eat outside on the patio, where they find weevils in their soup. Tunner goes down to the market to see if he can find some decent food, but Port refuses to go. He decides that he and Kit must be rid of Tunner.

The Lyles’s car pulls up to the hotel, and they take tea, as the English do. Eric stares at Port, “devouring [him] with his eyes” (120). While Port believes it is because Eric wants more money from him, Kit thinks it is due to something entirely different. Kit urges Port to take a walk with her in the twilit town. Port asks Kit if she could be “happy here,” but she says she cannot possibly know (121). It appears as if they are stuck at the Grand Hotel—which isn’t so grand—with Tunner and the Lyles for now.

When they return to the hotel, they eat a late dinner and retire to their respective rooms. Just as Port is getting into bed, Eric knocks at his door. On the pretense of repaying the loan, Eric asks if Port has change for a thousand franc note. He also mentions that he and his mother are leaving first thing in the morning for Messad. Port seizes the opportunity to suggest that Tunner very much would like to go, runs to Tunner’s room to tell him that the Lyles will take him—lying that they can only find room for one—and returns to let Eric know that Tunner will be traveling with them. Eric says not to worry about the change, as he can get it done in the morning; thus, Port is not repaid. He quickly drops off to sleep and awakes from a dream, “sobbing,” coming up from “the lower regions with a sense of infinite sadness and repose” (127).

Kit discovers, at breakfast, that Tunner is gone and realizes that Port has no intention of trying to meet up with him again. She feels uneasy, her omens telling her that this is a mistake. She spends most of the day reading while Port explores the town. He returns to tell her they have an engagement with a local Arab shopkeeper for tea that evening.

The tea goes pleasantly—Port signals to Kit that she should not smoke, for it might shock the Arab—until Kit complains of being cold, and they leave before the Arab dismisses them. The breach of etiquette bothers Port, yet Kit finds the emphasis on courtesy excessive. Port realizes, now that it is only the two of them together, that he must make the right gestures to develop their bond. The thought overwhelms him, and that night, at dinner, Kit finds “patches of fur in her rabbit stew” (137). This certainly puts them both off of thoughts of intimacy, but they still believe that the “much-awaited reunion” (137) will happen at some vague future moment.

On their last night in Ain Krorfa before leaving for Bou Noura, Kit goes up to pack after dinner while Port goes into town with the hotel proprietor, Mohammed. Mohammed takes Port to a brothel, where children play in the courtyard and the girls, while pretty, were “vaguely workaday” to Port (141). However, he becomes mesmerized by the sight of a girl dancing to live music in the middle of the room. Her expression is so mysterious, so devoid of emotion that Port cannot look away. He finally realizes that she is blind and decides that this is the woman he wants. Mohammed informs him that she is unavailable, and Port becomes distraught, feeling like “he had lost love itself” (144).

They return to the hotel, and Kit’s light is off. Port decides he needs some whisky with tea to calm him, though Mohammed warns him against the whisky. It is very late, and he must pay the servant woman triple the amount to get her to make the tea. He drinks three glasses, draining the bottle of whisky before returning to where Mohammed and some other men are smoking. Mohammed notices Port’s intoxication and says, “I know! The young Englishman who went to Messad the other day, he was like you. Pretending always to be innocent” (148). Mohammed tells Port that he walked in on Eric and Mrs. Lyle having sex. Port pays the woman for the tea, which Mohammed assumes was actually for sexual services.