Bowles' View of Traveling

The Sheltering Sky "He did not think of himself as a tourist; he was a traveler. The difference is partly one of time, he would explain. Whereas the tourist generally hurries back home at the end of a few weeks or months, the traveler, belonging no more to one place than to the next, moves slowly, over periods of years, from one part of the earth to another. Indeed, he would have found it difficult to tell, among the many places he had lived, precisely where it was where he had felt most at home.” (Bowles 6) Much of Paul Bowles’ novel The Sheltering Sky discusses our initial debate of the tourist versus the traveler. Port and Kit attempt to classify themselves as travelers while George Tunner is a “tourist,” for he is only staying in the country for three or four months. However, one can argue that the Moresby’s are not “travelers” at all, for they do not experience Africa as thoroughly as a “traveler” would. They stay in hotels, travel using cars and trains, and barely interact with the natives of any area in which they find themselves (besides those that carry their bags, kidnap them, or whore themselves). Simply because they will physically be in a country for a few years does not separate them from tourists because they will still spend their time as tourists (i.e. living in hotels, visiting tourist attractions, etc.) However, the Moresby’s initial labeling of themselves as “travelers” instead of “tourists” also comes from their desire to separate themselves, as Americans, from the French, who treat the Arabs poorly. They are able to look at the French with disgust and pity the Arabs because they do not consider themselves to be a part of the evident exploitation occurring in front of their eyes. In reality, they are helping to perpetuate much of the horrible treatment that they are viewing. Overall, this book seems to imply that the terms “traveler” and “tourist” are not interchangeable, but meaningless. Both are described in a somewhat negative light. The Moresby’s, despite the fact that they are “travelers,” still suffer through tragedies by the end of the book (Port’s death and Kit’s kidnapping), which one can interpret as punishment for their lifestyles. The book seems to be commenting on the meaninglessness, as well as pointlessness, of much of our travels—or, at least, the style in which we travel. Bowles seems to suggest that the characters gain nothing positive from their travels.