The Sheltering Sky-Travelers in too deep

In The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles, in addition to being presented with various adventures, the characters are met with the the harsh realities that come with being ‘travelers’ as opposed to tourists.  In other words, with the the promise of adventure associated with traveling a foreign country comes imminent risks, and inevitably these risks will overcome anyone who claims that they are ultimately travelers, and far above tourism.  Indeed, from the beginning of the novel, Port, as he condescendingly observes a couple pouring over maps in a corner, “did not think of himself as a tourist; he was a traveler” (6).  Yet, by making the decision that himself and Kit should be defined as travelers, with no home to speak of, they are granting themselves permission to go on ‘adventures’ and take risks that tourists simply would not take, and ultimately, this ends in tragedy.

Indeed, though, both he and Kit take off on adventures.  Port has his late nights at various brothels, where he is able to play some sort of hero as he sleeps with a dancing girl, who is supposedly “‘not a whore’” (23), then fights off her attempt at robbery.  So, in this occurrence, Port gets to feel as though he is both conquering and outwitting this foreign girl in her own home, allowing him to feel, again, quite worthy of the ‘traveler’ label, as opposed to a tourist, who would undoubtedly get robbed blind.  Kit, meanwhile, once Port has died, goes off on some journey by herself in the desert, and seems almost complacent as she is made into somewhat of a sex slave by an Arab trader.  So, she too, manages to find herself on somewhat of an ‘adventure’ as a traveler, as excruciating as it is.

However, in the end, Port’s lack of caution winds him up dead of typhoid, while Kit’s ‘adventure’ as a traveler has her end up completely “‘nuts’” (312).  For, Kit, towards the end of her travels, is made crazy because she has just enough sense to realize that she can never really return to wherever home was for her, for she, again, as a traveler, by taking immense risks and truly ‘embracing’ her surroundings, has immersed herself much too deeply.