The Sheltering Sky

Why does Tunner accompany Port and Kit, according to their various perspectives? That is, Tunner’s purpose on the trip is viewed differently by each character. How does his presence shape the narrative?

Though the native characters in the book are peripheral to the main characters, they do play significant parts in the development of the narrative. How are they described? What roles do they play? How might the narrative change if the author’s focus was solely on the Westerners, or more specifically, on the natives?

What is the difference between a traveler and a tourist? Are those distinctions actual or imagined?

How do the Westerners view the foreign landscape, its culture, and its people? How do the Americans describe their surroundings, and what are the implications in their descriptions? Would the native characters see and emphasize the same things?

Compare and contrast the Europeans—the Lyles, the French commanders—with the Americans. How do these European characters function within the narrative symbolically? How are their perspectives and goals different from that of the Americans?

Time itself becomes a motif throughout the book. From wasted time to timelessness to the repetition of liminal moments (dawn, dusk, twilight), what does time signify in the book? How do the various character’s views of it change as events unfold? Is time experienced differently in North Africa than in America or Europe? Why or why not?

The author moves between perspectives, using an omniscient narration style. How does this impact the reader’s experience of the book and the character’s journeys? The reader knows what all three of the main characters think at different moments, along with some of the European characters, as well—but not the interior thoughts of the natives: How does this, too, impact the reader’s experience of the book? Why would the author choose to move between points of view, except for the natives?

What does the reader think happens to Kit when she returns to America? To Tunner? How will Port be remembered?