The Paris AtlasCharting the artists, works, and places worth returning to.

A character in The Sheltering Sky

Kit Moresby

Port's intelligent, anxious wife and the center of the final section.

What they want

To escape dread without surrendering control of her identity.

The book

Cover of The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles
The Sheltering SkyPaul Bowles, 1949

A failing marriage travels deeper into North Africa and loses every familiar form of protection.

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At a glance

Role
Port's wife and later the sole viewpoint center
Pressure
Port's intelligent, anxious wife and the center of the final section.
Goal
To escape dread without surrendering control of her identity.
Story turn
After Port dies, she is raped and confined, escapes, and disappears before seeing Tunner.

Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Kit Moresby is port's wife and later the sole viewpoint center. Port's intelligent, anxious wife and the center of the final section.

The character wants to escape dread without surrendering control of her identity.. The journey tests that desire against illness, secrecy, money, documents, and unequal power.

After Port dies, she is raped and confined, escapes, and disappears before seeing Tunner. This movement helps explain why travel never becomes the clean escape the Americans imagine.

How the book draws them

Appearance, manner, and tone — as the book sketches them, in our words.

  • RolePort's wife and later the sole viewpoint center
  • PressurePort's intelligent, anxious wife and the center of the final section.
  • GoalTo escape dread without surrendering control of her identity.
  • Story turnAfter Port dies, she is raped and confined, escapes, and disappears before seeing Tunner.
  • ExpressionThe expression should suggest to escape dread without surrendering control of her identity. rather than generic sadness.
  • Narrative functionKit Moresby makes the novel's argument about travel and isolation personal.
What happens to Kit MoresbyHow the book leaves them, what happened after, and what the record says. Open when you're ready.

After Port dies, she is raped and confined, escapes, and disappears before seeing Tunner.

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