 |
|
| Author | John Updike |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Philosophical, War |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
| Publication date | 2006 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) and (audio-CD) |
| Pages | 310 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-307-26465-3 |
| Followed by | b |
Terrorist is the 22nd novel written by lauded author John Updike. The story revolves around two protagonists; a radical Islamist teenager named Ahmad Ashmawy Mulloy, and his guidance counselor, Jack Levy. The novel seeks to explore the paradigm and motivation of religious fundamentalists (specifically Islam) while at the same time dissecting the lament of morals and chastity in the fictional New Jersey suburb of "New Prospect".
Plot summary
Terrorist begins with a brief monologue by Ahmad on the condition of the American youth vibrating in the halls of his high school. He gets into a fight with an older boy named Tylenol who thinks Ahmad is flirting with his girlfriend Joryleen. While Ahmad does have sexual impulses towards the girl, he represses them, as God instructs. After a brief altercation with Tylenol, Ahmad retreats to his mosque (which is located in an abandoned dance studio above a bail bonds office) to study the Qu'ran with his imam Shaikh Rashid. Ahmad believes his conviction to be stronger than that of his teacher because of the Shaikh's tendency to interpret the Prophet Muhammed’s suras as allegory. After the session Ahmad returns home where he lives with his mother Teresa Mulloy. Teresa is a third generation Irish-American woman who, while raised Catholic, has abandoned her religious beliefs. Because of her religious infidelity, she has become one of the many objects of Ahmad's hatred. Ahmad instead idolizes his absent father, an Egyptian immigrant who abandoned him and his mother when Ahmad was three years old. A few days later Ahmad meets with his guidance counselor Jack Levy. Levy is an American Jew who has abandoned practicing his religion yet (as many characters in the novel note) still maintains the stereotypical Jewish stoicism and depression. Like Ahmad, Jack is annoyed by what is going on and and tries to be over influential.
Character List
- Ahmad Ashmawy Mulloy: A 18 year old radical islamist who seeks jihad and to follow the "Straight Path." After taking the vocational courses in high school (despite being intelligent enough to get into university), Ahmad is hired as a truck driver for Excellency Home Furnishings. He is coerced by his mentor and friend Charlie into driving a truck and detonating a massive explosive device in the Lincoln tunnel in the name of Allah.
- Teresa Mulloy: Ahmad's secular liberal mother whose laissez-faire parenting style has allowed her son's blinding religious fanaticism to fester inside him and eventually erupt. Teresa has an affair with Jack Levy which lasts roughly three months.
- Jack Levy: A guidance counselor at New Prospect High School who strives to get Ahmad enrolled in community college. Jack Levy represents the typical Updikian character of a middle class American who futilely attempts to escape his mundane prison of daily life.
- Beth Levy: Jack's overweight wife who when she is not working as a part time librarian spends her afternoons watching soap operas and eating cookies. She has become a constant reminder of Jack's own mediocrity.
- Charlie Chehab: Ahmad's partner at Excellency Home Furnishings who recruits him for a bombing plot.
- Shaikh Rashid: Ahmad's imam and mentor. He secures him the job at Excellency and manipulates him into assisting in a bombing plot.
- Hermione Fogel: Beth's sister who works as an assistant to the chairman of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
External links
- Review of Terrorist by David Walsh of the World Socialist Web Site
- Review of Terrorist written by Robert Stone for the New York Times
