Terror Literature between John Updike and Diana Abu-Jaber - Essay Example

Terror Literature between John Updike and Diana Abu-Jaber Introduction Terror Literature between John Updike and Diana Abu-Jaber Gothic literature is a group of works that use dark sceneries and startling literary devices to express mystery and reveal themes of exoticism. Gothic literature features horrific characters and dark secrets. The terror literature is part of gothic novels and other works. Terror literature is the chronological and elaborate scholarly writings showing the act of terrorist insurgencies with its entire configuration of local conflict, horror, and a threat to humanity. It elaborately indicates or demonstrates the instability instilled in the international community by terrorism socially and politically. Terror literacy has increased the knowledge of terror locally and internationally, for example, in the localization of terrorist rebellion between Palestine and Israel. Terror literature enhances an understanding of nature and magnitude of terror locally and internationally (Omidvar & Richards, 2014). Because of the constant increase in terrorism and attacks by key terrorist groups, there is a notable insurgence of literature on terrorism (Martin, 2007). Literature enhances the understanding of terror in the contemporary world setting. While some literature is based on real life events, others present satirical viewpoints on terrorism. Terror in literature refers to imaginative representation of violence and the extent to which they affect victims. Scholars and authors use imagination and representation in fiction to represent contemporary developments of terror in the society. Examples of terror literature include the works of Updike and Abu-Jaber. Through their superb imagination, the two authors portray aspects of terrorism in their literature. Among the greatest works by Updike is the novel Terrorist. Updike’s Terror literature John Updike was born on March 18, 1932 in America where he spent his childhood life in the small town of Shillington where his father was a high school science teacher. He shared a house with his parents and the grandparents while he was young. While he was thirteen years of age, he relocated to study at his maternal home where he excelled in school and gained the passion to write. John Updike has also produced a series of Novels elaborating the literature on terror for example the story in his new novel about a Muslim teenager who temped to be a suicide bomber. He is termed as the chronicler of America life and values because for many years his novels have mostly reflected the trends in America. He turns his great talent for storytelling in the series terrorist and its threats to American cities and nationals. T he story is about Ahmad Malloy, a teenager from northern New Jersey whose Egyptian father and mother separates while he is young. Ahmad studies Arabic with Sheikh Rashid, an imam at the small local mosque he has attended since he was eleven years. He masters all the Islamic domains and gains a negative attitude towards Americans following close relations with his elders. Ahmad is dedicated to his faith, as any teenager would do about his football fans or sexual pleasures. Adults with sinister motives recognized his maturity and introduced him to a more radical aspect of Islamic faith. Ahmad obtained Arabic lecturers and a commercial driver license .but only to find that he was destined for a terrorist attack of driving a bomb into the Lincoln Tunnel to kill people at rush hour on September 13, 2004. However, all turned futile after heeding to counselling. Diana Abu-Jaber’s Terror Literature She was born in 1959, in Syracuse New York to Ghassan and Patricia a teacher by profession. Her father was a Jordanian, and the family lived in the New York until she was seven years old she started writing in order to constitute herself and as a source of healing. Abu-Jaber challenges the world about the negative media portrayal of Arabs political and social lives. She presents a humanized image of Iraq, which the Americans deem, as a very bad country. She portrays Iraq as civilized through the exploration of her richness of culture and history. Diana’s Novel conveys cultural wealth and legacy of Iraq and the whole Arab World. Diana being an American of the Arabic descent, she tries as she can to abolish the notion the Americans have towards the Arabs. Diana has also used her writing skills to improve the socialization among people of different ethnicity. His creativity is fictitious about reconstruction of ethnic ties of various communities, for example, the Arabs and the America communities. She brings the act of ethic consolidation coupling it with romance. For example Iraqi American Serine, who lives with her uncle and works as a chef at a Lebanese restaurant in Los Angeles. Serine falls in love with Hanif El Eyad, an Israeli exile professor of linguistics at the local university. The book revolves around their love affair and the negotiations of the American and Arab identity and the culture that their relationship brings forth. At the end of it all, she writes a significant scene about the consequences of America foreign policy in the Middle East. Unfortunately, the image of Arabs have been severely damaged because of rampant the terrorist attacks on American property within and outside America. Terror literature by John Updike John Updike contributes a fundamental role by examining terrorism in America through his essays and fictions. The literary works are reflections on history and documents America’s volatile progression. The characters in Updike’s novels usually get themselves in self-deceptions and self-discoveries. The challenges of inadequate understanding of the society from where the character stem portray a prolonged struggle or desperation for liberation from the status quo. For several centuries, Americans have sought equality and advocate elimination of background of a headlong change. The country’s politics and economic tribulations have been vital in creating potential terror threats. Updike highlights concerns of American capitalism in his novels and fictions. The plight of Americans in Updike’s literary works only fit in archaic socio-political terms. The author’s novels assess the struggle for the maintenance of a viable inner self during the endurance of revolutionary forces of terror. Updike criticizes Americanization, a concept coined in France. The ideology has since presented wariness and prescient caution as well. According to Updike, the ideals of American supremacy have instigated terrorism and attacks by terror groups. Levels of threats rise as countries and religious sects American collaborate in waging war against its citizens. The adversaries either are in opposition of America’s triumph over other countries or are destructors to an economy that is growing so fast. Indeed, people no longer appraise Americanization, as it is not beneficial to a peaceful international coexistence. John Updike’s novel ‘Terrorist’ is a paradigm representation of his arguments concerning the way people perceive America because of its role in combating terrorist attacks. He clarifies American truism, a matter that is not a simple as one might think of it. ‘Terrorist’ is a convergence of Updike’s imaginations on America appears and the real America. Interestingly, the views carry much weight through presented in unfamiliar ways. For instance, the author argues like a half-Irish American high school boy with a half-Egyptian background. Updike points out some elements of internal terror within America. The author through creative work insinuates that half-Americans are potential threats to the country. Being an enemy of the state is widespread, and it is not surprising that a boy character in the novel demeans the country courageously. In a particular scene, Ahmad Mulloy drive together with his Lebanese-American boss while criticising America. While the two characters are driving past the country’s revolutionary battle fields, Ahmad cannot hide his regrets of the American win. Ahmad expresses plaintive disappointments for American victory before his boss. Apparently, individual hatred for a country is poor citizenship and a driving force to appreciate the downfall of America particularly at the hands of terrorists. John Updike asserts that eliminating terror is not an easy strategy. It requires the participation of all the citizens. Ahmad’s boss fails to realise the intensity of the boy’s comments. First, the manager does not seem to realize the level of intoxication of Ahmad with Islam. Therefore, he is reluctant at disregarding Ahmad’s wish of restoring the American victory in the British colonies. Regrettably, Ahmad also ranks British obedience above the states and shamefully compares USA to failure states. For instance, Ahmad tells the boss that America ought to be as sensible and peaceful as Canada that is in fact infidel. America’s ability to combat terror is questionable. The people trusted with drafting ant-terror policies are either cowards or fear counteracting threats to the nation because of selfish interest. Unknown to many people, some of the executives participate in terrorism to compromise other offices. The boss is no different from the leaders that are failures in designing anti-terror policies. For instance, a reader expecting the manager to dispute the boy’s inappropriate comments is a figure of intrigue and conflict. He unreasonably encourages Ahmad to dream on and points at unrealistic energy presence for sensibility and peace. Updike leaves an open discussion as to whether Ahmad’s dreams are valid. The dreams of destroying a nation only come true after terror strikes. Updike remains one of the best critics of political and societal systems in USA. In his novel ‘Terrorist,’ he points out potential threats to the country. Ahmad, a promising and intelligent youth, is on a mission to destruction. Ahmad finds the Islam religion exiting. Despite joining the religion under unclear circumstances, he is becoming and extremist. Although Ahmad lacks his teacher’s exegetical skills and linguistic fluency, he is a pure believer of such achievements. The exaggerated faith in Islam leads him to Shaikh Rashid; a potential terrorist. The endgame for the two is not pleasant at all. Updike successfully uses figurative language in expressing how manipulating terrorist can be. For instance, Ahmad’s boss uses a parable that the existence of sensible and peace is because of the presence of too much energy. The setting of the parable is in northern New Jersey. The landscape is familiar to industrial slough and marshland. It portrays the decay of immigrant towns with previous prosperity. There is a billboard that indicates directions for instance an upwards for Jihad. The city resembles AD in Koran that terror strike for pride and wealth. Indeed, the terror attack was a payback for the satisfaction of Jerry Farwell and Osama bin Laden. The plight of USA is similar to that of the city with connection to terror. Review of Terror Literature by Diana Abu-Jaber Diana’s novel ‘Crescent’ is a love story between exiled Iraqi professor and an Iraqi-American cook. The relationship has several controversies that pause threats to the two partners and other characters as well. Abu-Jaber uses elements of literary romance to elucidate potential danger in human interactions particularly in a case where the background of participants clash. The novel is set in the light and warmth of Southern California. Diana tells the story in olfactory and tactile prose. It revolves around cooking and Arab-American communities. Diana’s novel ‘Origins,’ is a thriller and excludes casual cultures of cafes and students. It explores the murky world of crime labs and detectives. It equally has a measurable amount of threats that characters face while fighting for survival. The protagonist is Lena Dawson, who works as an expert in fingerprints in Syracuse. The novel unexpectedly begins with controversial encounter between Lena and a mother full of grief for her daughter’s death. The ruling of a medical examiner points at SIDS death and nothing else in the autopsy. However, the mother thinks that it was murder. Diana engages the reader to think of potential threats to a baby that could cause death. Diana’s work is perfect even though it make no retrospective sense. It reveals the central mystery after one hundred pages to declare that someone poisoned the baby. The type of poison is undoubtedly dangerous. An intruder gave a baby potassium dichromate, cadmium, and lead. Apparently, it was conducted in a highly skeptical way to prevent detection at autopsy. Such an encounter is a reflection of potential threats in the contemporary society. Terrorist are devising new techniques of harming people, Chemical pollution and poisoning has been effective in threatening the masses. The ‘’ Origin’’ is undoubtedly a paradigm representation of a society living in fear. Diana illustrates the occurrence of confusion in the face of terror. She asserts that, the police department cannot manage routine steps in handling issues of great threats. In addition, the public expectations from the police are not much. The police departments are incompetent and fail to deliver on important issues such as safety of the citizens. Perhaps, it is mere negligence as security officers overlook the potential danger of chemical poisons. It is sad that a stranger is in possession of dangerous chemicals yet free. Lena’s ‘’ something’’ verges on the psychic and is mysterious. The book is writing following a story of the author’s mother. The apes raised Lena, having been involved in a plane crash. The story presents a situation of mixed sorrow and, equally captivates the reader. The fairy tale demands that a reader’s indulgence with considerable patience. One needs to assess Lena’s level of belief of the ape story. In the contemporary society, people sometime are caught up in the fear of the unknown. Such situations stem from prior exposure to terror. The devastating effects of terror are dependent on individual factors such as psychosocial status. For instance, some people take a long time anticipating or recovering from terror than others. The ‘’ Crescent’’ presents a significant concern about overriding ethnic ambiguities that engulf people of colour in the United States. The novel creates a psychological and physical borderline for the communication and existence of different ethnic communities. Interethnic bridging provides grounds for seeking commonality that is not against essentialist. It engages in informed knowledge of inherent differences between and within ethnic communities. Such strategies enable ethnic borderland to transcend distinct limitations for transformation. Promotion of ethnic relations reduces suspicions of terror as it builds trust for the Arab-Americans (Michael, 2011). Diana’s works tell a lot from the Arab world. Unfortunately, the middle-eastern countries are popular for terror and waging unrelenting war against the west (Michael, 2011). The writer is struggling to create harmony and draw a true picture of the countries. For the first time, Jaber unlike other authors takes controversial standpoints. She is presenting the countries as peace loving and that they have the ability to relate well with the United States. Discussing ethnic borderlands should be an all-inclusive activity. Jaber choice for professional Arabian characters insinuates that the Arab world has intellectuals that can corroborate on issues to provide solutions to underlying problems. The writer continues to protect the Arabs especially against terror stereotypes (NASH, 2012). Argumentatively, mistreatment of persons from the Middle East but living in USA is unjustified. Suffice to say, there should exist laws to prosecute those who mistreat others even in the post-September 11 terror strike. Comparison of elements of terror in the ‘’terrorist’’ and the ‘’origin’’ The ‘’terrorist’’ by John Updike revolves around the rise and fall of terrorism. The book ironically presents trigger causes for terrorism and factors that cause the decline of the same. John Updike chooses to tell about terror through a youthful character Ahmad, who possesses lethargic hatred for America. The writer narrates the life of the character and stress on his confusion by the Islam religion. Apparently, Updike seems to agree that Islamist extremists are potential terrorists. On the other hand, the ‘Origins’ is a life grim for Dawson Lena. She is involved in a controversial murder speculation. There is disagreement on the cause of death, as the autopsy results reveal nothing. The book explores local terror and attributes intrusion to terror. Unlike Updike’s piece, Jaber has no element of religious association with terror. Jaber presents a case where negligence prevents timely crime detection. John Updike’s book shows how irresponsible hate speech progresses to terror practices. Ahmad begins with passing judgments on his country. Perhaps he is under the influence of Islamic obsession (Mazzeno, 2013). He refutes of American victory and wishes for the country’s downfall. Indeed, he grows up as a potential threat and associates with questionable characters. For instance, Ahmad’s Lebanese boss is a pretender and does very little to advise him accordingly. Instead, the boss encourages Ahmad to be visionary in life. Unfortunately, the boss is unknowingly nurturing a terrorist with a desire to destroy the country. Jaber’s ‘Origins’, unlike Updike’s ‘Terrorist’, does not major on the evolution of terror. It shows the challenges that prevent curbing of threats. There are weaknesses in the security system. Such shortcomings have enabled an unknown criminal to walk around with potassium dichromate and other lethal poisons. The presentation of terror in both books varies. Updike, from the start addresses terrorism. The author’s choice of characters and interactions has a fair share of terror plots. Updike presents characters as enemy of the state and shows their daily lives and grooming to potential sources of threats. Jaber takes a figurative approach and indirectly addresses terror. Jaber has less mention of threats. Additionally, she only writes about local terrorism. John Updike’s primary character is Ahmad, an intelligent boy that seems to be aware of his environment. First, the writer gives the boy stunning mastery of the Islamic religion. The boy is equally aware of his limits. For instance, Ahmad knows he can beat his teacher in linguistic affluence. Never the less he appreciates the discipline. Ahmad arguments against USA, arise from comprehensive understanding of the American liberation struggle. Ahmad is likely to be a very dangerous terrorist due to self-awareness. Unlike Ahmad, Lena Dawson, the primary character in the ‘’origins’’ has no clarification about her origins. She is equally unaware of her sanity. Lena’s husband left and Lena has since been a delicate physician. She seems to have lost it even at her job. For example, Lena cannot work out the death of the baby initially. Dealing with the woman is quite a challenge to her. Lena fails to push the police department hard enough to resolve the murder and arrest the offender who is still in possession of lethal poison. Both authors have a significant display of the element of fear in the novel. John Updike is presenting a potential terrorist. From Ahmad’s arguments and perception about the triumphant America, it is scary to note that he advocates harm for the country. For example, Ahmad claims that British colonies could have retained the victory of the revolutionary struggle in USA (Mazzeno, 2013). Ahmad asserts that America would rather remain infidel and be peaceful. The level of fear that the baby’s death elicits in the ‘’ origins’’ is surprising. Regrettably, unknown intruder walks in the house and poisons defenceless child with a combination of potassium dichromate, cadmium, and lead. Such lethal poisons can kill so many people. Unfortunately, the police lack an upper hand in the case. The intruder’s next move is unknown and people feel unsafe. Both authors have personal interest in the primary characters and their relationship to terror. Abu-Jaber ignores the police and finds the life of Lena interesting. Diana focuses much on Lena and describes her private life, work, and relationship with people. The author gives Lena the power to unearth the cause of the baby’s death despite failure of a whole police department. Dianna is passing a message to audience that fighting of terror requires personal initiative. In an as much collaborative investigations are relevant, the results from such approaches could be unreliable. Sometimes, one needs to go out of the legal system or standard procedure to solve a crime. John Updike also makes Ahmad superior over other characters. The writer narrates Ahmad’s life and discusses his religion misconceptions. In addition, Updike makes Ahmad superior over his boss. The boss finds it difficult to disagree with Ahmad’s ideas concerning America. The Lebanese man could at the very least nurtured the boy to be a good citizen and not a potential terrorist. John and Diana criticise the executive for failure to neutralise potentially. That Ahmad is growing up hating his country is not a mere coincidence. There must be weakness in the education system for students to develop poor citizenship. Updike also disapproves of Americanisation that only attracts terror (Mazzeno, 2013). Diana equally presents the police as unreliable. Elements of Terror Literature Terror literature, through their characters, display different elements of terrorist attacks (Hassan, 2011). Terror literature displays aspects of target identification through characters’ secretive missions throughout their storylines. In terror novels, for instance, terrorist targets are randomly identifiable after careful study. Characters in terror literature observe their targets over a considerable period to execute successful attack missions. The attackers always pride in successful outcomes from their actions for example the public, media, political and military disruptions, and attentions. This is the element of terror, which is very difficult to detect even with the highly specialized intelligence authorities because it happens in a low perspective mode (Sabry, 2011). Terror literature also features elements of intelligence information gathering and its subsequent application in planning. Characters in terror literature are involved in the collections of intelligence and surveillance of targets. Literature also features key areas such secrecy of intelligence that is important because of vulnerability to detection by the public or government intelligence services. In most terror literature, characters tend to engage close allies in gathering information pertaining the target. Critical information gathered from the target depends on the type of the target. Terror literature features aspects of logistic training through secretive moves by characters. During logistic training, characters in terror literature plan by formulating and recruiting the personnel to conduct the general attacks, finances, and materials used in the operation. Most network links involve numerous shipments, flights, and fund transfers between banks and individuals. Terror perpetrators, as characters in literature, hide his identity cautiously without detection to succeed in their intended operations. It is a detectible element of terror attack, which is easy to know before the actual execution happens. Characters engage in transportation and travel to target areas. In most terror literatures, characters engage in suspicious movements and operations that are questionable by the public (Schear & Flanagan, 2008). Terror literature also features scenes of rehearsal by culprits to gain easy access to their areas of interest. Rehearsals are similar to pre- revisits to the operation areas without detections to prove that they can well perform their mission. Most importantly, literature presents scenes of actual attack, which sometimes are in the form of deep satire. American literature started in form of orally transmitted myths, legends, tales, and lyrics expressed in song forms. In the recent past, most poets are, and writers have improved the status of writing by the diverse emphasis on novels and the issues affecting the society positively or negatively. John Updike and Diana Abu Jaber in their literature related to the way terrorism affects the society. Updike has a record of writing 52 books covering diverse areas like art, sex, religion and latest terrorism affecting normal lives of Americans (Updike &Kenison, 2000). The collections of Updike series are stories like, Rabbit Run, fathers tears and other, Updike in Brazil, the maple stories and Updike still looking. Updike started his work of writing poetry. Whereby his first book was the carpentered Hen and Other Tame creatures, which Harper and brothers published in 1958.The second was the Poorhouse Fair in 1959, and this was Updike first novel, which was highly welcome by the public and regarded as the real promise. In 1963, Updike, received great honour and recognition by winning the National Books Award at the age of 31 and was the youngest ever artist to have achieved such an Award. That is the time he produced the series Rabbit Run, which was very successful. Diana Abu Jaber is also a great female writer and a poet with a great record of novels. In her work, she elaborates more on the consequences of the American foreign policies in the Arab world. She also stresses on how the America as a whole should view the Muslim work. As most of the American nationals view Arabs with contempt and in relation with terrorist, she tries to convince the America and the world as a whole to discard the notion and have positive links for free ethnic relations. Diana Abu Jaber has a series of collections, including some of the romance and myths. for example the Arabian jazz, the language of baklava, the birds of the paradise, origin which narrates about an investigation of numerous crib deaths ,the Crescent which lively narrates about the Arabs communities of Los Angeles, a unique love story coupled with favourite tastes, smells and myths of the Middle East. Conclusion John Updike and Diana Abu Jaber in their literature related to the way terrorism affects the society. Updike has a record of writing 52 books covering diverse areas like art, sex, religion and latest terrorism affecting normal lives of Americans (Updike & Kenison, 2000). The collections of Updike series are stories like, Rabbit Run, fathers tears and other, Updike in Brazil, the maple stories and Updike still looking. Updike started his work of writing poetry. In 1963, Updike, received great recognition by winning the National Books Award at the age of 31. Diana Abu Jaber is also a great female writer and a poet with a great record of novels. In her work, she elaborates more on the consequences of the American foreign policies in the Arab world. She also stresses on how the America as a whole should view the Muslim work. As most of the American nationals view Arabs with contempt and in relation with terrorist, she tries to convince the America and the world as a whole to discard the notion and have positive links for free ethnic relations. Diana Abu-Jaber has a series of collections and publications. They include the Arabian jazz, the language of baklava, the birds of the paradise, origin that narrates about an investigation of numerous crib deaths, the Crescent that narrates about the Arabs communities of Los Angeles, a unique love story coupled with favourite tastes, smells, and myths of the Middle East. The most striking aspect recognized in the works of both writers is their ability to address terrorism. Updike laments on the effect of the terrorism on humanity and the methods used by the terrorist groups or organization to plans and execute their attacks on innocent individuals irrespective of ethnic backgrounds or nationality (Oakes, 2004). Diana Abu-Jaber is highly disturbed and frustrated by the ignorance of American public to Middle East political and cultural activities. She attempts to bring ties between the two rivals by elaborating the story of Iraq and Arab Americans and the beauty in the Arab world including music, poetry, and art. She is currently enjoys teaching films studies and postcolonial literature at the Portland state university. Works Cited Flanagan, Stephen J, and James, Schear. Strategic Challenges: Americas Global Security Agenda. Dulles: Potomac Books Inc, 2008 El-Hajj, Hind, and Sirène Harb. "Straddling the Personal and the Political: Gendered Memory in Diana Abu-Jabers Arabian Jazz." MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the US 36.3 (2011): 137-158. Hassan, Waïl S. Immigrant Narratives: Orientalism and Cultural Translation in Arab American and Arab British Literature. Oxford University Press, 2011. Martin, Elaine. "The Global Phenomenon of" Humanizing" Terrorism in Literature and Cinema." CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 9.1 (2007): 12. Mazzeno, Laurence W. Becoming John Updike: Critical Reception, 1958-2010. Camden House, 2013. Michael, Magali Cornier. "Arabian Nights in America: Hybrid Form and Identity in Diana Abu-Jabers Crescent." Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction 52.3 (2011): 313-331. Nash, Geoffrey. Writing Muslim Identity. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012. Richards, Anne, and Iraj Omidvar. Muslims and American Popular Culture. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2014 Sabry, Somaya Sami. Arab-American Womens Writing and Performance: Orientalism, Race and the Idea of the Arabian Nights. London: IB Tauris, 2011. Sloterdijk, Peter. Rage and time: A Psychopolitical investigation. Columbia University Press, 2012. Kenison, Katrina, and John Updike. The Best American Short Stories of the Century. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Print. Read More