On Loneliness In Terrorist

Terrorist by John Updike is one of those works published in the American literary circle in the age of Post 9/11.The novel tells a story about an American-born Egyptian Muslim boy Ahmad who,under the influence of extremism,almost falls into the abyss of terrorism.Witnessing the collapse of the buildings of World Trade Center,John Updike expresses his concerns about ethnic conflicts and terrorism in his writing.He hopes readers can pay attention to the origin of the hatred and alienation in modern society.In addition to the issue of terrorism,this novel also reveals a common issue loneliness that indirectly leads to other social problems like terrorism.In addition to the protagonist Ahmad,Ahamd's Irish American mother Teresa,his Jewish school counselor Jack Levy and his Afro-American classmate Joryleen also suffer different loneliness and strive to escape it in their own ways.The thesis focuses on the theme of loneliness and contains five chapters in total.Chapter One is a brief introduction to the author John Updike and the novel Terrorist,literature review of the novel at home and abroad,as well as the thesis structure.Chapter Two illustrates the manifestation of loneliness in modern American,which includes individual separateness reflected in family,ethnic marginalization in minorities and anthropic isolation in overall human existence.Chapter Three explores the underlying causes of loneliness,namely,unfulfilled parent-child relations in family,unmet need for finding root in minorities,and universal absence of belief all around the society.Chapter Four is divided into two parts:the former part discusses characters' failed attempts to transcend loneliness,while the latter part proposes the possibility of applying love to reconstruct healthy and natural relations,so as to transcend loneliness.Chapter Five is the conclusion.It makes a conclusion about the thesis and reiterates the practical significance of the study about loneliness.