John Updike, the author, presents a pristine character who wears button up white shirts and well-fitted black jeans. Ahmad projects the image of a near-model high school student making headway against very tough odds. He attends an urban high school that is physically decaying and that provides few incentives for academic excellence. Ahmad sets himself apart in a city where fitting into the frayed edges of a hodgepodge culture is the path most students take.
Youthful Lead Character is Self-Directed and Critical
Readers are attracted to this character’s self-directed nature. Ahmad runs on the track team, works a part-time job, and takes instruction in the Holy Qur’an at a mosque. His practice of clean thinking is tested by the flirtations of a well-endowed high school girl, Joryleen. His interest in her humanizes the struggle of a young man determined to practice an all-encompassing faith. This determination creates a character that is emotionless, critical and isolated.
Contrasting Mentors Portrayed
The novel contrasts different types of mentors including an imam named Shaikh Rashid and a high school guidance counselor named Jack Levy. The imam instructs Ahmad in interpreting the Qur’an from ages eleven to eighteen. The young man is both compelled and repelled from his instructor. Ahmad is compelled to be received as a believer. Yet in one scene, he physically recoils from the presence of the imam, who projects a grim, unflinching belief system.
Jack Levy is trying to hone in on something to believe in as old age and self-doubt permeate his life. He meets Ahmad late in the semester and sees his academic potential beyond high school. Ahmad has already been directed by the imam to pursue a CDL license and to pursue driving a truck. Jack perceives Ahmad could make a better choice. He makes a trip to the boy’s apartment, where he meets Teresa Mulloy, Ahmad’s mother. Unlike Ahmad, Jack lacks self-restraint, and although married, he has an affair with Teresa.
The plot advances and Ahmad is hired to deliver furniture for a well-respected Lebanese family. He is entrusted to Charlie, who becomes the third mentor presented in the book. Charlie professes to be a believer in the Qur’an but behaves otherwise. He swears frequently and presses upon Ahmad the necessity of experiencing sex with a woman. In spite of Charlie being the opposite of pristine, Ahmad develops a kinship with him. Ahmad begins to see a purpose in delivering furniture and, although he prays several times daily, he stops taking instruction at the mosque.
Does Individual Choice Create a Terrorist?
At the heart of this novel are themes related to young people, belief systems and the role of mentors. Does a well-honed belief system win out over system which are loosely fashioned? Is it individual choice that create a terrorist? In a moment of decision making, what matters? These are the questions portrayed through the complex character of a young man.
John Updike, 1932-2009, authored twenty-two novels and fourteen short story collections. Terrorist was the last novel published prior to his death (2006 Alfred A. Knopf ISBN: 0307264653).
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