Spotlighting a Terrorist: A Review of Racial Profiling in Terrorist by John Updike

Abstract

Besides affecting the global socio-political situation, the 9/11 attacks gave rise to newer forms of literary productions with distinct post-9/11 traits. Since most of the post-9/11 literary and political debates have focused on the fight between terror groups presumably based in the Muslim world and the secular west led by the United States of America, the practices of profiling, stereotyping, and counter-stereotyping have been common. We have explored racial profiling and stereotyping in Terrorists by John Updike to understand the novel’s contribution to post-9/11 political propaganda. We provide textual analysis of Terrorists by drawing evidence of profiling along racial, religious, political, cultural, and geographical lines. We conclude that various forms of propaganda including polemical fiction have eroded the inter-communal harmony in the post-9/11 American society. Finally, we recommend measures against the menace of terrorism that may be effective without compromising the civil liberties of citizens.