Exploration of Cultural Trauma and Politics of Memory in John Updike’s Terrorist

Abstract

The research paper is concerned with the traumatic experiences of powerless protagonist and some others characters in America projected in Updike’s Terrorist. It examines the journey of a young Muslim from radical to liberal and who has poisoned his mind against the Christian. This research problematizes how Ahamad is adrift and in search of identity for himself. His attempt leads to commit suicide against Christian places. It is the way of expressing his traumatized experience in American society. This paper shows the way how of taking revenge in regards of the traumatic experiences to resolve their trauma. The researcher has applied cultural trauma as basic approach of analysis. Major critiques regarding his traumatic experience and their cultural aspects have been used in this research paper. Ahmad, at last part, is pushed along a path becoming a martyr by being a suicide bomber which represents his attempts of searching identity within traumatic experience.