Monday 11 November 2013

The Attack Background Check

THE ATTACK

Who is Yasmina Khadra?

    Yasmina Khadra is supposedly the author of The Attack but actually this novel and many more written by him are actually written by a man named Mohammed Moulessehoul. Major Moulessehoul served in the Algerian army for 36 years. He survived the Algerian civil war and resigned in 2000 to move to France and pursue his love of writing. He wrote all these books under his wife's name so that he did not have to send all his books to the Algerian army to be censored. He was also a Muslim and so he wrote most of his novels to shed light on eastern culture. In a german radio talk show interview he said that “The West interprets the world as it likes. It develops certain theories that fit into its world outlook, but do not always represent the reality. Being a Muslim, I suggest a new perspective on Afghanistan, on religious fanaticism and what I would call religiopathy. My novel, The Swallows of Kabul, gives readers in the West a chance to understand the core of a problem that they usually only touch on the surface. Because fanaticism is a threat for all, I contribute to the understanding of its causes and backgrounds. Perhaps then it will be possible to find a way to bring it under control.” This may be why in The Attack the main character can not believe that his wife commits this wretched crime because it is linked to a sort of racism towards his culture.

    In this novel early on there is a major plot twist. A suicide bombing has taken place in the city of Tel Aviv in Israel. This cultural event is linked to a Arab-Israel surgeon and adds to the novel because his wife's body is found amongst the rubble and appears to be the most mangled. The police believe that his wife is the suicide bomber and Dr. Jaafari, the main character, can not believe this. This novel also shows us what it is like to be an outsider in a culture. Dr. Jaafari is an Arab-Israel surgeon in Israel and once this bombing has taken place he is treated as an outsider because of his wife's "actions" only because he himself is also an Arab. 

 

1 comment:

  1. Jesse, I think it is really interesting that the author writes under his wife's name. Make sure when you discuss your ISU, you focus on its setting (Israel) and not mix it up with his other novel, set in Kabul. (I was a bit confused when I read the quote you chose to use.)

    Why are suicide bombings used in Israel? What is the purpose of this terrorism?

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