Terrorist links sexual and religious ecstasy to a shared survival instinct.
Evidence
Terrorist’s broader point is that the human impulses to sex, religion, and art stem from the same instinct for survival and celebration. Sexual and religious ecstasy are connected in the novel, not least when Joryleen persuades Ahmad to visit her evangelical church for a Sunday service. Once there Ahmad feels that Joryleen has lured him into “a sticky trap” as the “rhythmical rapture” of worship gives him a sense of witnessing “sex among people” (51, 15, 62). — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 132
Categorization
Category: Craft and Method
- XREF: Useful counterpoint for how Hamid and Naqvi handle sexuality and religious devotion differently from Updike’s explicit equation.