Tag Archives: Terrorism

After Paris: Dryden on Dangers of Hysteria

By Robin Bates | Published: January 14, 2015

In “Absolom and Architophel,” Dryden warns against unscrupulous figures exploiting the hysteria following plots like the Paris massacre.

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Grendel in Paris

By Robin Bates | Published: January 13, 2015

As with other mass killings, “Beowulf” has lessons for the Paris massacre. Defoe and Rabelais, meanwhile, give us insight in the targeted satirical journal “Charlie Hebdo.”

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Sir Gawain & the ISIS Beheadings

By Robin Bates | Published: September 29, 2014

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” helps us understand the horror we feel at the ISIS beheadings.

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Antigone Would Bury Boston Bomber

By Robin Bates | Published: May 15, 2013

Sophocles and Homer present compelling cases for granting full funeral rights to the Boston Marathon bomber.

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Grendel as a Norwegian Christian Fascist

By Robin Bates | Published: July 26, 2011

Apparently Anders Breivik was very well read and he mentions George Orwell, Franz Kafka, and Ayn Rand. What I find striking about them on the list is that they all articulate high levels of paranoia.

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Osama, Obama, and Sam Spade

By Robin Bates | Published: May 4, 2011

There’s something about celebrating the killing of someone, even a mass murderer, that leaves me queasy. Exploring the parallel I drew Monday between America and Sam Spade helps me get a better grip on the issue.

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Faith in the Face of Terrorism

By Robin Bates | Published: April 22, 2011

Today I recommend Of Gods and Men (2010), an extraordinary French film that I saw last month. It is about a small community of Cistercian monks in rural Algeria who must decide whether to stay or leave in face of rising terrorism. Good Friday is a good day to write about it since it deals with Lenten themes.

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Mr. Chips vs. Travis Bickle

By Robin Bates | Published: November 24, 2009

Robert DeNiro as Travis Bickle       I continue here my discussion of three works that just happened to come together during one evening last week: John Updike’s novel Terrorist, Martin Scorcese’s film Taxi Driver, and George Bernard Shaw’s play Arms and the Man. My question is whether Shaw’s humanism is a sufficient answer to the undercurrent […]

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Updike’s Anatomy of a Terrorist

By Robin Bates | Published: November 23, 2009

Last Thursday night I had an overbooked schedule.  I was moderating a book club at the local public library on John Updike’s 2006 novel Terrorist (at 7 p.m.).  I was in charge of a talkback following a college production of George Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man (at 8 p.m.).  And I was screening Martin Scorcese’s […]

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