Ahmad and God's Loneliness

August Heinrich

English 241

Blog Post- Terrorist

           

I was struck by the tone Ahmad uses in chapter four when he’s speaking of God to Joryleen, because it doesn’t consist of Ahmad’s usual rhetoric when speaking of the almighty.  Whenever a question of morality is tossed his way, he usually responds with a quote from the Quran or praises the wisdom of Allah.  By accident, he reveals a soft spot inside himself.  Says, “At times I have this yearning to join God, to alleviate His loneliness.”  Moments before, he complained about how nobody thinks of God and whether or not he suffers.  I feel that when he thinks of God and God’s supposed loneliness, he’s subconsciously thinking of his own.  Despite that he appears to enjoy truck driving without Charlie, with only God as his passenger, he really enjoys the comfort of a supposed entity next to him because he longs to be with someone who is actually there.  Initially he eagerly offers himself to die for the mission proposed by Shaikh Rashid, because he hopes that will alleviate his own loneliness on earth.  Ironically, it seems that his isolation on earth stems from his inability to see beyond his lessons with Shaikh Rashid and the Quaran’s teachings, which in turn prevents him from enjoying many of the pleasurable details of life on earth.