SOURCE: Scanlan, Margaret. “Literature Can Look Terror in the Eye and Measure its Human Consequences.” Chronicle of Higher Education 48, no. 17 (21 December 2001): B11-B13.

In the following essay, Scanlan remarks on the convergence of literature and reality in numerous works of terrorist fiction, noting that such novels not only offer solace in times of grief, but also serve as a mirror that reflects modern society.

In the wake of September 11, college professors struggling with their own shock and horror found themselves trying to explain the terrorist attacks to students—some of whom were in grade school when the last President Bush sent U.S. troops to the Persian Gulf—whose youth and vulnerability were suddenly and poignantly visible. Our own institutions also challenged us, as the president of my own university, Myles Brand, put it, “to retain a sense of purpose, to counter the terrorists' aims by holding firm...