Journal of Literature and Humanities (Dec 2023)
The Prevent Duty Act Through a Teenage Girl in I Am Thunder
Abstract
On July 7 and 21, 2005, the London transport system was attacked by four bombers. The 7/7 attack was the largest terrorist attack in the United Kingdom, resulting in 775 casualties and 52 deaths (four bombers not included). The 7/7 London bombings altered the policy of the United Kingdom’s counterterrorism policies radically because it was realized that within the country, those bombers were raised and radicalized. With the implementation of the Prevent Duty Act in 2015, the formal institutions of the government in the United Kingdom particularly educational establishments were asked to get involved to defeat organized terrorist attacks and to prevent young people from being radicalized and brainwashed. it has been shown that the Prevent act has had adverse effects on Muslim students by creating a “new suspect community.” Muhammad Khan’s novel titled I Am Thunder deals with how young Muslim British students are affected by these new precautions. Muslim students are considered to be potential terrorists and ready to be radicalized. The protagonist of I Am Thunder is a 15-year-old high-school student who is creative and smart but is constantly oppressed by her parents. islamophobia is a recurring theme in the novel since Muzna’s peers constantly criticize and mock her due to her darker skin and religion. Particularly after various terrorist attacks, Muslims are targeted and blamed of taking part in attacks, even though they are not associated with those attacks. The author aims to show the hypocrisy of people who takes advantage of people’s religious beliefs. At the end of the novel, Muzna succeeds in stopping a terrorist attack aiming to kill innocent people. She, in the end, accepts her British identity and learns how to practice islam regardless of other people’s thoughts.
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