Islamophobic Portrayal of the Muslim Alien in Allan Havis’s Three Nights in Prague

In conformity with the growing negative attitude of the West against Islam and Muslims in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks, there emerged waves of stereotypes that framed Muslims as 'enemy within'. The buzzword that represents the trauma of the current situation is 'Islamophobia'. This 'unfounded fears' of Islam and Muslims have been high in the agenda of many writers. The case study here involves Allan Havis‟s Three Nights in Prague (2004) which reveals the ideology of the 9/11 mastermind, Mohamed Atta , and highlights the workings of his inner consciousness. The study proceeds through giving an in-depth survey of concepts like islamophobia, xenophobia, jihad, and terrorism. It also discusses other factors that contributed in framing the alien Muslim like media, leaders‟ opinions, and cinema production. Then, the study traces the psychological, social and religious aspects of the protagonist in view of the Western mental image of the Muslim alien. The paper develops upon Gottschalk and Greenberg's in-depth, valuable, and re-interpretive analysis of Muslim stereotypes in the West, Edward Said‟s concepts of the „other‟, and Jack Shaheen‟s evaluative reviews of the influence of the American media and cinema in embodying the Muslim alien. The ensuing attitude of the West towards Muslim in the play has been proved fragile as the basic action is entirely based on claimed news.