Ian McEwan’s Saturday: Criticism of the Post-9/11 Society Lea Dokter College

The events of 9/11 were a shock for not only the United States but also for the whole world. Suddenly, the country that was often perceived as impenetrable and unbeatable had to deal with the repercussions of a terrorist attack, shattering its masculine image (Carpenter 150). New, stricter guidelines were introduced at airports around the world and the war on terrorism officially became one of the main focal points of American politics. In Saturday, the novel by Ian McEwan published in 2005, the nature of post-9/11 society plays a central part. Set in London on February 15, 2003, the day of the massive demonstration against the war in Iraq, the narrative follows neurosurgeon Henry Perowne as he experiences this memorable Saturday.

Perowne's day starts in an unusual way: he wakes up feeling euphoric in the early hours of the morning, walks over to the windows, and observes what he assumes to be a plane taken over by terrorists making its way to the Post Office Tower. He later discovers it was simply a Russian cargo plane making an emergency landing at Heathrow airport. Apart from this incident, Perowne’s day starts off looking positive: "Perowne returns to bed, makes love to his wife, gets up and chats with his son in the...