: Re: Is it okay to write a story where the protagonist is a Terrorist? I am writing a side story called, The Afterglow of Jovian, which mainly takes place sometime during the final stages of the

@Sarah872

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One of my favorite books is Robert Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, about a brave group of freedom fighters on the moon. If you read it closely enough, however, you realize that the protagonists are all terrorists from the point of view of the people on Earth. They aren't looking for peace, they're looking for victory, and they're willing to use any tactics necessary to secure it. (Interestingly enough, it also functions in some ways as a space-aged retelling of the American Revolution. So there's a lot of truth to @MonicaCellio 's observation that "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.")

There's also a wonderful short story in graphic novel form by Israeli cartoonist Rutu Modan, about a young woman who narrowly escapes a store bombing, and ends up caring for a victim of the bombing in the final minutes of his life. It's only later that she realizes the "victim" was actually the bomber himself. It's a wonderful reversal, because you're forced to reevaluate the sympathies and affections you've built up for the victim, your sense of his injured fragile humanity, in light of his true identity.

So there is definitely room to do this story and do it well. But I think you need some caution. I'm assuming you don't want to lionize or excuse away the horrors and moral crimes of terrorism. In that respect, I think your described strategy is a good and a powerful one --to have the protagonist's eyes gradually opened to the unjustifiable ugliness of what his side is willing to do to win.

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