E.L. Doctorow’s political novel The Book of Daniel is inspired by the Red Scare and Anti-Communism in the United States in the 1950s. This was a period of extreme fear as arrests among the Communist Party were expected and those not affiliated with the Communist Party expected a nuclear war to break lose. A parallel can be made to our current decade and our fear of another terrorist attack. In times of fear, governments create laws in an effort to reduce the feeling; however the anti-fear laws cause more controversy than resolution.

In 1940 Congress passed the Alien Registration Act in an effort to “undermine the American Communist Party and other left-wing political groups in the United States” (Simkin). In the novel the Isaacsons are active members of the Communist Party and feel dissatisfied with the America of their time. The novel is a fictionalized story of the Rossenburg’s. The Isaacsons in the novel are convicted of the same crime as the real-life couple: “The Isaacsons are convicted of conspiracy to give to the Soviet Union the secret of the atom bomb” (Doctorow,250). Many liberals were arrested during this ear in suspicion that they had connections with Communism. It was the fear that brought about the arrests. The fear of association can be seen in the feelings of Paul Isaacon’s sister in the novel as she fears to take in Daniel and Susan as their parents await trail in jail. The fear is referred to as the Red Scare.

The United States has come a long way since the period of time portrayed in the novel, but American still live in fear. Today , almost ten years after September 11, Americans fear terrorists from middle eastern countries. In an effort to prevent terror in the U.S., the Patriot Act of 2001 was passed to: “give federal officials greater authority to track and intercept communications; further close our borders to foreign terrorists and to detain and remove those within our borders; create new crimes, new penalties, and new procedural efficiencies for use against domestic and international terrorists” (Doyle). Many Americans feel this act has gone too far into invading their privacy as communications can be monitored virtually freely by government officials, in an effort to protect us. This is the same grievance the American Communist Party members had with the Alien Registration Act in the 1950s. And the Patriot Act is creating the same fear as the Red Scare, although it is manifested in different ways. Today this fear can be seen in a modern way in airports throughout the world everyday as “randomly” selected passengers are withheld and searched for explosive devices, making flying terrifying. Unlike the 1950s we have greater opportunity to speak our views on political issues, it is still controversial to align with an opposing government. Arrests are made for anyone suspected of have associations with a terror suspect/group, which is seen in the novel and in American society in the 1950s.

Times may change but political fear continues to resonate in the United States. The Red Scare of the 1950s and today’s war on terrorism share the same characteristics. Doctorow’s novel provides a great example of the Red Scare allowing a parallel to made to our society in 2010.

Works Cited

Doctorow, E.L. The Book of Daniel. 1st. New York: Random House, Inc., 1971. Print.

Doyle, Charles. "The USA PATRIOT Act: A Sketch." CRS Report for Congress. 18042002. CRS Web, Web. 9 Feb 2010. .

Simkin, John. "McCarthyism." Spartacus Educational. 1997. Spartacus Educational, Web. 9 Feb 2010. .