Patriot Games by Tom Clancy
"Patriot Games" is a novel by Tom Clancy that features the character Jack Ryan, who finds himself embroiled in a life-threatening situation following a terrorist attack in London. Set during a working vacation for Ryan and his family, the story begins with a violent incident where a radical Irish republican faction targets the Prince and Princess of Wales. Demonstrating his military instincts, Ryan intervenes, leading to his own injury but also earning him an honorary knighthood for his bravery.
Unlike some of Clancy's other works, "Patriot Games" places less emphasis on technology and instead focuses on the themes of family and personal values. As Ryan recuperates in the hospital, he receives a visit from the Prince of Wales, highlighting the personal connections that emerge amid public crises. The narrative contrasts the moral grounding of Ryan and his family with the motivations of the terrorists, who are portrayed as lacking societal values. The novel resonates with readers by tapping into contemporary fears of terrorism and the cultural allure of British royalty, contributing to its success both as a book and a film adaptation.
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Patriot Games by Tom Clancy
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1987
Type of work: Novel
The Work
Because of its success as a film, Patriot Games is one of Clancy’s best-known novels. He began writing it before The Hunt for Red October, but it was not published until after his second hit novel, Red Storm Rising (1986). Patriot Games, however, relates the earliest part of Jack Ryan’s fictional biography. Clancy has admitted that in creating Ryan he has projected an idealized version of himself.
In a departure from his other novels, in Patriot Games technology plays only a secondary role. The story opens in London. Ryan and his family are enjoying a working vacation; his wife and daughter sightsee and shop while he researches his next work of history. At the end of the day, Ryan meets his family in a peaceful London park, but an explosion a few yards away aborts the plans for a pleasant evening. A radical Irish republican faction of dedicated Marxists has just attacked the automobile carrying the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Ryan, a former Marine officer, reacts instinctively, killing one terrorist and disarming another. Ryan himself is shot. For his heroism, he is given an honorary knighthood. The terrorists vow revenge, however, and eventually attack Ryan and his family after they have returned to the United States.
There are fewer subplots than in Clancy’s other novels; Ryan remains the focus of the work. While still in a London hospital recovering from his wounds, Ryan is visited by the Prince of Wales, who feels guilty that he was unable to personally protect his wife. In American fashion, Ryan bucks up the prince, giving him renewed confidence in himself. In Patriot Games the importance of the family and all that it represents takes center place. The Windsors, who later visit the Ryans’ home for dinner while on a tour to the United States, are presented as holding the same values and morals as Ryan and his wife, Cathy. They might be royalty, but underneath they are just like the people next door. In contrast, the terrorists, rootless and homeless and driven by perverted philosophies and blind hatreds, lack those necessary societal values. Clancy—and Ryan—are Irish Americans, but neither has any sympathy for radical Irish terrorists.
Clancy has the ability to touch the concerns of his readers. Cold War fears and the threats of terrorism were headline issues and events when his novels appeared. In Patriot Games, he capitalized on America’s fascination with Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana. With Everyman Jack Ryan becoming a knighted hero battling ruthless villains, the novel was guaranteed to be a best seller and a hit film.
Bibliography
Anderson, Patrick. “King of the ’Techno-Thriller.’” The New York Times Magazine, May 1, 1988, 54.
Cowley, Jason. “He Is the Most Popular Novelist on Earth.” New Statesman 130 (September 24, 2001): 2.
Greenberg, Martin H., ed. The Tom Clancy Companion. New York: Berkley Books, 1992.
Grossman, Lev. “Ten Questions for Tom Clancy.” Time 160 (July 29, 2002): 8.
Phillips, Christopher. “Red October’s Tom Clancy: After the Hunt.” Saturday Evening Post 263, no. 6 (September/October, 1991): 16-19.
Ryan, William F. “The Genesis of the Techno-Thriller.” Virginia Quarterly Review 69, no. 1 (Winter, 1991): 24 41.
Struckel, Katie. “A Conversation with Tom Clancy.” Writer’s Digest 81 (January, 2001): 20.
Terdoslavich, William. The Jack Ryan Agenda: Policy and Politics in the Novels of Tom Clancy—An Unauthorized Analysis. New York: Forge, 2005.
“The Tom Clancy Effect?” The Atlantic Monthly 294 (November, 2004): 59.