This paper attempts a comparative psychoanalytic study of Terrorist (2006)by the American novelist, John Updike (1955-2009), and al-'Askari al-Aswad (1982) by the Egyptian novelist, dramatist, and short-story writer, Yusuf Idris (1927-1991). Although Updike and Idris represent different cultural milieus, they adopt Jacques Lacan and Alexandre Kojève's theory of desire in order to explore how this concept is best reflected in the major characters of the selected narratives. To accomplish such an objective, both novelists highlight the necessity of developing a new realistic vision, an artistic form in terms of which desire and its interpretation can best be demonstrated. That is why both novelists choose the same thematic structure; a schema which shows how the characters endeavour to bridge the psychological gap resulting from the lack of existence. Not only does this lack highlight the reasons behind the central desire that attacks Updike's and Idris's characters, but also provides the framework by which one can probe into the psychological realities of these characters. The formalization of the dynamics of desire implies that both Updike and Idris are professional writers with a critical sense of creative structures in a school established by Lacan and Kojève.