31 pages • 1 hour read
Disgraced
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Scene 3 Summary
Three months later, Amir is alone in the apartment and drinking on the terrace. Furiously, he smashes his glass on the ground, but this does nothing to appease his anger. Emily enters and reminds Amir that Isaac and Jory are coming over for dinner, and Emily has made pork tenderloin. Emily is hopeful that Isaac is coming to tell her that he has selected her work for a show at his gallery. Amir is unenthusiastic about the dinner and rejects Emily when she tries to act seductive because “it doesn’t help” (34). This is a discussion they have had before. Emily presses him to tell her what happened to make him so upset, and he finally tells her that the partners at his firm had cornered Amir in his office to ask where his parents were born. Amir’s father was born in a part of India that had been partitioned into Pakistan, and his mother was born in Pakistan. When the firm hired him, Amir had led them to believe that his family was from India, which is primarily Hindu, rather than Pakistan, which is primarily Muslim. Amir admits to Emily that when he changed his name from Abdullah to Kapoor, he had also changed his social security number.
However, the partners had clearly been investigating him, which Amir implies resulted from Amir attending the imam’s hearing. Amir has also been unable to get Mort to respond to his calls. The intercom buzzes, and Isaac and Jory are early. Emily rushes off to get ready, and Amir invites them up. Jory is an assertive African American woman in her mid to late thirties. Amir comments that they were supposed to arrive at 7:30, so Emily is getting dressed, but Isaac says that he had been certain that they had agreed upon 7:00. Jory exits to put the dessert they’ve brought into the refrigerator. Amir and Isaac talk briefly about sports. Jory reenters, and Isaac leaves to go to the bathroom. Amir and Jory talk about work, including a case of Mort’s that he had handed off to Jory because he would prefer to spend his time meditating.
Amir asks Jory about a job offer from another firm, and Jory affirms that she decided not to take it, even though they offered a significant pay raise, because she doesn’t want to leave where she has “put down roots” (41). Amir asserts that the Jewish partners had started working in mergers and acquisitions before it had become a popular field. Now, they were the ones in power, and people like Amir and Jory are “the new Jews” (41), and the firm would never be theirs. Isaac enters holding a book, Denial of Death, which Emily is reading after Isaac recommended it. Isaac reveals that he is accepting Emily’s work into his show, the theme of which is about artists who are trying to bring art back to the sacred rather than the commercial. Isaac calls Emily’s use of Islamic tradition “important and new” (44). They discuss which pieces Isaac wants to include, and he mentions that he is considering using Emily’s Velásquez-style portrait of Amir.
Isaac describes the portrait as Amir in a $600-dollar shirt posing as a slave, interpreting it to mean that even with wealth and status, someone who looks like Amir still has to question his place in society. Amir clearly doesn’t appreciate this idea and comments that he prefers his wife’s earlier works—those without Islamic influence. Isaac refers to Emily by her full name, Emily Hughes-Kapoor, and asserts that she has a promising career.
Jory suddenly asks which part of India the name Kapoor came from, and Amir becomes defensive. Jory is confused, and Amir explains that the partners had been asking him that question earlier that day. Emily deflects the conversation, and Isaac tells them that he has an upcoming trip to Delhi to visit the studio of a well-known artist. The conversation shifts to flying and airport security, and Amir tells the group that he offers to be searched when he flies because he knows that the TSA agents want to target him because they assume that he’s Muslim.
Jory commends Amir for being so cooperative, but Isaac is appalled that Amir is appeasing racists by allowing them to racially profile him. Emily’s phone rings. Abe is calling because Amir has been avoiding his calls. The conversation shifts to dinner, and Isaac and Jory joke about Jory’s bad cooking. Emily and Jory exit to the kitchen to get the first course, and Isaac apologizes for broaching a contentious subject. Amir tells Isaac that he and Emily disagree about Islam because Amir believes that it is “a backward way of thinking” (52). Isaac brings up an Islamic artist, and Amir asserts that his issues with Islam are based on the Quran and that art makes no difference. Emily reenters as he says this, and Amir clarifies that the Prophet said, “angels don’t enter a house when there are pictures and/or dogs” (53). Therefore, art is not a part of the Muslim consciousness. Islam, Amir contends, is based on the experience of misery and suffering in the desert.
Isaac replies that Jews also suffered in the desert, but Amir explains that the Jewish people responded differently to that suffering and that Islam means “submission” (54). Isaac disagrees, and Amir becomes annoyed, exclaiming, “You haven’t read the Quran, but you’ve read a couple of sanctimonious British bullies and you think you know something about Islam?” (54) Emily tries to quiet Amir, but Isaac admits that he ought to read the Quran. Jory volunteers that the bit she read in college just left the impression of being angry and Amir agrees, calling the Quran, “one very long hate-mail letter to humanity” (55). Amir compares Islam to Christians, who don’t believe that church and state ought to be separate. They sit down to eat and pause to discuss the food. Then Jory returns to the discussion, and Isaac insists that Muslims aren’t all like that because Amir is not like that. Amir replies that he is no longer a Muslim and that as someone who no longer believes, the Quran says that he ought to be stoned to death.
Emily interjects that executing converts is a matter of interpretation, not stated directly in the Quran. This sparks a debate about the interpretation of the text, which Amir insists supports hitting your wife if she doesn’t obey. The conversation heats up, and Jory states that she agrees with the French for forbidding women to wear a veil, calling the practice a way of punishing women. Amir claims that the beliefs of Islam involve fighting for Islam and that his upbringing means that he has to fight to suppress the feeling of satisfaction when Israel suffers a defeat at the hands of Palestinians, or when Muslim extremists accomplish something like the attacks on September 11. Amir accuses Isaac of feeling the same way when Israelis attack the Palestinians. Emily, Jory, and Isaac are horrified at this, and Emily insists that her husband accompany her to the kitchen for some coffee. They exit, and Jory mentions that Amir must be upset because he knows about something that happened at work that she had hoped to tell him herself.
Amir reenters, clearly very drunk, and exclaims that he is going to get some champagne to celebrate his wife’s acceptance in the art show. Jory offers to accompany him, and they exit. Alone with Isaac, Emily reveals that she and Isaac slept together but that she feels that it was a mistake. Isaac assumes that Amir is angry because he knows that Jory is being made partner as part of the counteroffer to lure her away from the firm that was trying to hire her. Emily is shocked to learn this, since Amir has been there much longer, and Isaac tells her that the partners don’t trust Amir because they think he was representing the imam. Emily feels guilty for encouraging Amir to go to the hearing, and Isaac tries to comfort her. He confesses that he loves her and tells her that the Velásquez portrait shows that Amir only looks at Emily as a prize, that, “The slave finally has the master’s wife. Isaac kisses Emily. Jory rushes in, telling her husband that they need to leave, and she catches them. Emily and Isaac insist that they were not kissing, but Jory is not fooled.
Amir, who stormed in behind Jory, turns his rage on Jory for trying to ruin both his career and his marriage. Amir shouts that he started from the bottom at the firm, while Jory never worked as hard. Amir screams, “You think you’re the nigger here? I’m the nigger!! Me!!” (72) Isaac challenges Amir, and Amir spits in his face. Isaac responds, “There’s a reason they call you people animals” (73) and walks out. Jory tells Amir that Mort is retiring and that when she had asked why they didn’t give the job to Amir, the partners had explained that they don’t they think he can be trusted. Jory leaves. Emily tries to comfort Amir, and Amir asks if she slept with Isaac. She admits that she did and that she hates herself for it. Suddenly, Amir hits Emily. He hits her several more times and then stops and comes to his senses. Someone knocks on the door. When no one answers, Abe pushes the door open and enters. Abe sees Emily’s bloody face and looks at Amir.
Scene 4 Summary
Six months have passed. The apartment is mostly empty, and Amir is packing. A painting is wrapped up and leaning against the wall. There is a knock at the door, and Abe enters with Emily. His style is no longer Americanized, and he is wearing a kulfi on his head. Emily prods Abe to tell Amir what has happened. Reluctantly, Amir explains that he was in Starbucks with his friend Tariq, who Amir disapproves of openly. Tariq was flirting with a Starbucks worker who asked about their kulfi and how they feel about Al-Qaeda. Tariq told the barista that the United States created Al-Qaeda and the girl got angry. Tariq got angrier and exclaimed that the United States deserved everything that had happened and would happen to it. She went back to work and the police had shown up, cuffing Tariq and Abe and bringing them to the station for questioning by two FBI agents. After grilling them, one of them had mentioned that Abe’s immigration status was up for renewal.
The agents insinuated that if Abe didn’t cooperate and infiltrate the Muslim community, he could be deported. Emily exits to the kitchen. Amir immediately calls one of the lawyers who represented the imam and tells Abe to wait and see what the lawyer advises. Abe asserts that he will not go into the mosque and attempt to entrap people and accuses Amir of being a traitor and separating himself from his own people. Abe is still appalled at what Amir did to Emily. Abe had idolized his uncle, but he no longer looks up to him, insinuating that this is what led to Abe becoming more devout as a Muslim. Abe knows that Amir was fired and suggests that being deported wouldn’t be a terrible thing. He tells Amir that he changed his name back to Hussein so that it no longer sounds American and argues that it is time to fight for Islam. Abe leaves.
Emily reenters, and Amir asks if she has read his letters. He tells her that he has her painting, and she doesn’t take it but says that she didn’t want to throw it in the trash. Amir says that he tried to give her the apartment in the divorce, but she refuses to take it. He begs her not to hate him, noting that she must care about him because she dropped the charges. Emily explains that she was naïve. He pleads with her to forgive her and that he desperately wants her to feel proud that he was her husband. Emily tells Amir goodbye and asks him to stop writing letters to her. She leaves. Alone, Amir picks up the canvas leaning against the wall and unwraps it, revealing just enough of it so that the audience can see that it’s the Velásquez portrait of him. He stares at it.
Scenes 3-4 Analysis
In the second half of the play, the partners of Amir’s law firm have, as he predicted, discovered his Muslim roots. At the beginning of Scene 3, he is deeply angry in a way that Emily does not fully understand. When Amir worries about the newspaper article in Scene 2, Emily can’t grasp how doing something altruistic could possibly threaten Amir’s career. Emily’s indifference here is more ignorance than a lack of empathy. Emily, as a White person, romanticizes racism—we see this in her wish to paint Amir after he encounters a racist server and in her decision to appropriate Amir’s culture.
In the second half of the play, Amir’s fears of being perceived as untrustworthy because of his Islamic heritage seem to be true. However, Akhtar leaves the idea that Amir might have self-fulfilled this prophecy as a possibility; we can’t be sure if Amir’s superiors would have seen Amir as untrustworthy if he had been honest with them about his background from the beginning. In hiding his heritage, Amir proves himself untrustworthy, but the racism that we see in the play—from the server, in Abe’s arrest, and in Isaac’s comments about Amir—suggest that Amir’s ruse is necessary.
Isaac later accuses Amir as being “full of self-loathing” (61). Neither Isaac nor Emily seem to take into account the ways in which western society creates that self-loathing by demonizing Muslims. When Abe embraces Islam, the mere bragging of a loudmouthed friend at Starbucks leads to an interrogation by the FBI. The agents have a file on Abe, who has presumably never done anything illegal, simply because he has become a devout Muslim. This racism helps prove Abe’s case for hiding his heritage.
Amir’s anger is underneath the surface from the beginning of the play. By rejecting his culture, he has rejected himself. At the beginning of the play, Amir is in control of his life and career. He has authority over clients and employees, and Mort is clearly grooming him for his upward trajectory. Over the course of the play, Amir loses control of his life, and as he drinks, Amir loses control over his anger. He feels the Jewish partners of his firm have an ingrained hatred of him because, as he confesses, Amir feels the same ingrained hatred toward Jewish people and even toward White Americans in general.
Because the play doesn’t give the reader/viewer any real understanding of Amir’s law firm’s feelings about Muslims, since Amir has proven himself untrustworthy by hiding his identity, we can only assume that Amir’s assessment is correct. If not, then Amir is the one who is being racist, and not his superiors. In fact, Akhtar seems to indicate that Amir’s obsession with race and ethnicity is itself a form of racism. Amir shows racist tendencies elsewhere in the play as well, like when he calls himself the “n-word” as opposed to Jory, a Black woman, and when he says he thinks Isaac is secretly pleased when Muslims are harmed.
Spitting in Isaac’s face near the end of the play mirrors spitting in Rivkah’s face as a child, demonstrating that Amir has not changed much from his Muslim days. Additionally, Amir fully loses control of his anger when he hits his wife. These events indicate that Amir is, indeed, still Muslim, as they are the two things he uses as examples of why he separated himself from the Islamic community. Amir used the example of Rivkah to show how cruel Muslim culture is, and when discussing the Quran, he noted that Muslim men are to beat their wives if they disobey. In enacting these two things, Amir is displaying his worst qualities, which he attributes to Islam.
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