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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Disgraced, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Unintentional Racism and Resentment
Cultural Appropriation
Islamophobia, Oppression, and Institutional Racism
Shame, Anger, and Disgrace
Summary
Analysis
In late summer 2011, in an upscale apartment on New York City’s Upper East Side, a magnificent painting of Islamic patterns hangs on the wall. There’s a couch in the center of the living room, next to a small table covered with bottles of alcohol. Emily, a beautiful white woman, sits at the dining room table with a book opened to an image of Diego Velázquez’s painting Portrait of Juan de Pareja. She’s sketching a portrait of her husband, Amir (who’s South Asian), while he poses in an Italian suit jacket and boxers.
Given Amir and Emily’s lavish home, they’re clearly wealthy successful—and one might assume that this makes them happy. But their relationship dynamic immediately raises a red flag, as Emily (who’s white) is painting Amir (who’s South Asian) in a way that could be seen as racist. She seems to be basing her portrait of Amir on Diego Velázquez’s portrait, which depicts a former slave who’s dressed to show that he’s become wealthy. In painting Amir in the freed slave’s likeness, Emily implies (perhaps without realizing it) that she thinks of Amir as an exotic outsider to their affluent, majority-white culture. Her painting symbolizes the condescending way in which white people sometimes see non-white people as exotic, other, and subtly inferior—sometimes without even realizing it.
Themes
Amir is a little uncomfortable that Emily is sketching a portrait of him in the image of a slave, who’s the subject of Velázquez’s painting. Emily quibbles with Amir, telling him that Velázquez freed the slave and made him his assistant. She was inspired to make this painting because when a racist waiter was dismissive of Amir last night, Amir made the waiter realize he’d misjudged him. This made Emily think about the way people first reacted to Velázquez’s painting, not realizing that the slave pictured was actually his assistant. Amir jokes that Emily should call up her “black Spanish” ex-boyfriend to sit for a portrait instead. Emily changes the subject, telling Amir not to worry: her last show was popular, but she didn’t sell many paintings. Amir points out that sales aren’t everything.
Amir feels uncomfortable with Emily’s portrait, because its parallel with Velázquez’s painting of his freed slave implies that Emily sees Amir as an outsider who will never be fully accepted into white culture as an equal. Emily’s dismissive response is ironic, given that she recognizes that the waiter the previous night dismissed Amir in a similar way. It’s possible that she often unintentionally offends Amir in this way, though she’s seemingly unaware of what she’s doing. And although Amir jokes around to show that this doesn’t bother him, it’s possible that he's privately resentful of Emily’s subtle racism.
Themes
Just then, Amir’s phone rings: it’s his client Paolo. Amir—still posing—yells that Paolo is going to kill the deal. Then, another call comes in, and Amir switches over, yelling at his paralegal for not calling him back even though it’s Saturday. Amir aggressively berates the paralegal for missing a correction on a contract and hangs up. Emily tells him that the way he yells turns her on. Amir walks over, looks at Emily’s sketch, and tells her that she’s talented—though he still thinks that sketching him in as a slave is messed up. Emily teases Amir that she knows he likes things a little messed up, and they kiss.
This passage introduces the fact that Amir has a problem with anger. And given that his outburst happens immediately after raising his concerns about the painting with Emily, his anger may have something to do with feeling ashamed of his ethnicity. Although Amir’s banter with Emily is lighthearted, the fact that he keeps raising concerns about the portrait implies that it genuinely bothers him. He’s likely upset because the painting depicts him in a racist way, as an outsider who’s trying to assimilate into affluent white culture instead of the successful New York City lawyer he is. This is perhaps what fuels his aggression on the phone, suggesting that he struggles to control his emotions when he’s triggered by racism.
Themes
Amir then calls his boss, Mort, to explain that Paolo is being difficult—but Amir is going to make him regret his behavior. After Amir hangs up with Mort, he and Emily discuss their plans for Labor Day weekend. They’re meeting up with people named Jory and Isaac in Bucks County, Pennsylvania—something that took Amir a long time to arrange. Emily is nervous about this, but Amir reassures her that Isaac will love her work.
Given Amir’s openness with Mort about making Paolo’s life miserable, it seems like the people in Amir’s life enable his anger and aggression rather than trying to discourage or temper it. Meanwhile, it’s unclear who Jory and Isaac are—but given that it took Amir a long time to arrange a meeting with them, readers can infer that they’re important, high-status people. Amir’s assurance that Isaac will love Emily’s work perhaps suggests that he’s part of the art world and may be able to help her paintings sell—which means that Emily could profit off of her portrait of Amir.
Themes
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The conversation then pivots to Mort: Amir says that he hardly ever sees his boss, and that Mort depends on him. Emily thinks it’s weird that Mort bought Amir a statue of the god Siva as a birthday present, considering that Amir isn’t Hindu. But Amir doesn’t mind; he thinks that his last name (Kapoor) will be on the building soon. He knows that his dead mother would have been shocked to see it up there with all the Jewish names—even if Kapoor isn’t Amir’s real family name.
A likely explanation for Amir changing his last name to Kapoor (an Indian name) is that he comes from a Muslim background—Amir, after all, is an Arabic first name that’s common among Muslim men. This would suggest that Amir is ashamed of his ethnicity and perhaps even afraid that openly associating with Islam would negatively impact his career. He likely (and perhaps rightly) assumes that he’ll fare better at work by passing himself off as Hindu, because he believes that Americans tend to discriminate against people with Muslim-sounding names. Siva is a Hindu god, so the fact that Amir’s boss gave him a statue of Siva means that his colleagues do indeed think that he’s Hindu.
Themes
Just then, the intercom buzzes: much to Amir’s surprise, Emily has invited Amir’s 22-year-old nephew, Abe, over. The interruption annoys Amir, but Emily insists on inviting Abe up to the apartment. She says that she doesn’t like what’s happening and wants Amir to do something about it, but Amir doesn’t know what more he can do. He reminds her that he’s already been to see “that guy in prison.” Abe knocks on the door walks in, dressed in a hoodie, jeans, and sneakers. Amir greets Abe as “Hussein”—he’s not going to start calling him Abe Jensen. Abe says that his life has gotten easier since he changed his name to something non-Islamic. This annoys Amir, but Emily reminds him that he changed his name too.
It’s not yet clear why Emily invited Abe over without telling Amir, but it seems to have something to do with “that guy in prison.” The play has hinted at the fact that Amir feels insecure in his career because of his ethnic and religious identity, so it’s likely that this mysterious association with someone in prison adds to his worries about what people will think of him. Meanwhile, Abe’s name change (from the Arabic Hussein to the stereotypically American-sounding Abe Jensen) reinforces the idea that many South Asian people from Muslim cultures hide their true identities because they fear Islamophobia. The fact that multiple characters have this concern suggests that U.S. society tends to treat Muslim Americans with suspicion, likely because they erroneously associate Muslim culture with Islamic terrorism. This association fuels prejudice against innocent people from Muslim backgrounds who have nothing to do with terrorism.
Themes
Abe wants Amir to legally represent his friend Imam Fareed, who’s been accused of funding the terrorist organization Hamas just because he collected charity money for his mosque. Imam Fareed already has a team of Jewish lawyers, but he wants a Muslim lawyer instead. Amir doesn’t want to get involved—he thinks that Imam Fareed is antisemitic. Amir doesn’t think much of Islam, though Abe says that their family thinks Amir was a good Muslim kid before he turned against the religion.
The presumably false charge against Imam Fareed reinforces the idea that U.S. society tends to automatically associate Muslims with Islamic terrorism, which leads to discrimination against Muslim Americans for ordinary activities (like collecting charity money). Such discrimination makes it difficult for Muslim Americans to openly participate in American society, which probably contributes to why Amir and Abe hide their Muslim roots.
Themes
Shocked, Amir tells Abe to sit down and listen to him. He tells the story of his first crush, a girl named Rivkah: they exchanged notes in their sixth-grade class, and Amir’s mother saw one of the notes. She got upset because Rivkah is a Jewish name, and she told Amir that God hated Jews and that she would break his bones if she heard Rivkah’s name in her house again. Then, she spat on Amir. The next day, Amir asked Rivkah if she was Jewish, and she said yes. Amir spat in her face. Reflecting on that event, Amir thinks that renouncing Islam was smart.
Amir was raised in a strict Muslim household, and his upbringing seems to have traumatized him. He’s clearly ashamed of the racist and antisemitic beliefs that his mother held, and the way he treated Rivkah decades ago still haunts him. Amir renounced his Islamic faith because he wanted to distance himself from such values and the trauma surrounding them—and this also seems to be why he wants nothing to do with Imam Fareed.
Themes
Emily is surprised, since Amir’s mother was always nice to her. Amir explains that Emily won his mother over—but Muslim people generally don’t think that white women have self-respect, because they take their clothes off to make people like them. Abe interjects that not everyone thinks that, though he admits that he’s heard it before—even from Amir’s mother. Imam Fareed, however, isn’t like that: he even let Emily sit in his mosque and sketch the building for weeks. Amir doesn’t understand what Emily sees in Islam.
Amir continues to expose the problematic values that his mother raised him with, which even Abe reluctantly admits are fairly common in the Muslim community. Though Abe and Emily agree that not all Muslim people are as racist or sexist as Amir’s mother was, Amir still wants nothing to do with his Muslim identity. It seems that he can’t separate it from the shame he feels about the regressive values his mother taught him.
Themes
Emily asks Amir to remember the beautiful mosque they once visited in Spain, which Amir told her made him want to pray. She also points out that Matisse (an artist Amir likes) was influenced by Islamic art like Moroccan tiles, but Amir brushes her off. Abe then urges Amir think of Imam Fareed as a wise man who’s been wrongly imprisoned, rather than a Muslim, but Amir snaps that there’s nothing he can do about it. After an awkward silence, Abe leaves the apartment. Amir can’t fathom why Abe wanted to come to the United States from Pakistan but now spends all his time at an Islamic center.
Emily dismisses Amir’s criticisms of Islam, even though he’s actually lived under the religion, while she never has. Instead, Emily chooses to only see the aspects of Muslim culture that she wants to see: the beautiful architecture and art, not the actual religious values that Amir takes issue with. Emily seems to think of Islam as different, otherworldly, and exotic, revealing her Orientalism (a tendency for Western people to view Eastern cultures in a patronizing or exploitative way). Abe, meanwhile, seems to be stuck between feeling ashamed of his Muslim identity (as evidenced by his name change and typical American style of dress) and wanting to connect more deeply with his culture and religion. The way Amir snaps at Abe once again shows that others talking over him about Islam triggers his anger—which he struggles to control when it surfaces.
Themes
Emily is upset that Amir won’t see Imam Fareed as a human being who needs help, which further annoys Amir. When he went to see Imam Fareed in prison, the imam just tried to convince him to start praying. Emily cuts Amir off, saying that Imam Fareed was probably trying to be useful, and that he needs his own people around him right now. Amir doesn’t think he's one of those people, but Emily disagrees. Amir is exasperated; he wants to stop talking about this. Emily, on the other hand, doesn’t think they talk about it enough. The couple stares at each other until Emily tells Amir that she loves him.
As Emily berates Amir for his negative attitude about Islam, she’s dismissing his trauma surrounding his religious upbringing—and again, this dismissiveness makes him feel resentful. Amir’s encounter with Imam Fareed implies that when he was growing up, he probably felt pressured to adhere to Islamic rituals like prayer, which likely contributes to his hostility toward Islam as an adult. When Amir feels his past trauma being triggered, as he does now, he tends to shut down the conversation. This habit suggests that he’s repressing his conflicted feelings about his upbringing, as he’d rather avoid the topic altogether.
Themes
