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Scene 1
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
Two weeks later, Emily sits at the dining table, reading aloud a newspaper article about Imam Fareed’s trial. The article quotes Amir as supporting the imam and claiming that the justice department has no viable case. Amir is upset because the newspaper makes him sound like Imam Fareed’s lawyer, but really, he was just commenting on the case. Emily disagrees: she doesn’t think it’s a big deal, especially since Imam Fareed is innocent anyway. That’s not Amir’s point, though—he’s worried about what people will think, though he hopes that people will notice his last name isn’t a Muslim one. Emily tells him to call the newspaper if the article bothers him so much, but Amir is still worried.
Amir’s reaction to the newspaper article speaks to the way many South Asian Americans don’t feel safe publicly supporting Muslim communities, because they fear racist backlash for associating with anything to do with Islam. Emily dismisses Amir’s fears as unfounded and exaggerated, failing to acknowledge the discrimination that people from Muslim backgrounds often experience in U.S. society. Her dismissive attitude makes Amir feel unseen and does nothing to calm his worries.
Themes
Emily thinks that speaking out in support of Imam Fareed was the right thing to do. She’s proud of Amir, and she thinks Mort will be too—philanthropy makes wealthy executives look good. As Amir continues to obsess over the article, the intercom buzzes: it’s Isaac. Emily tries to shut down her conversation with Amir, because Isaac is coming to accompany her on a studio visit with an art curator. Amir, annoyed, reminds Emily that he’s the one who set up that meeting. Emily asks if they can talk about the article later, but Amir just walks away to the bedroom and begins slamming things around as he searches for his phone.
Rather than trying to understand Islam for what it is, Emily is more interested in how supporting Muslim culture can benefit Amir professionally and socially. This begins to suggest that Emily is only concerned with looking worldly and progressive, not with addressing the real concerns that ethnic and religious minorities (like Amir) have about the unique challenges they face in U.S. society. The way Amir angrily leaves the room and slams things again implies that he struggles to control his emotions when people invalidate the way he feels about his Muslim identity.
Themes
When Amir returns to the living room, Emily tells him that he’s probably just overthinking the article. Amir points out that Emily wants to make a painting about some waiter being rude to him, yet she doesn’t seem to care about something that might actually affect his career. Emily doesn’t understand what one event has to do with the other. Just then, Isaac (who’s an art curator at the Whitney Museum) knocks on the door, interrupting the tense environment. Amir curtly thanks Isaac for a nice weekend and coldly says goodbye to Emily, who leans in intimately and tells Amir that everything will be fine at work.
Emily continues invalidating Amir’s fears as exaggerations—she doesn’t understand his experience as an ethnic minority in a society that’s largely prejudiced against people from his background. Emily’s dismissiveness makes Amir feel resentful, a dynamic that’s clearly building tension between them and undermining their relationship.
Themes
Emily fetches some coffee for Isaac while he looks around the apartment a little intrusively. He picks up a book, and they chat about various art shows. Over the weekend, Isaac told Emily that, as a white woman, she shouldn’t use Islamic forms in her paintings. Emily disagreed. Now that Isaac has read reviews of Emily’s work, he’s changed his mind. He looks at Emily’s painting of an Islamic garden and admits that it has presence. Despite his initial hesitance, Isaac appreciates how earnest Emily’s approach to painting is. However, he’s worried that people will accuse her of Orientalism—especially since she a “brown husband.” Emily swears at Isaac for saying this, which Isaac approves of—she’s prepared for what the critics will say.
Emily thinks that it’s okay to use traditional Islamic imagery in her art, even though she doesn’t come from a Muslim culture herself. She’s also received positive reviews for doing so, suggesting that she’ll be able to profit from her use of Islamic imagery. Isaac and Emily both know that many people think it’s exploitative when Western people treat non-Western cultures as exotic source material that they can freely use as they see fit (this is what “Orientalism” refers to). But despite Isaac’s initial worry, he wants to work with Emily because he thinks that her Islamic-inspired art will be lucrative. In this way, both of them are okay with disrespecting another culture, as long as it means they’re able to use that culture for their own benefit. Isaac even jokingly refers to Amir as Emily’s “brown husband” rather than by his name, which further suggests that Isaac doesn’t personally take issue with casual racism or Orientalism—he’s only worried about public perception.
Themes
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Emily thinks that people obsess over the politics of art and forget to look at the art itself. She tells Isaac to look at the Islamic tiling galleries when he goes to the Frieze Art Fair later this year—they’ll blow his mind. The patterns, repetition, and meditative aspects of the tiles are extraordinary. Isaac tells Emily that she sounds like an American minimalist who’s trying to “obliterate the ego.” She quips back that Islamic artists have been doing that for “a thousand years,” so they know better. It’s about time that artists started drawing inspiration from Islamic art—Emily thinks that Islam is part of “us” too. Isaac looks confused, but he agrees, nevertheless.
Emily romanticizes Islamic cultural artifacts despite having no real connection to them as a non-Muslim person. She even suggests that Islam is part of “us”—that is, a part of Western culture that everyone should be freely able to use. But Isaac points out that Emily sounds like any other American artist who’s tried to “obliterate the ego,” or achieve spiritual transcendence, something typically associated with Eastern religions like Buddhism. Her attitude, as Isaac previously suggested, is Orientalizing: she sees Islamic culture (like the tiles) as exotic, mysterious, and foreign. Moreover, she feels entitled to represent them as she wants, through her own Western perspective. In this way, Emily’s art is exploitative: she’s garnering critical acclaim as a Western artist who’s essentially taking advantage of Islamic imagery, while actual Islamic artists who’ve used the same techniques for “a thousand years” haven’t been as widely recognized.
Themes
