Disgraced, by Ayad Akhtar is a play in which a Muslim man, Amir, debates with his white, American wife, her Jewish friend, and his black coworker on the matter of Islam. In Disgraced, Akhtar uses the conflict between Isaac and Amir to remove the figurative masks they have constructed to avoid their respective stereotypes and reveal their true prejudices and cultural allegiances.
Isaac tries to present himself as a knowledgeable, non prejudiced person but as the play progresses, Amir frustrates him enough to reveal his deeper biases. Isaac brags, “I happen to know a few very brilliant Muslim women who choose to wear the veil… “ to which Jory responds, “Who do you know that wears the veil?”(p. 60). He answers, “Khalid’s sister,” and Jory …show more content…
All the women in his family wear the veil. By choice,” and Amir rebuts, “First of all, they’re probably wearing head scarves. Not the veil. It’s not the same thing —”(p. 60). Isaac mentions that he “know[s] a few very brilliant Muslim women” to make himself appear to have Muslim friends which gives him the image of being multicultural. He also decides to emphasize the word “choose” to punctuate the point that Muslim women find their veil as a source of pride and not as an oppressive object. However, as the discussion goes on, it is revealed that the single woman Isaac knows, is “Khalid’s sister,” Khalid being his trainer at the gym. Isaac claimed he knew “a few very brilliant Muslim women,” yet in reality he only knows one, and that is through the trainer at the gym, so it is highly unlikely he has met Khalid’s sister face to face. Amir quickly cuts in to call Isaac’s lies, saying that the headwear Isaac …show more content…
Amir announces, “AMIR: I’m not Muslim, I’m an apostate. Which means I’ve renounced my faith… let’s talk about something that is in the text. Wife beating… AMIR (Mocking): Yeah. That’s how Muslims believe the Quran came to humanity. The angel Gabriel supposedly dictated it Muhammad word for word,”(p. 57). Amir places an emphasis on “apostate” and later goes on to define it. He is so concerned with the thought of him being associated with Muslims that he feels the need to literally explain the idea of being an apostate word by word. He also brings up the negative aspects of Islam, the “wife beating”, and also ridicules Islam, mockingly describing the origin story of the Quran. He tries to distance himself with Islam by portraying it in an unflattering light for Westerners. Later in the play, Amir’s dissociation with Islam becomes blurrier when confronted about Muslim pride. Isaac asks, “Did you feel pride on September Eleventh?” to which Amir responds, with hesitation, “If I’m honest, yes,”(p. 62). When questioned why he was proud, he answered, “That we were finally winning,”(p. 63). Amir is essentially admitting to supporting the radical Islamic ideals that Al-Qaeda vehemently support. Isaac brought up September Eleventh because it is one of the main factors that increased anti-Muslim sentiment in America. Every American views
Isaac tries to present himself as a knowledgeable, non prejudiced person but as the play progresses, Amir frustrates him enough to reveal his deeper biases. Isaac brags, “I happen to know a few very brilliant Muslim women who choose to wear the veil… “ to which Jory responds, “Who do you know that wears the veil?”(p. 60). He answers, “Khalid’s sister,” and Jory …show more content…
All the women in his family wear the veil. By choice,” and Amir rebuts, “First of all, they’re probably wearing head scarves. Not the veil. It’s not the same thing —”(p. 60). Isaac mentions that he “know[s] a few very brilliant Muslim women” to make himself appear to have Muslim friends which gives him the image of being multicultural. He also decides to emphasize the word “choose” to punctuate the point that Muslim women find their veil as a source of pride and not as an oppressive object. However, as the discussion goes on, it is revealed that the single woman Isaac knows, is “Khalid’s sister,” Khalid being his trainer at the gym. Isaac claimed he knew “a few very brilliant Muslim women,” yet in reality he only knows one, and that is through the trainer at the gym, so it is highly unlikely he has met Khalid’s sister face to face. Amir quickly cuts in to call Isaac’s lies, saying that the headwear Isaac …show more content…
Amir announces, “AMIR: I’m not Muslim, I’m an apostate. Which means I’ve renounced my faith… let’s talk about something that is in the text. Wife beating… AMIR (Mocking): Yeah. That’s how Muslims believe the Quran came to humanity. The angel Gabriel supposedly dictated it Muhammad word for word,”(p. 57). Amir places an emphasis on “apostate” and later goes on to define it. He is so concerned with the thought of him being associated with Muslims that he feels the need to literally explain the idea of being an apostate word by word. He also brings up the negative aspects of Islam, the “wife beating”, and also ridicules Islam, mockingly describing the origin story of the Quran. He tries to distance himself with Islam by portraying it in an unflattering light for Westerners. Later in the play, Amir’s dissociation with Islam becomes blurrier when confronted about Muslim pride. Isaac asks, “Did you feel pride on September Eleventh?” to which Amir responds, with hesitation, “If I’m honest, yes,”(p. 62). When questioned why he was proud, he answered, “That we were finally winning,”(p. 63). Amir is essentially admitting to supporting the radical Islamic ideals that Al-Qaeda vehemently support. Isaac brought up September Eleventh because it is one of the main factors that increased anti-Muslim sentiment in America. Every American views