Amir's Disgraced Life: Conflicts of Religion & Perception - Essay Sample

Introduction

Amir Kapoor is displayed in a play called Disgraced wrote by Ayad Akhtar. Amir is a successful lawyer and has a wife called Emily. Amir is born in Pakistani and raised in America with Muslim grounds while his wife is an artist who concentrates on Muslim themes in her arts. The play shows events that happen to Amir and eventually leads to a breakdown of his life (Gale, 2018 pg.10). Conflicts faced by Amir are mostly religious-based and different perceptions of various characters on Islam. Amir and Abe his nephew, have many struggles and are discriminated in their entire lives (Akhtar, 2013 pg. 7). The cause of their problems is the rift between Muslims and Americans. Disagreements between Jews and Muslims are also another source of their struggle and discrimination. The essay evaluates Amir's life challenges encountered by being Muslim citizens.

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Amir was a recognized lawyer in a Jewish dominated firm and had rejected his religion although in people's face was seen as a Muslim. Joining the firm was abled by the fact that he had to change his last name to an Indian one (Ali, 2015 pg. 13). Failure to change his name would have resulted in cultural conflicts and joining the firm would be difficult. The name suggested to people on something that wasn't true considering the different perceptions about Muslims.

Being a Muslim made Amir in a dilemma position on the case of imam Fareed. Abe was the one who suggested Amir represent Fareed on his case. To prevent his livelihood as a lawyer in the firm, Amir had to distance himself from Islam although his family wanted him to defend the imam (Akhtar, 2013 pg. 10). His wife Emily also was for the suggestion that Amir should support imam before the court. Fareed was imprisoned because of a case that involved in financing groups that support terrorism. The case was raised before dinner where they had invited other people. Helping imam would result in Amir losing his livelihood for supporting Islam. It was a religious perception.

Different perceptions of Islam between Amir and wife had an impact on the life of Amir. It often brought misunderstanding between them (Gale, 2018 pg.14). The entire life of Amir was characterized by cases of division and separation from other people because of religious issues of Islam. The experience made Amir hostile to his own religion Islam. The pain of the past was therefore connected to religion. Emily has a different perception of Islam from that of Amir. Islam was a culturally and also rich spiritual religion (Benea, 2015 pg. 20). Emily appreciated Islam and had respect for the religion centrally to Amir.

Perceptions of the couple made them live in tension all time due to Islam showing the hard life of a Muslim who is living in America. The two extreme perceptions was a spotlight on the society and forces Muslims to have a more extreme than a simple rational perception like Amir (Gale, 2018 pg.21). Emily struggles to keep her rational view on Islam represents the part of society that respects the religion but struggles I living in America. Perception of Amir was changed because of the negative results got for being a Muslim citizen and being forced to abandon.

Amir in the play hosts dinner where the guests were Jory (a colleague at work for Amir) and her husband, Isaac. Isaac is Jewish and also a dealer of Emily's art. Emily was a white American and Jory was an African American woman (Akhtar, 2013 pg. 32). The issue of the imam was raised during dinner again. The conversion was diverted to the topic of religious faith. Islamic and Judaic tradition, religious books, and racial issues which results in mounting tensions. Amir reveals the longtime clench secret towards Israel and causes his friends to be disgusted (Ali, 2015 pg. 16). He criticized the Quran as the source of Tabila and adds that it advocates for the violence of man beating his wife.

After the conversation, Amir and Jory left the apartment to purchase a bottle of champagne. Isaac the art dealer had a secret affair with Emily over the past and Isaac loved her while hiding. Unfortunately, Jory and Amir returned to the apartments as the two secret lovers were about to kiss (Akhtar, 2013 pg. 35). In the process, it is revealed that Jory has been chosen as the partner in the law firm in place if Amir. The reason behind Jory's selection is that Amir was present in the trial of Fareed the imam and had a more powerful position than Jory in the firm.

Jory and Isaac departed from the apartments with the course of their relationship unknown considering Isaac infidelity. Emily after departing of the guests she confesses the secret relationship with Isaac which disappoints Amir and beats her (Akhtar, 2013 pg. 39). Abe comes into the apartments and founds Amir standing over Emily. The play later shows Amir packing his belongings and getting ready to exit the apartment. It shows that Amir due to Islam eventually not only lost a job but also his wife.

After an unknown period in the play, Emily moves put of the apartment too. She is seen with Amir's nephew Hussein who is being investigated by the FBI. He and his friend got in trouble due to terrorist remarks they said while talking coffee (Akhtar, 2013 pg. 40). Amir's help is asked by Emily but Hussein is against Amir's efforts to fit in the situation. As he explains his experience, Hussein claims to have a better understanding behind November 11 and leaves Amir alone.

In the play, Emily paints Amir referencing from the portrait of Juan de Pareja made by Diego Velazquez. Happens when Amir had faced racism discrimination in the restaurant. It raised a question on the relationship between Amir and Juan de Pareja and their position in society (Akhtar, 2013 pg. 27). Everything that happened on Amir's life seemed to be caused by Islam religious issues. The painting was about the religion considering different perceptions between Emily and Jory. Amir questioned his wife as to why he was portrayed as Moos who was a slave to Velazquez.

The play has two major themes of Islam phobia and issues of being a Muslim American citizen. The two couples present at dinner exchanges their views on faith and politics which is taking place in the current world (Gale, 2018 pg.33). Although Amir and his friends were literate they still caught into religion-based arguments. The example of Amir shows how Islam and terrorism have impacted the lives of the actors who represent public issues. All the other actors too witnessed the effects of religious perceptions in their living.

Muslim citizens in American to survive in the country had to fight hard and suffer like Amir. The trouble faced by Kapoor by being Muslim made him reject his heritage of Muslim upbringing. Kapoor had to abandon his surname and adopt his father's Indian name to properly be accepted in the law firm (Akhtar, 2013 pg. 20). The cases of Amir Life being affected due to Islam upbringing acts as a snapshot for the challenges of Muslim Americans' lives.

Akhtar the novelist and screenwriter, stated in an interview that the title of the play had moth a literal and metaphorical meaning. The literal part is how Amir Kapoor plays the role of disgrace before the audience with all the difficulties expressed in his life as a Muslim American (Ali, 2015 pg. 22). The metaphorically part is demonstrated by events that comprise the history of the colonial rule of the West against the natives from the Muslim world. The disgrace is still present in the current world.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the changing of name by Amir to Kapoor when migrated to America and left his original heritage and cultures back home to adapt new American forced changes shows the struggle of Amir. Despite the change of the name to portray an Indian identity, Amir continuous to struggle each day to prevent being known as his ideal identity of being a Muslim (Ali, 2015 pg. 29). Emily finds inspiration in Islamic structures although she didn't have a history of being a Muslim. The fact that she never has past and personal experiences of being a Muslim makes her want to explore the religion with a different perceptive from that of Amir. Amir loses his heritage, promotion, job, family, and friends for being a Muslim American.

Works Cited

Akhtar, Ayad. Disgraced. A&C Black, 2013. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=mZ8dAAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=%E2%80%9CDisgraced%E2%80%9D+by+Ayad+Akhtar&ots=QPe4HsZ8r7&sig=feH7zleprfoxzRhive3sFV0Hhig&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CDisgraced%E2%80%9D%20by%20Ayad%20Akhtar&f=false

Ali, Ragab Selim. "Loss of Identity in Ayad Akhtar's American Dervish." International Journal of Literature and Arts 3.5 (2015): 80-87. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/05e4/eac2d590601641b2a3db9a95bda19cb1e20a.pdf

Benea, Diana. "NEGOTIATING THE QUANDARIES OF POST-9/11 PAKISTANI AMERICAN IDENTITY IN AYAD AKHTAR'S DISGRACED." Moravian Journal of Literature & Film 6.2 (2015). http://www.academia.edu/download/61091746/BeneaProofs.pdf

Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Ayad Akhtar's" Disgraced". Gale, Cengage Learning, 2018. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fgBdDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT3&dq=%E2%80%9CDisgraced%E2%80%9D+by+Ayad+Akhtar&ots=Ugq-513H9R&sig=aoxDlVST1fn10sRWn6FbTdXfY9M&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CDisgraced%E2%80%9D%20by%20Ayad%20Akhtar&f=false.