Disgraced

Throughout western education, the Ancient Greeks are portrayed as the cradle of advanced civilization. They are lauded as the foundation of democracy, art, philosophy, and science. The defeat of Ancient Persia in the Greco-Persian Wars in the mid-4th century BCE launched the division of east and west as well as the privileging of Greek and Roman history. Emily surprises Isaac in Scene 2 when she tells him that Islamic artists were the source of artistic techniques that are credited to later western artists. She asserts, “The Muslims gave us Aristotle. Without them, we probably wouldn’t even have visual perspective” (30). Emily and Isaac use this knowledge to claim that Islam is universal and therefore give themselves permission to use and exploit Islamic themes.

Amir, however, wants to privilege the west because he wants to be accepted in the United States. The play follows an Aristotelian definition of tragic drama and plot structure, also known as a climactic or Freytag model. According to Aristotle, a tragedy concerns powerful and significant people—people who are better than the average citizens. At the beginning of the play, Amir is powerful and in control. He has authority. In a Greek tragedy, as explained by Aristotle, the protagonist begins at a high level in society and falls to a low level or dies due to a tragic flaw or fate. Amir’s tragic flaw is his self-hatred. Amir chose a Jewish-owned law firm because he wanted to distance himself from who he was. He changed his name and his social security number, even though lying about himself is a constant threat to his success.

Fate intervenes when the New York Times makes it seem as if Amir is representing the imam when he is not. Amir loses everything to his self-hatred. He is passed over for a promotion and eventually fired from his job. His wife has an affair with a man who supports her love of Islam, and Amir loses his marriage when he lets his anger at himself explode and hits his wife. Amir even loses the respect of his nephew when Abe sees how Amir’s self-loathing has undermined his own success and hurt someone he loves. Privileging western culture forces Amir into this Aristotelian formula for drama, and it is inevitable from the beginning of the play that Amir will fall.