Amir

Amir is the play’s central character, its protagonist. He is described as being in his early-to-mid thirties, initially portrayed as being ambitious and hard-working and, over the course of the narrative, eventually revealed to be a bitter, angry liar and racist. He also is a non-practicing Muslim, although as the play also reveals, he has difficulty completely letting go of the childhood lessons he learned about Islam and its relationship to the rest of the world. In addition, he is portrayed as not only wanting to be as successful as the non-Muslims around him, but as approaching the level of success to which he aspires, albeit not quickly enough. Ironically, he has difficulty accepting the determination of his nephew Abe to even more fully assimilate into the non-Muslim world, telling him that no matter how much he tries to disguise himself (for example: by changing his name...