Amir Kapoor was born in the United States, under the name Amir Abdullah, to immigrant parents from Pakistan. Amir’s understanding of his own sense of self is based on the new identity he creates by giving himself an Indian last name and attempting to assimilate into American society. At the beginning of the play, Amir believes that he has recreated himself. His marriage to a White woman is part of this assimilation, and Amir becomes angry when Emily embraces the Muslim culture that he has worked so hard to distance himself from. As Amir unravels throughout the play and loses control, he reveals that he must constantly fight the prejudice that was ingrained in him as a child. His mother spat in his face to make sure that he never forgot the lesson about hating Jewish people, and when he spits in Isaac’s face, he demonstrates that he never did. At the end of the play, Amir understands how he destroyed himself and his life, but it is too late to repair the damage.

Emily is an artist who seems to have a White savior complex but does not understand her own privilege as a White woman. She has a history of dating men of color, one of which (as Emily and Amir joke) supposedly spoke little English and greatly upset her parents.