Coffeehouse #4

An Ethical Spy

In this essay, I will explore Lauren Wilkonsin’s novel “American Spy.” More specifically, this essay will take a close look at the code of ethics within the characters Marie Mitchell as well as Thomas Sinkara. While there are five codes of ethics (deontology ethics, virtue ethics, utilitarian ethics, feminist ethics, and global ethics), the ones that drives the decisions made by these characters precisely are Utalitarian Ethics, Feminist ethics, as well as Virtue ethics. In order to prove this, I will first break down feminist ethics that is presented in Marie Mitchell’s moral decisions. Next, I will examine the utilitarian ethics that Thomas Sinkara so strongly exhibits, which represents what he stood for, as well as what led to his downfall. Finally, upon the breakdown of these characters I will explain how Sinkara’s drive and influence on people steered Marie to virtue ethic.

Marie Mitchell embodies feminist ethics through her refusal to conform to societal expectations and gender roles. She challenges the patriarchal norms of her workplace and society, refusing to be limited by her gender. She is determined to succeed in her career and refusing to be held back by the biases and discrimination against women. Marie Mitchell originally began working for the FBI in 1983 up until 1987, and was discriminated against because she was in fact a woman; a black woman at that. Her boss Ric Gold was a clear sexist as she mentions “he’d interrupted during a briefing to ask me to run to the kitchen and get him a cup of coffee. Everyone in the room laughed”(20). Her boss would often belittle her and turn her down from high-profile jobs and the particular reasoning behind this circumstance was simply her being an African-American woman. Ric Gold showed a clear lack of respect for Marie and this lack of respect publicly displayed to her caused her colleagues to belittle her as well as “I was deliberately excluded from operational meetings and told it was because men were better at that kind of planning. . . agents didn’t feel safe with me backing them up”(20). . .

  Thomas Sinkara presents a utilitarian ethical framework as he believes that the ultimate goal is to serve the greater good and promote the interests of the nation and its citizens. For this exact reason, the people of Burkina Faso had a deep love for Sinkara. The love for him expanded so far to the point Asalfo (the cafe owner) fixed his radio just so he could listen to Sinkara’s speech. “When he finished his speech, Asalfo applauded the radio. . .  impossible to ignore the effect of sitting with people who saw in Thomas a capacity for a brighter future. . . and felt  myself turning towards him and his revolution” (183). The effect that Sinkara had on his people trickled down onto Marie as well as she grew to be fond of him. Sinkara was a well respected man in West Africa who “. . .strove to make the West African nation economically self-sufficient, promoting local industry and food security, redistributing land from landlords to peasants. He also promoted gender equality, proscribing polygamy and female circumcision. And he spoke out passionately against South African apartheid, and Western meddling in Africa” (Aidi, 1). . .

Marie Mitchell embodies virtue ethics through her dedication to doing what is right, even in difficult and morally ambiguous situations. Throughout the novel, Marie is faced with difficult choices and moral dilemmas. She always acts in accordance with her values and beliefs,  even when it means going against the orders of her superiors or the expectations of society. . .

Overall, the book “American Spy” presents ethical dilemmas that are common in the world of espionage and highlights the personal and moral struggles that come with working in this field. Marie was faced with ethical dilemmas throughout her story as she struggled to be guided by her moral compass. The needle of her moral compass eventually guided her onto the right path as she gave into it instead of rebelling against it. Everything that we do in life is done by a set of codes of ethics, so we should examine our own personal ethics before making a decision.