Muhammad Raihan
ENG 1121
Prof. Scanlan
12/11/22

Loyalty in Friendship

In the novel “American Spy” by Lauren Wilkinson I will examine the ethical decisions made by Marie Mitchell and Robbie Young. Marie is a mainly a Virtue and feminist ethicist while Robbie is more of a Utilitarian ethicist. When Marie was young, she felt disdain towards Robbie because of his perspective on life, however as an adult she realizes why she loves Robbie’s personality and tries to find it in others. In order to support this, first I will explore why Robbie was rebellious as a teenager and how Utilitarian ethics drove him to commit crimes. Next, I will compare Robbie and Marie with her overlapping ethics. Lastly, I will reveal how they both have matured and which ethics they now follow.

In order to understand why Robbie is a utilitarian, the environment and era he grew up in must be taken into account. Knowing that utilitarian ethicists do not like follow authority and will make decisions that they think are the most beneficial ones. It can be inferred that Robbie does not admire law enforcement but instead people who are utilitarian like him in the 1970s. One major role model of his in 1971 is the American social activist Abbie Hoffman who also wrote the book called “Steal This Book.” According to Wikipedia the book “focused on ways to fight against the government and against corporations in any way possible. The book is written in the form of a guide to the youth.” This book reflects the content that Robbie would look for and follow. The decisions he would make portray utilitarian ethics because in the novel Robbie steals cash from a pizza place and when Marie scolds him for it he says “‘You got to read Steal This Book. Then you’d understand…. Off the pigs. And welcome to the revolution, baby.’” (69) While it is true that the consequence of Robbie’s crimes would not yield a good result, he truly believes that him stealing is his freedom and revolution and it maximize his overall good because he gains something for free. Knowing that Robbie is a black teenager who is broke as a utilitarian he would think that taking what he needs through theft and also encouraging others like Marie would increase their overall happiness and relieve their pain or unhappiness.