Author: Angelo A

In Laura Wilkinson’s novel American Spy, the characters of Marie and Slater exhibit a complex and multifaceted approach to ethics. Throughout the novel, the two characters are forced to confront difficult moral dilemmas and must navigate a complex web of competing moral principles.

One of the most prominent ethical frameworks that is evident in Marie and Slater’s decision-making is deontology, the belief that certain actions are inherently right or wrong, regardless of their consequences. For example, when Marie is faced with the decision of whether to betray her country by passing classified information to the Haitian government, she struggles with the knowledge that her actions will have far-reaching consequences, but ultimately decides to act on principle. As she reflects, “I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do what I knew was right” (Wilkinson, p. 189).

In contrast to Marie’s adherence to deontological principles, Slater’s approach to ethics is more utilitarian, focusing on the maximization of overall happiness and well-being. This is evident in his willingness to manipulate and deceive others in order to achieve his goals. For example, when he is tasked with recruiting Marie as a spy, he uses emotional manipulation and lies in order to gain her trust and convince her to join the mission. While his actions may be seen as unethical by some, Slater justifies them by arguing that they are necessary for the greater good.

Another key ethical framework that is evident in American Spy is virtue ethics, which emphasizes the importance of developing and maintaining character traits that are considered morally good. Both Marie and Slater exhibit a strong commitment to certain virtues, such as loyalty and courage. For Marie, this is evident in her willingness to risk her life and career in order to protect the people of Haiti from oppressive regimes. For Slater, it is evident in his determination to see the mission through to completion, even in the face of great personal danger.

Feminist ethics also play a role in the novel, as Marie grapples with the ways in which her gender impacts her ability to navigate the male-dominated world of espionage. Throughout the novel, Marie is forced to confront the ways in which her gender makes her vulnerable to exploitation and discrimination, and she must find ways to assert her agency and autonomy in a field that is traditionally dominated by men.

Finally, global ethics are also at play in American Spy, as the novel explores the complex and interconnected nature of international politics. As Marie and Slater carry out their mission, they must consider the impacts of their actions not only on their own country, but also on the global community. In the end, their decisions have far-reaching consequences that extend beyond the boundaries of their own nation.

Overall, American Spy presents a nuanced and complex portrayal of ethics, showing how individuals must navigate a web of competing moral principles in order to make difficult decisions. Through the experiences of Marie and Slater, the novel illustrates the ways in which ethical frameworks such as deontology, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, feminist ethics, and global ethics can all play a role in shaping an individual’s moral compass.

The Cold War began from the year 1947 and lasted until 1991. It was a war fought indirectly between both America and the Soviet Union meaning the two power houses fought each other through other countries. The Cold War is known as a general term to refer to the geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. The justification behind the war was the fear of the growing communism within Europe, America feared the domino affect would occur should countries like Korea and Vietnam. Thus America lent their aid to the foreign countries fighting off their wars to avoid and counteract communism from taking over the world. Although there was never an actual war between the United States and the Soviet Union there was huge tension between the two with major events occurring known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis regarded to when America had missiles placed within Turkey while Russia had missiles placed in Cuba as a countermeasure and the two countries were mere seconds away from declaring all out nuclear war on each other until they both managed to come to an agreement to lay down arms and remove their missiles from the countries.

The Year of the Spy occurred during the Cold War within the year 1985. Given such high tensions had rose within the world Russia and America both needed to stay ahead of one another by grabbing information off each other. The year held a string of high-profile espionage arrests by the FBI. Major names within those arrest include John Anthony Walker, Jonathan Jay Pollard, Sharon Marie Scranage and Larry Wu-tai Chin all of whom worked for separate countries. The Year of the Spy increased tensions in the West by having people constantly paranoid of each other and their allies not knowing who to trust everyone was in constant suspect of each other.

The poem “Halloween Party” by Keen Nesbitt makes me feel amused as the story I ended up finding funny. The speaker is a student within school and from who Nesbitt is dressing up as I can assume that the speaker is a male. The setting/context would regard Halloween as they’re about to have a Halloween party that Nesbitt is getting ready for. In this poem there is a narrative of the narrators story of what happened during October as he got ready for his Halloween party. As the narrator narrates the story he does in fact rhyme while also presenting an entertaining story. There isn’t much a theme presented in the poem as he’s really just rhyming his words while giving descriptive words of his costume. The structure of the poem would have to be in stanzas as the poem is basically just groups of lines built together.

The piece “Where I learned to read” by Salvatore Scibana is a story narrated in 1st person. He essentially speaks about his struggle through high school as he never found classes interesting and often struggled to even pass classes. He actually goes throughout all of high school with no goals in life working at his fast food restaurant with actually believing that the Colonel would hire him anywhere in the world. It isn’t until he is introduced to college in where he can finally begin reading pieces he finds interesting, then his life begins to change for the better. Thus the story mainly takes place in St John’s (his college) where he finally learns how to read and enjoy his readings. Personally I did not enjoy this piece as I found his reasoning for disliking and struggling in school almost idiotic. He is quick to blame school for always giving uninteresting books and only college has these “books” he can find enjoyment in, the way I see it he could’ve just picked up a book on his own time, learn to read there and discover his preferred genre.