Abstract
The paper discusses how Marilyn Cross's bold and impetuous sneaking aboard Barton's space ship has put the pilot in a moral dilemma: dump the kid or sacrifice the lives of six half-cadavors. The paper asserts that she did not committ an act so terrible that we would normally consider deserving of an execution, but the nature of the mission gives Barton no choice; he had his orders and followed a utilitarian path that, however gross and heartwrenching it may be, is obviously the right one: he's got a bunch of other people to save. The paper asserts that the way the story is structured, the question is put unfairly to the reader: if the stowaway was male (or male and older) there would no question of shooting him out into space with the garbage. The paper argues that male valour (or the myths of it that we live with and cultivate) is being manipulated by the writer for the sake of making the question more complicated than it is.

From the Paper
"Marilyn Cross's bold and impetuous sneaking aboard Barton's space ship has put the pilot in a moral dilemma: dump the kid or sacrifice the lives of six half-cadavors. She did not committ an act so terrible that we would normally consider deserving of an execution, but the nature of the mission gives Barton no choice. He had his orders and followed a utilitarian path that, however gross and heartwrenching it may be, is obviously the right one: he's got a bunch of other people to save. If he could find a way around putting Marilyn in harm's way, he happily would have. But the way the story is structured, the question is put unfairly to the reader: if the stowaway was male (or male and older) there would no question of..."

Tags:morality, problems, rights

Abstract
This paper analyzes the novel 'Middle Passage' by Charles Johnson, using Simone de Beauvoir's book 'The Second Sex' as a basis of the analysis.

From the Paper
"Just as Simone de Beauvoir describes women as "the other" vis-a-vis men within The Second Sex, Charles Johnson's character Rutherford Calhoun in Middle Passage (1990) also arguably represents "the other", in much the same way: in fact vis-a-vis everyone onboard the Republic. First, for example, Rutherford Calhoun is "other" because he is a stowaway, e.g., Rutherford is not legitimately onboard. Meanwhile, since Falcon (much like Melville's Ahab) is a sadistic egomaniac, his crew (of which Rutherford is not a legitimate member) is on the verge of rebellion against Falcon's tyrannical authority. The slaves onboard (among whom Rutherford is also not a member, and therefore, "other" as well) themselves are also planning to rebel against Falcon, and to take over the ship. "

Tags:Rutherford, slave, African-American, stowaway, femininity