Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Haley Reading (Group A) -- American Spy, Chapters 15 - 20

[Haley Reading groups Fall 2020

By Boluwatife O. Ojewande

By chapter nineteen of American Spy, we learn of Marie’s experiences in Burkina Faso where, among other things, she is assigned to gather intel. However, as Marie began to run errands for Slater, she got to know about a couple of secrets: the wedding between Helene and Slater, and, Ross employing her (Marie) to work for their private military company and not the CIA. 

“I was annoyed to learn this,” observes Marie, “but mostly at myself for not paying attention well enough to have figured it out earlier (212).

What scene or revelations from chapters fifteen through nineteen did you find most interesting? Why?

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn’t like the fact that Ross wasn’t forthcoming with his true motives in the beginning. He was very secretive and wasn’t always telling the truth, while Dan gives her the information direct. It seems like Slater’s using the information he has about Helene against Marie to encourage her to work with him to “honor" Helene.

They are aiming to use women as tools to ruin their enemies reputation. They claim to want to keep women in the industry but they’re exposing them to physical relationships. I think that Marie is the prime example of why you don’t want to use women as tools because it can come back to bite you in the end.

Nyla Woods 10/28/20

Brighten B. said...

One of the scenes from chapters 15-19 that I found interesting was when she met with Daniel Slater after a really long time. She was so stressed about seeing him again. She was even late, but decided to mentally prepare herself for the meeting with him. It was interesting to me what he first said to her when they met. He kept mentioning things about Helene to Marie and then decided to go into detail about the week ahead. I feel like he would’ve waited to talk about Helene or even bring her up, but he brought her up right at the beginning. The whole beginning part of the meeting between them was very strange to me.

Paris Somerville said...

From chapters 15-19, one of the scenes that stood out to me was when Marie found out about Helene and Slater's marriage. The way Slater told the news to Marie was very sudden, which explains Marie's very shocked reaction to the information. During that scene, Slater threw a lot of information at Marie which resulted in her becoming very overwhelmed and eventually leaving the conversation she had with Slater.

Lesley S. said...

A scene from chapter 15 that I found interesting was the interesting was a the conversation between Marie and Robbie from pages 177 through 179. Marie asked Robbie to help her deal with the intruder situation from the first chapter and he was quick to agree.

The reason why I found this interesting is because Marie mentions how Robbie has always been looking out for her. As she tell him how much she appreciates it, Marie struggles to explain how she truly felt towards Robbie even though she states that she trusts him. Although she says that she trusts him, Marie is still hesitant for some reason. That makes me think that all the abandonment that she has experienced from her earlier years has really taken a toll on her and has built a wall around her emotions.

Anonymous said...

Tatiana D. said...
Marie being groomed to wok for a primary military company was wrong and conniving on Daniel and Ross's end. It is apparent that neither of them have any sincerity in their motives and they are using Marie to benefit them and their company. They also take advantage of Marie by constantly relating things regarding their work to Helene, as if Marie owes it to her late sister to do the things they want her to do.
October 28, 2020 at 10:19 PM

K Carter said...

The most interesting scene for me is when Marie finds out about her sister being married. From the beginning, they always had a strange relationship. This moment in the story goes to show how strange their relationship really was. I could not imagine my own sister getting married without telling me. Marie has always wanted to be there for Helene, but Helene never seemed to let Marie be apart of the major events in her life,

Mya Jackson said...

The most interesting scene was when Slater and Marie were talking about Helene. I found this interesting because of the effect it had on Marie. She was very intrigued by this story because she felt it would help her understand what happened. I think the fact that Slater was sharing an event that had happened when Marie wasn't close with Helene makes it more interesting because it brings us back to Marie's agent side of always trying to figure everything out. It shows that Marie has always cared about Helene, but Helene never wanted Marie to be apart of her life. There were many major life events that took place in Helene's life, but Marie was unable to experience them with her because of how closed off Helene was.

Paige G. said...

The most interesting thing I found was Robbie. He came out of nowhere in chapter 14 and all of a sudden it seems as though this character who we thought was just in the past is now back and fits in like he never left. The fact that he, with zero hesitation, agreed to help Marie go after the people who sent the hit man from the first chapter makes me wonder if they have been in more contact than presumed over the years. What I am most interested to find out is how all of this past works into the death of Marie’s sister.

Nyah C. said...

In chapters 15-19, what was most interesting to me was how in the present time, Robbie was so quick to agree to help Marie. There friendship has stood the test of time and he still wants to protect her just as much as before.

It's also interesting how what Marie's been through has affected how she perceives people. She said that everyone that had trusted as a kid had left. In addition to this, her occupation makes her less trusting of people because they could be truing to take advantage of her. Her saying that even though it's hard for her to do so, that she still trusts Robbie, is a big signal to me of her attempts to grow from her past.

Marianne Huck said...

One revelation I liked was the biding trust she developed with Robbie. Throughout the early chapters, most of the character development was establishing her mistrust and how distanced she could be from those around her. So to see how she’s put trust into Robbie was a cool thing to see.

Marianne Huck

Janielle F. said...

This might seem a bit basic compared to the other responses but the revelation that I found the most interesting from the reading was that Blaise Compaoré, one of Thomas’ closest friends was a CIA plant. In hindsight, this revelation makes a lot of sense but I was caught off-guard when I first read it. I guess it’s true what they say...keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Tiffany E. said...

The scene that I found most interesting was the conversation that she was having with Slater about Thomas. It was interesting because it seemed as though the conversation was happening very fluently but it contained important info for Marie. I also found it interesting how Slater was kind of surprised when she said she was able to get Thomas alone. I think they already knew that she would be able to because otherwise, why would they send her?

-Tiffany E.

Kiya Rainey said...

A scene that I had found to be the most interesting from chapters 15 to 19 was when Marie had stated that a part of her had still loved Robbie but she only would tell her sons. I found it to be the most interesting because of how powerful the scene was. When she stated, "To tell anyone how I feel about him is to blow my cover. Throughout my life, the most consistent way I've revealed who I really am is through whom I've chosen to love" (Wilkinson 179), it had really caught my attention.

Marie's life as a spy has certainly affected her life in every aspect, including her love life, and I find it sad that she cannot say how she actually feels for someone in order to protect herself.

-Kiya Rainey

Jania Garrison said...

In chapters 15-19, the thing that stood out to me the most was when Marie found out about her sister being married. this proves that the relationship was not the best. Slater mentioned how Helene thought that her and marie acted just alike. It was hard for Marie to believe this no matter how much she actually wanted to. This further describes how strange and distant their relationship actually was.

Kamya C. said...

I think the brief relationship shown between the Marie and Robbie is nice. They obviously care for each other and trust each other, despite disagreeing on things. Having someone, especially with her career, close enough to trust her kids is a pleasant read for something the tense life she probably lives!

Kendall Fry said...

Personally, to see how Marie opens up a little more in trusting Robbie again, given he has come back into her life so abruptly from the depths of Marie's past, is interesting. With Marie's literal profession of hiding her true self and strong tendency of building walls, Robbie's willingness to assist Marie and her actually trusting him enough to let him is very interesting. The development between these two is quite the show.

Unknown said...

The thing that stood out the most to me in chapters 15-19 was Marie's realization that she was not as close to Helene as she thought. She finds out that Helene was married. They always had an atypical relationship, but Marie not knowing makes it all the more bizarre. Slater also tells Marie that Helene mentioned that her and her sister were a lot alike. This just further shows how truly reserved and distant their relationship as sister was. I have two sisters that I am not close with, but I can't imagine not knowing about something as big as a marriage.
Kylie Jackson

Anonymous said...

Out of chapters 15-19, one of the scenes that stood out most to me was when Marie found out that Helen and Slater were married. The way Slater had delivered the news to Marie was so unexpected. Helen makes the conversation more interesting because this had taken us back to the beginning of the story.During this scene Slated had giving a lot of info to marie while trying to maintain it all becomes very overwhelming resulting in her leaving.

-Ashanti Young 11/1/20

Anonymous said...

Aalita Cole said...
It was interesting to me that Robbie was so quick to help Marie when she asked for it. When in comparison her sister was very guarded and secretive about everything. I couldn't imagine my sister hiding something like a wedding from me especially because that was such an important event. Robbie definitely came off suspicious to me because of how quickly he was willing to help Marie and my suspicions were kind of proved correct when he later started grooming her to do stuff that she normally wouldn’t do .
October 30, 2020 at 9:43 PM

Tymia S. said...

What I found most interesting about chapters 15-19 was when Marie found out her sister got married to Slater. I found this most interesting because Marie was under the impression that her and Helene were pretty close and this seemed like kind of a slap in the face to her when she realized they weren't as close as she thought.

Unknown said...

What I found interesting throughout the above chapters is the type of people Marie is surrounded by and how she has to interact with them. Marie's whole life, she has had to fake relationships, identities, and intentions. I wonder if Marie knows herself and if she feels that she is living a mock life. As a child, Marie's only sister already lived as a spy with secrets, mixed intentions, and seemingly crazy decisions. With her dad being a spy, she is exposed to similar behavior from her own father. Also,nearly everyone she meets is a different man to please. Her father and Mr. Ali put expectations on her and expect her to follow instructions. Her first boss undermines and demeans her, causing her to be in her own head and fake ignorant about missions. Her first couple of real assignments forces her to use her sexuality and womanhood to gather intel. Robbie, a misunderstood felon, is the only male is the book truly for her as a person and yet he is the one everyone seems to disapprove of. Marie lives a fantasy life in which she can never truly be herself nor put her guard down. I wonder how this will later play out for her when she realizes she has her own life to live.

-victoria richardson

Kailey Blanton said...

What intrigued me the most was the very much strained and distant relationship between Marie and Helene, her own sister. I am not close with my brother because of a large age gap but the least I would know was if I had an in-law sibling from him. Her having no knowledge shows how close or how not close people can be in your life. And the fact that Slater, the husband, was going into so much detail about a part of Helenes life that Marie wasn't in killed me. I just will never understand why people do such intense things for those they care about. -KaileyB

Chantay Peoples said...

The marriage was a memorable moment for me solely because she wasn't really that interested in being involved with it rather her inability to figure it out herself. Sisters tend to want to be emotionally involved in each others lives and while Marie showed those feelings, however subtly, Helene seems to want the opposite. To be mad that you didn't know due to the spy abilities rather than the fact that she's family and they grew up together was a very interesting find seeing as I am very close to my sister.

C.P

Anonymous said...

I found Marie's first interaction with Daniel Slater to be interesting. He had mentioned how she carried traits that were similar to her sister, and it seemed to take her aback. Learning more about Helene always seems to make Marie more vulnerable, making her more aware in an odd way as well.

Grace Briggs, 12/21/20