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Crystal Thompson

Ms. Ravens

Popular Novel

14 September 2017

Morality as a Theme

When authors write a story, they always have a protagonist and an antagonist. Majority of

the time, the protagonist has a friend that helps them along the way. On the topic of friendship,

sometimes they are broken. A breaking of a friendship is a major event and has a hidden

meaning. An author could use the theme of morality to show the difference in people by drawing

a line that one would cross that the other wouldnt dare.

Morality is the principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and

bad behavior. Friendship is built on connections of the personality, and morality is a part of a

persons personality. In my story, Black Duck by Janet Lisle Taylor, the protagonist, Ruben Hart,

has a best friend, Jeddy McKenzie, and they connect on a deep level. However, when it comes to

right and wrong, they chose differently. Jeddy, whose father is the Chief of Police, sides with the

law, while Ruben sides with the criminals. In the beginning, it doesnt seem like an issue, but it

will turn into one later one.

When the line of morality is crossed, there are two choices. The friends could either

forgive and forget or they stop being friends at all. It started out with a simple lie that eventually

progressed into a crime. When Ruben decides to work with the criminals, the federal agents

show up and arrest everyone. This doesnt scare Ruben off, so he joins the crew of the infamous

Black Duck. On their run, the Coast Guard opens fire and kills everyone on board excluding

one crew member and Ruben. Luckily, Ruben gets away and runs to tell his best friend what
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happened. When Ruben gets to his supposed best friend, he is shocked to learn that Jeddy is the

reason all of those people died. This was just too much for Ruben.

In each others eyes, the other crossed a line that should never have happened. Jeddy

believes that Ruben should have never got caught up with the rum runners, the mobsters, and the

criminals. Ruben believes that Jeddy shouldnt have been so caught up in his fathers footsteps

so that he would be able to see the truth of these infamous criminals. In the end, the former best

friends learn that the Coast Guard and the law officers were actually corrupted. This makes it to

where everyone is questioning the morality of their fellow neighbors. The rum runners were just

trying to make money for many families. The law enforcers shot without warning and left the

crew members of the Black Duck to die. They didnt care what happened to those criminals,

they just wanted to get their reputation back and be respected and trusted again. However, the

people who knew what really happened would never trust or respect them. Only people in the

dark would follow the corrupted law blindly.

The theme of morality can be used to separate people in a story by making each person

side against one another. Morality is a part of the personality that friendships are sometimes

based on. On top of that, the morality portion of the friendship could be what drives friends apart

due to the difference between them. Although one friend might think theyre on the correct side,

there might be a twist that one of the characters are missing. The darkest places in hell are

reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis (Dante Alighieri).

Neither of the friends stayed neutral, so their own personal opinions of morals may have been the

best decision.