Jack Bauer
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Jack Bauer is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the American television series 24. He is portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland and is the only character in 24 to appear in every episode during each 'day'.
Biography and Pre-24
Jack Bauer was born to German-American parents in California. Having attended Ampleforth College, a Roman Catholic boarding school in the North Yorkshire, U.K, where he met his good friends Patrick Teague and Louis Lassus, he enrolled at UCLA, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in English Literature. He went on to receive his master's degree in Criminology and Law from UC Berkeley.After completing his schooling, he worked as a Los Angeles Police Department SWAT team member, and in the U.S. Army's elite Delta Force. Apparently, Bauer also did fieldwork for the Central Intelligence Agency before being seconded to the Counter Terrorist Unit. While at CTU, he was the Team Leader for an action known as Operation Proteus and the Section Captain during the incident of the Hotel Los Angeles attack. He later uncovered evidence that three CTU agents, including his mentor Christopher Henderson, were taking bribes. Jack gained a reputation as a whistleblower, and lost favor with CTU hierarchy.
Jack Bauer has characteristics marking him as a "flawed hero". He holds similarities to many Greek heroes, having a "tragic flaw" that dictates his rise to power and, inevitably, will dictate his downfall. Jack's employment at CTU has given him many survival skills that have kept him alive, yet his tenure at CTU can be held liable for many, if not, all of Jack's misfortunes (losing his wife at the end of Season One, his addiction to heroin during Season Three, the emotional "loss" of Audrey Raines, his love interest in Season Four, the lives of some of his closest friends, his job at CTU, and his own "death".)
Beliefs and values
Jack's beliefs could be described as Machiavellian in that he is a firm believer in the mantra, "the ends justify the means:" He believes obtaining a desired result is more important than how he obtains it, and he frequently performs controversial actions if he thinks they will achieve an important goal. His philosophy was perhaps best expressed after he shot and killed a witness in front of George Mason, then-CTU Special Agent in Charge. George expressed dismay at Jack's extreme action, and Jack replied: "That's the problem with people like you, George. You want results, but you never want to get your hands dirty." Lying, torture, stealing, and even cold-blooded murder are all viable options to Jack, a start contrast to the vast majority of fictional heroes. Comparisons with the very people he battles are inevitable.Jack Bauer is also a master of interrogation. He often uses extreme physical force or psychological stress to retrieve the information he needs. At other times, Jack threatens the lives and/or well being of a terrorist’ family members. Jack himself is also adept at handling being interrogated, as shown in Season 2, proving terrorist Ronnie Stark's point, "Everyone breaks, Jack, even you," to be incorrect. Jack has withstood knife carvings, electrocutions, and injections without confessing. During one torture-session he was accidentally put into cardiac arrest, but revived with emergency medications. Jack was soon portrayed as a character who could remain perceptive under pressure when, several minutes after his revival, he was able to escape with the help of a nearby doctor.
Jack has routinely put his own life on the line, as well as the lives of those close to him, in order to serve the greater good. Notably, he was faced with a situation where a terrorist threatened to release a devastating biological weapon if Jack did not execute one of his superiors, Regional Director Ryan Chappelle. Despite efforts to locate the terrorist before the deadline, Bauer was forced to execute Chappelle. In the fourth season, Bauer was told to extract a Chinese scientist named Lee Jong from the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, who had vital information needed to stop an imminent terrorist strike. During the illegal raid, Lee was shot and needed immediate medical attention to stop him from dying. When he arrived at CTU, Bauer learned that the doctor there was already working on Paul Raines, the estranged husband of Audrey Raines (Jack's then girlfriend). Raines had been shot earlier trying to push Jack out of the way of a gunman. Much to Audrey's horror, Bauer drew his weapon and ordered the doctor to begin surgery on Lee. Raines went into cardiac arrest and died shortly afterward.
Bauer is rarely seen showing remorse for such actions until after the crisis has passed. This is largely due to his emotional suppression necessary to complete the task at hand. He has on occasion revealed his more vulnerable side, including a notable scene at the end of Season 3 when he breaks down crying after the traumatic events of the day. It is, perhaps, this vulnerable side that is most meaningful to the character- to remind us that Jack too, is human, with emotions and a sense of morals.
Following the death of his wife at the end of Season 1, he seemed to live a life that had little personal purpose. To Jack Bauer, there is no separation of his personal life and his duty. As he said to Chase Edmunds, his partner during Season 3: "You cannot do this job and have a normal life at the same time."
Trivia
- Before Jack entered the military or CTU, he was known by his friends (notably reporter Jessica Abrams in Day 1) and family as a racer of motorcyles and a surf bum.
- During Jack's time in Delta Force, a deep cover, covert-ops unit called Coral Snake (that was run by NSA out of Fort Benning) attempted to recruit him. After turning them down, Coral Snake would eventually play a role in the events of Day 2.
- Jack has never broken under torture, even going so far as dying in Day 2. In that specific scene alone, torturer Ronnie Stark even comments to say, "Come on, Jack, everyone breaks . . . even you." In all irony, not only does Jack (clinically) die before breaking, but even manages to escape his captors without giving any crucial information.
- By Day 4, Jack has clinically "died" twice. Once in Day 2 (see above), and a second while faking his death at the conclusion of Day 4.
- Known Aliases: Jack Roush (Pre-Day 1 & Day 2), Frank Flynn (Before & during Day 5)
External links
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