Do Heroes Have to Die?

I was talking with a friend the other day about the end of Fox's 24. I must admit that I stopped being a regular 24 watcher a few years ago. However, I've still followed the series just closely enough to see Jack Bauer's eight-year transformation from a reluctant federal agent to a superhero with nothing to live for but his own determination to do what's right. The question arose as to whether the fitting end to 24 – in either the series finale or a future movie – is for Jack Bauer to die in one final act of heroism. My friend believes this is the most appropriate ending to Jack's arc as a hero.

This idea isn't necessarily controversial; in fact, literature shows that the courageous martyr or sacrificial hero is a pretty popular idea. It's poetic. It's inspiring. It's even Biblical.

              Jack                                                         Other J-Guy

Our own social mythology – the real-life, current-day stories that we pass down to our children – is likewise filled with tales of mortal sacrifice. We build statues and monuments honoring those who died for our safety. They're tributes to great men and women who, in times of adversity, did the right thing.

History's greatest sacrificial death.

And it's in this definition that I challenge the idea that the only appropriate ending for a truly inspiring hero is a sacrificial death.

Bottom line - anyone can die for something. That doesn't necessarily make them a hero. Sure, a hero can be a martyr, but not all martyrs are heroes. A lot of Nazi loyalists died for something, but we certainly don't consider their deaths 'heroic'. Sometimes it's not as simple as asking, “What are the things you would die for?” Instead, it might make more sense to ask, “What are the things you are living for?”

Let me try to put this in context.

You've probably heard the name Liviu Librescu on the news – even if you don't remember him. He was a professor at Virginia Tech during the horrific massacre that took place there in 2007. When the killer tried to enter his classroom, Librescu put his back against the door to keep it shut, yelling for his students to hurry and escape through the windows. Determined to enter the room, the killer fired a series of bullets through the wooden door. Librescu resisted, taking five bullets to the back before he finally went down. He bought enough time for all but one of his students to escape. It was the fifth bullet – a head shot – that killed him.

Now you might think that story disproves my point. After all, Librescu died protecting his students. In fact, I remember most news stories paying respect to Librescu's heroism were focused on those final moments when Librescu was shot. But I think those people really missed the point.

Librescu wasn't a hero because he died behind the door. He was a hero because he got behind the door. In a kinder world where he had been shot and somehow lived, would he be any less of a hero? A person doesn't become a hero when he just chooses to die for something heroic. A hero is made when, in that defining moment, he knows that he has no choice at all. Without even thinking, Librescu got behind that door because he knew that was what he had to do.

That is a hero. And that has nothing to do with what a person used their death for, but what they used their life for.

So should Jack Bauer die? Well...probably. But does he have to? No. Because his 'legend' as a hero is already established. 24 has never been about how Jack Bauer dies; it's always been about how he lives...through all the bullets, heart attacks, and nuclear detonations. He gets up, wipes those tears, shoots Nina, and goes back to saving the day. Because that's what he does, damn it. He's freakin' Jack Bauer.

-Aaron-