Kristen McKim

4/19/06

Period 8

Honors English 2

Inferno Essay

Another Monday night and Fox had just finished airing a new episode of the international terrorism drama, 24. As I settled down to go to sleep, I thought about the characters that died in recent episodes. I had to wonder what happened to them. After all, many characters were good guys, but they had defiantly done bad things, like killing people. I had to wonder if they would receive forgiveness for those sins, after all, they only killed in self defense. Then, there were the bad guys; many of them had done terrible things. "Would justice be served?" I asked myself. Just when I was about as far from an answer as I had been when I started, I figure appeared to me. I recognized him to be Federal Agent Jack Bauer, the shows central character. Without saying anything, he beckoned me to follow him, into the TV. I was a little startled, but decided, what the heck, this could be interesting. So I followed him. Somehow we were inside the TV.

"I'm not dead yet, so I can take you no farther." Jack said, "From here President Palmer will be your guide." I looked up to see the beloved politician. David Palmer motion for me to follow him. We passed through a screen that read:

The Following Takes Place Between: Life and Eternity

I wondered at the appropriateness of the greeting, my journey began as every episode begins. As we were walking, he told me that I was about to learn something very few ever even thought about. I was flattered, but also puzzled. Seeing my confusion, Palmer elaborated.

"I'm going to take you through the channels of the 24 afterlife. Here, we've reached channel 1." I looked around to see several familiar faces. On one side of me was George Mason, over there was Teri Bauer, and to my extreme pleasure, I noticed that Tony Almeida and Michelle Dessler, husband and wife, murdered on the same day, were together in death as they had been in life. I realized that we were on the channel for the martyrs and those that died before their time. They were not being punished. I was relieved to see that characters like Mason and Tony, who, although ultimately good, had had their rough spots with morality, were not being punished. I felt a tear slip down my cheek in sadness. These characters were all good people who had died in the name of their country.

"I should warn you, budget cuts at the studio forced us to combine our afterlife with famous literature's afterlife. So, you might see some familiar faces other that 24 characters," warned Palmer. I soon realized what he meant when Hektor walked by. I remembered that he had indeed died before his time. My guide interrupted my thoughts with news that we had to move on to the next channel.

As we flipped up to the next channel on the TV of the afterlife, the mood instantly changed. Whereas before it had been melancholy, sort of bittersweet, like memories of the simpler days of childhood when the most tragic thing was spilt milk; now it was strained and tense, it felt like the air itself was trying to accomplish an impossible task, like run a race with no finish line. I glanced around looking for the occupants of the channel of Hell that we had stumbled onto. To my right was the largest, most dilapidated house I had ever seen. As we drew closer I could see people attempting to fix the house. They were nailing up boards and shingles, but for every part of the house they fixed, another fell apart again. I recognized Habib Marwan trying to fix a broken pipe. Then it came to me, these were the ideological terrorists. Marwan had thought he was doing the right thing when he tried to drop a nuclear warhead on Los Angeles, ridding the world of 'American imperialist dogs.' The people condemned to this place were those who thought they were fixing the world, so they had sinned, so they were punished. We marched past the house and reached a signpost in the road. It struck me as funny that there was a signpost when there was only one choice of roads to take. As soon as Palmer led me past the sign, I shivered; we had reached the next channel.

If I thought the strained frustration of the previous level had been bad, it was nothing compared to the emptiness that filled this place. There was no feeling, nothing. Even the air was neither hot nor cold. Here, I was told, wandered the terrorists who sold their employment for money. They did not even have principle; these people would sell out to the highest bidder. The sociopaths that wandered in this meaningless nothingness included, the Salazar family, who make a deal with the devil, or the man who betrayed their drug cartel, for the chance to make money. The poor souls who, in life, believed in nothing were condemned to unbearable nothingness in death. In this barren wasteland, there was nothing and they wandered aimlessly for eternity. The feeling of the place was neither happy nor sad, there was simply nothing. I felt unable to be scared, yet unable to shake the feeling that I should be. Just when I thought I would die from the lack of emotion, the feeling lifted. Palmer had led me, somehow, into the next channel.

I was not sure that I would be able to tolerate any more if this level was as horrible as the last. However, things seemed normal here. It did not look like these people were being punished at all. At first I thought that I was out of Hell and back into the world because these people were just going about their daily lives. Then, I recognized Sherry Palmer, David Palmer's vicious ex-wife. She betrayed and her country countless times simply to gain power.

"You are now in the deepest channel of this Hell. It is the level of moles, traitor, and betrayers," my guide told me. It amazed me how unfazed he seemed at the sight of his e-wife.

"They are not being punished! The most damaging of sins and they are condemned to nothing worse than life?" I could not believe that this was true. Then, the ultimate 24 traitor walked by. Nina Meyers. She had betrayed everyone she every laid eyes on. Nina not only almost got all of LA killed on more than one occasion, but she personally murdered Jack Bauer's wife. She and Jack had been colleagues, working together everyday, and she murdered his wife without a second thought. I was horrified and disgusted that she should be allowed to live in relative comfort, for all that she did she should have been given the worst punishment conceivable!

"Don't worry, they are being punished," Palmer told me, although I could not see how, "They do not think that they are being punished, perhaps they think that they were accidentally not sentenced, forgotten. However, they are condemned to think that everyone around them will betray them. They live in constant paranoia. These sociopaths who sold secrets to the enemy, are left to think that everyone they meet anywhere they go will betray them and they will then have to accept their 'punishment.' Does this punishment satisfy you?" I had to think about it for a moment. Being constantly looking over your shoulder, expecting the cold sting of a knife in your back would be enough to drive anyone insane.

"Yes, justice has been served." Palmer smiled at me and, without a word, led me through a door that I had not noticed before. Suddenly I was back in my bedroom listening to the heartless beeping of my alarm clock.

I sat up, rather confused, and realized that my fears had been unwarranted. For dead 24 characters, both justice and mercy were administered. The mysterious and unknown force that sentenced characters was wise enough to see past the façade that some people wore and give them a place to rest, based on their deeds in life and their character and personality. Tony and Michelle rested together and Nina was punished for what she did. Justice was served and for once, there was a happy ending.