Themes in Torchwood - Value of Human Life

Value of Human Life

In several episodes, particularly revolving around the character of Jack Harkness, the value of human life is touched upon with Jack depicted as willing to sacrifice, murder and assist in suicide in several episodes. Episode four, "Cyberwoman", has him kill Ianto's girlfriend Lisa, with full certainty she was no longer human. In "Countrycide", he tells one of the cannibal villagers that he used to be a professional torturer, though of course this may simply be a lie calculated to intimidate the man. In "They Keep Killing Suzie", Jack riddles Suzie Costello with bullets, claiming responsibility for her death - "Death by Torchwood". It is implied that Jack would like to die, and he seems sympathetic when others wish to end their own lives: in "Out of Time" he holds the hand of a man who wants (but is afraid) to die, and in "Combat" he turns his back to allow Mark Lynch to surrender himself into the claws of a Weevil. Jack confirms his desire to die in "Utopia" when talking to the Tenth Doctor, but also states that seeing the Utopians as they fight to survive against all the odds has reminded him of what it means to be truly human.

In the second season, continuing the idea of redemption in the series following Jack's reunion with the Doctor, his newfound appreciation for life is shown when he attempts to rescue the space whale from the group who have imprisoned it and are cutting up its flesh for meat, as well as his anger at Owen when Owen is forced to kill the creature out of mercy when it is further injured. In "Dead Man Walking", following his resurrection, Owen encourages a young boy dying of leukaemia not to give up on life no matter how scary the treatment might seem by telling him that sometimes death can be defeated. In the subsequent episode, "A Day in the Death", Owen convinces a woman not to commit suicide due to her grief over her dead husband by telling her that, if she can see even one faint glimmer of hope, life can't be as bad as she thinks. Although the team fails to prevent the Night Travellers from disposing of the last breaths of their victims in "From Out of the Rain", Jack nevertheless regards the mission as a success as they manage to save the life of a young boy, enthusiastically hugging the child after he awakens. Jack's compassion is further highlighted when he is shown to take care of those who have been sucked through the Rift in "Adrift", despite the fact that many of them have been horrifically physically and mentally damaged by what they have seen, preferring to help them enjoy the times when they are well rather than euthanise them. Despite his brother having become possibly hopelessly insane in "Exit Wounds", killing Tosh and (indirectly) Owen, Jack refuses to kill him after he has been defeated, instead putting him in cryopreservation in the hope of someday being able to help him, stating that there had been enough death that day.

In Children of Earth, the government concede to the 456's demands for ten percent of Earth's children as the alternative is to be completely destroyed, arguing that such a sacrifice is preferable to the alternative. The government previously sacrificed 12 children to the aliens in the 1960s in an effort to appease them, a project in which they had Jack's assistance. In the present day however, Jack refuses to give in to the 456's demands, constantly seeking an alternative solution as he claims "An injury to one is an injury to all. After the death of Ianto and the realisation that he is in no position to bargain with the 456, Jack agrees to sacrifice his own grandson Steven in order to kill the 456, also destroying his relationship with his daughter in the process.