Love Is Stronger Than Hate

By: Kyle Somerville

Mr. Kemp

ENG 3UI

Due: June 23, 2010

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 Throughout the novel Firefight, by Chris Ryan, readers are provided a glimpse into the cold-

hearted, brutal world of international terrorist activity and counter-terror methods taken by Britain’s

Military Intelligence, Section 5 (MI5) and America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). With frequent

attacks and deadly responses, the value of human life appears cheap. Even though there is apparently

little value placed on life, compassion clearly outweighs revenge in numerous instances over the course

of the novel. As the central character and former member of the elite British forces SAS squadron, Will

Jackson seeks revenge against Faisal Ahmed, compassion for Latifa Ahmed while Will’s changing attitude

throughout the novel demonstrates that love is stronger than hatred.

Firstly, Will Jackson, the protagonist, seeks revenge against an Afghan national, Faisal Ahmed,

for the murder of Jackson’s wife and young daughter in a Christmas department store bombing. Ahmed

had killed Jackson’s family in a terrorist attack and, therefore, shattered the hardened SAS veteran’s

world. Falling into a deep depression and became an alcoholic, Jackson tried to drown his sorrows. Only

upon learning that it was Faisal Ahmed who had killed his family does Jackson find a new purpose in life,

to stop Ahmed from hurting anyone else. Sir Lowther Pankhurst, the Director of MI5, and Donald

Priestly, the CIA’s top UK official, select Jackson to kill Ahmed since Jackson is a highly skilled military

man and has the added motivation of revenge. “Strange, too, how something else is perfectly clear to

him now. The two men at Thames House, unwittingly, had offered him a lifeline. A way out of his bland

existence. They might want Faisal Ahmed dead for the best reasons, but in this moment of honesty Will

knew one thing: he wanted him dead so that he could avenge his family. Avenge them, and move on.

(Ryan 89). Jackson is realizing that all he has wanted over the past three years is to avenge the deaths of

his wife and daughter. Until recently he had no idea that Faisal Ahmed even existed, but when he hears

his name, he feels as if he had always known it. Will believes that he is the only one that can stop Faisal,

and also the only person whose life had been destroyed by him.

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 After a failed attempt to kill Ahmed in England, Jackson is held at gunpoint by his adversary and

learns that the department store bombing was not intended to result in casualties and that it was

actually the CIA official, Priestly, who sought fatalities in a series of planned attacks to keep Britain in the

war against terrorism alongside of the US (Operation Firefight). Ahmed spares Will’s life which reduces

Jackson’s desire to seek revenge even further. Jackson begins to see that Ahmed may not be the enemy

and he begins to feel compassion for the man who has also suffered in life. Learning that his target of

revenge had witnessed the brutal murder of his parents as a child by the Soviets in Afghanistan, deeply

loved and risked his life for his sister, Latifa, who had been captured and tortured by the Taliban and had

been set up and exposed as a heartless terrorist by the CIA after refusing to stage attacks with casualties

across Britain. Ahmed kills the CIA’s Priestly with Jackson’s support since it was truly Priestly who had

been responsible for the bombing fatalities. “The general had been killed; only the foot soldier

remained. And as Ahmed stood there, resolutely waiting for death Will couldn’t help a creeping feeling

of respect.” (462). Even after all the pain Faisal had caused Will, Will still has great respect for his foe

and is unwilling to kill Ahmed. This shows that even after someone has committed a horrible act against

us, we can still forgive them and end the vicious cycle of revenge. Following this moment Jackson kills

Faisal Ahmed in a defensive move after Ahmed shoots Jackson in the shoulder. Clearly Jackson begins to

re-evaluate murder when he relates, “Ahmed had been right... Revenge wasn’t sweet. Revenge wasn’t

what he thought it would be at all.” (465).

In addition, Will’s compassion for Faisal Ahmed’s sister Latifa shows that love is stronger than

revenge. Jackson was sent on a mission to rescue her in order that MI5 and the CIA could establish the

whereabouts of Faisal Ahmed. When Will finds Latifa in Afghanistan, she has been tortured and beaten

by the Taliban. “He couldn’t help feeling a twinge of respect for this woman; it was an uncomfortable

sensation, given how much he loathed her for what her brother had done.” (234). Will is seeing Latifa for

the first time, and he wants to hate her because of her family, but he can’t bring himself to after seeing

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the strength and courage she possesses. Will’s hate for Faisal would have been transferred to his sister,

but when Will sees her frail, tortured body in a Taliban camp, he only feels pity. The mission in

Afghanistan was compromised and Jackson had the chance to abort the operation and flee to safety.

Instead, he rescues Latifa, provides her with his snowsuit in the harsh Afghanistan winter conditions and

carries her on his back to safety while being pursued by heavily armed Taliban soldiers. Later, Jackson is

shocked when CIA orders force them to land in Poland where they are taken to a black camp (place of

torture) rather than the planned safety of England. He had rescued Latifa from the torture of the

Taliban only to have her tortured by CIA agents in Poland. “Will blinked. A surge of anger flickered

through him. This wasn’t right. It didn’t matter who Latifa’s brother was. This wasn’t right.” (304). Here

Will is becoming more protective of her, and he no longer associates her with her family. He sees her as

any other deserving human being, and wants her to be treated as one. Throughout the story Will

becomes more protective of Latifa and repeatedly risks his life for her on multiple occasions. Even

though Will wants to kill Faisal, his pity and love for Latifa is stronger and overcomes the obstacles that

were brought upon them. Although Jackson was later shot by Ahmed after the murder of Priestly, he

continues to keep Latifa’s London safe house location secret. Compassion is clearly superior to revenge

as Jackson fulfills Faisal Ahmed’s request to protect his sister. In fact, the novel ends with Jackson

escorting Latifa on a Eurostar train to freedom in Paris.

Lastly, Will Jackson’s character changes dramatically throughout the novel. Clearly he is a

dynamic character. As the novel Firefight begins Jackson is a depressed, alcoholic, former soldier who

has nothing to live for but the mourning of his family. The outline we are provided with in the early

stages is one of a soldier who is an efficient, cold-hearted murderer and well respected in the SAS for

successfully completing dangerous missions, not a man prone to sentimental compassion. During the

mission to rescue Latifa in Afghanistan, the mission is compromised by the Afghan informant to the SAS,

Ismail. Tipping off the Taliban led to the death of one SAS soldier and the imprisonment of Jackson and

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the other SAS soldiers. After escaping, Jackson hunts down Ismail to seek his revenge. “He should plug

him now. Silence him. Make sure he could not tell the Taliban where to look for them. But something

stopped him.” (241). Jackson learns that Ismail’s wife and child have been kidnapped and would be

killed if he refused to report the SAS rescue mission. Jackson did not have the heart to kill Ismail and

even provides him with a hand gun for his protection against the Taliban. Jackson was no longer a single

minded soldier of vengeance. As a trained soldier, Will Jackson was a hardened veteran. In Jackson’s

own words, “Killing people had been his job for a long time...” (460).This toughness seems to disappear

as Jackson confronts the CIA’s Operation Firefight mastermind, Priestley. “Shut up, Priestly! He burst

out...It’s just a fucking game of soldiers to you, isn’t it? Who cares if people die? My daughter was six

years old...How do you live with that, Priestley? (460). It is at this point in the novel that the reader

recognizes the transformation of Will Jackson into an individual who values human life and has no

stomach for vengeance and reprisal.

As the dynamic, central character in Chris Ryan’s Firefight novel, Will Jackson embodies the

major theme that compassion is a far more powerful force than revenge. In a fictional work filled with

casualties resulting from terrorist acts and counter terrorist measures, the tone remains surprisingly

positive as the protagonist becomes ever more firmly committed to the value of human life and the

need to protect it.

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 Work Cited

Ryan, Chris. Firefight. London: Century, 2008. Print.