The Quick FOX Jumps Over the Lazy Freud

The question of where Freud stands on Jack Bauer's masculinity depends upon Freud's theories regarding the development of a boy's id, ego, and superego in regards to their mothers throughout childhood. As evidenced by Jack's absolutely undying regard for his own judgment and a resulting superconfident neuroses, Freud's interpretation would suggest in Jack a super-ego that has been fostered through his parents' prohibition of anything harming the family; that is, Jack's main goal is to keep his family safe in the long-term. He understand the implications of his daughter's staying out very late, but allows this to be subverted in favor of more pressing issues; the possible assassination of a presidential candidate. His masculinity is a by-product in this regard. He fears the castration of his co-worker, but nonetheless allows himself to be co-dependent upon her, and the program even suggests an ongoing affair between the two. He projects no true outside questioning of himself. He is supremely confident in his actions, even when they function outside "the rules" of the institution for which he works. He derives "pleasure" from withholding information from this woman. Freud suggests, in his essay on infantile sexuality, a period of time from the ages 1-3 in which the infant is preoccupied with the anus and, notably, faeces, or the emission thereof. Thus, his perceived masculinity towards this woman can be interpreted as an expression of this childhood situation. Thus, Freud's interpretation would determine that Jack's outward masculinity is a combination of a childhood desire to withhold and the superego's ingrained senses of rationality, morality, and responsibility. These elements of combination are not necessarily mutually or productively exclusively, however they do not cross paths until this particular brand of life experience for Jack.