The Bourne Identity

Marie is a secondary character and ally to Bourne. Although Bourne abducts her in Zurich, she eventually agrees to help him and begins a romantic relationship with him. She works for the Canadian government’s Treasury Board, giving her a vast knowledge of banking and finances that become crucial to Bourne’s journey. She is in her mid-thirties, and her “auburn” hair is a defining characteristic for Bourne throughout their initial interactions. After growing up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on her father’s ranch with her two brothers, she studied economics at McGill University. Although she had some issues with working for the government, noting how “power corrupts,” she also tells Bourne that she “enjoyed [her] work immensely” (156). When Marie meets Bourne, she is at a conference in Zurich while also seeking potential banking allies for the Canadian government.

Marie serves as a valuable source of support—both physically and emotionally—for Bourne throughout the novel. Because of her experience with the Treasury Board, Marie has a strong knowledge of the international banking system, and this knowledge helps Bourne to retrieve his money from Zurich. Marie describes herself as “methodical” and logical, considering all sides before making a decision. As a result, she often grounds Bourne and helps him think through things when he is reactive, emotional, and struggling with his debilitating memory flashes. As Bourne describes it, Marie “repel[s] the darkness for him [and] stop[s] the pain” while giving him “hope” that he is not the violent assassin that the evidence suggests he is (162).

Ultimately, Marie’s static, unchanging character is the key to Bourne’s survival. While Bourne repeatedly oscillates between leaving Marie to protect her and pursuing the truth despite the dangers, Marie consistently reaffirms her commitment to him and does her best to protect him. When Bourne leaves Marie for the final time, he tries to use Villiers to force Marie to hide in the countryside. Instead, Marie demands the truth from Villiers and then contacts the CIA herself to implore them to see the truth about Bourne. Because of Marie’s loyalty and belief in Bourne, he is saved when the CIA finally sees the truth about his amnesia.

Carlos is the primary antagonist in The Bourne Identity. He is an international assassin whose real name is Ilich Ramírez Sánchez. He was born in Venezuela and trained by the Russian and East German governments during the Cold War era. Despite public knowledge about his identity and his upbringing, Carlos is a mysterious and enigmatic figure, as he intentionally masks his operations and uses a vast chain of contacts to carry out his orders. Even his closest confident, the informant, interacts with him only through church confessional and never sees his face. When Bourne fights Carlos in the novel’s climax, Crawford points out that Bourne is “the only man alive who’s ever seen Carlos. As Carlos” (597).

As the primary villain, Carlos is defined by his influence over dozens of characters in the novel. Each of the characters who oppose Bourne, including Villiers’s wife, the informant, Bergeron, Gillette, and more, does so because of Carlos. He uses his money and notoriety to control them, threatening or paying them to carry out his bidding. In this way, Carlos’s character takes on a near-mythic quality: He is immeasurably wealthy, powerful, and influential. Despite this, it is Carlos’s humanity that leads to his near downfall. When Bourne learns that Villiers’s wife is Carlos’s lover, he uses her death to lure Carlos to Manhattan and their final confrontation. Carlos’s survival at the novel’s end leads to his continued pursuit of Bourne, with their fight serving as the primary external conflict for the original trilogy of Bourne novels by Ludlum.

Villiers is a former military general who becomes an important ally to Bourne. After fighting in the Algerian War and retiring, he has become an influential politician in France. His son was killed years before the novel in a political assassination carried out by Carlos. Although Bourne initially thinks that Villiers is working with Carlos because his home is used as a liaison to transfer information, Bourne quickly learns to trust Villiers because of his hatred for Carlos. The two work together to spy on Villiers’s wife and destroy Carlos’s chain of communication. At the novel’s end, Villiers uses his influence to get Bourne out of France and to Manhattan, while also working with Marie to contact Treadstone and get them to trust Bourne again.

Villiers’s character mirrors Bourne in many ways because of their past loss and need for revenge. Both Villiers and Bourne lost their children to Carlos, leading them to dedicate their lives to hunting him down and bringing him to justice. While both are fueled by grief and loss, Villiers succumbs to his anger when he kills his wife for helping Carlos. In this way, his character stands in contrast to Bourne, emphasizing the value that Marie holds for Bourne. Marie stops Bourne from following the same path as Villiers, instead helping him think logically and reaching out to Treadstone to save Bourne’s life.

Conklin is a member of the CIA and a former soldier in the Medusa program during the Vietnam War. He worked closely with Bourne—then known as “Delta”—to carry out several operations, including the rescue of Bourne’s brother, David Webb, from the Tam Quan forest. After the primary leaders of Treadstone are killed in Manhattan, Conklin inherits the operation alongside Crawford. While Crawford is insistent that Bourne turned against the CIA, it is Conklin who repeatedly tries to find another explanation. When Marie contacts him, Conklin brings her to New York to convince Crawford of Bourne’s innocence and save Bourne. Although Conklin has a limited presence in The Bourne Identity, he will play a key role in future novels in the series as an ally to Bourne.

Abbott is a member of the CIA who works on the Forty Committee, the primary source of oversight for covert operations. He is referred to by his colleagues as “the Silent Monk of Covert Operations” (255). He was the primary founder of Treadstone and helped recruit and train Bourne. Although his presence in the novel is limited, Abbott appears frequently in Bourne’s flashbacks to his training with Treadstone, with Bourne recognizing “the Monk” but not fully grasping why. Abbott is ultimately killed in the Treadstone headquarters in Manhattan. Despite his minimal presence, Abbott is a key component of the theme of Government Corruption, Secrecy, and Covert Operations. Abbott has actively kept Treadstone a secret for years, even from most members of the CIA and the government. As a result, his actions directly lead to Bourne’s isolation and his struggle to return to Treadstone once leadership passes to Crawford and Conklin.