Would the courts really go after someone in this situation? Even if he wasn't Superman? As for why he did it, I think at least he wasn't thinking of failure. I can't see the heartlessness in the gravity of the situation. He's too involved for it to be heartless. An example:
And I would have done anything for her.
But not this. No, please, not this.
I didn’t want to freeze her. I didn’t want to risk her life, not even for my parents’ lives. But, idiot I am, I let her convince me.
“All right,” I murmered.
She wiped her eyes and said, “If anything happens – tell Clark I love him.”
It stopped me for a moment. Now she says this? I thought. Now she’s decided she loves Clark? How can I do this after what she just said? How can I risk what I’ve waited for and prayed for? How can I let her walk into the killing zone, even for my parents?
There was only one way. I just had to do it and carry out the rest of the plan. “He knows,” I said, “but I will. Close your eyes.”
This makes me think that he went into the situation knowing he'd fail. I think that makes all the difference. He says above he doesn't want to do it, but in the abscence of another route, I think he simply thought that he wouldn't fail (he says "risk" her life, so he's hesitant to put her in danger--I'm not sure if its the same as "I don't want her to die"--the latter carries some possibility of failure).
That said I love this quote, its really brings in the bittersweetness of the situation. How tragic that his double identity should stand as an obstacle in this moment (and how that mirrors that it be the cause, however indirectly to her death). Can the knowledge that she loves him change anything? In this situation it doesn't seem to. It opens up a lot of other questions too. Is is better that he knew she loved him? Or is that like salt on the wound for the rest of his days?
