This is the second part of our LOST homeschool curriculum – an ongoing discussion about character development and arc (PART I – THEMES is here.) We’re keeping notes (a very large chart) on the main characters and how they develop and how our feelings change about them as we watch the series.

NOTE: If you watch the series, this will all make sense to you. If you don’t watch the series, I highly recommend it, but you have to watch it from the beginning – we purchased the first 4 seasons on DVD. You can’t just watch a couple episodes and have any understanding at all. My series here includes only the simplest of the discussion points. For in depth LOST analysis, please visit the message boards or Lostpedia.

We’re charting the development on these major characters. If you’ve watched the show, you know we’ll continue to add a LOT as we continue through the series. Currently we’re watching season 2.

Jack – Hero, determined, leader, doctor, believer in free-will and science.
He’s one of the more apparently honest characters, although you never know in LOST. We will learn about his personal demons as we go through the series. With the best of intentions, he often makes promises he can’t keep. Possible character arc throughout the series — a move toward faith.

John Locke — Weak/strong, blind-faith/abandoned-faith, confident/frustrated, Yoda/whiner, “special”/not “special”
Conflicted character who seems to be given a new lease on life on the island. The opposite of Jack, Locke believes everything is predestined, and he’s carrying out his purpose. Locke’s character is apparently confident and in-charge one minute, and whiny and desperate the next. His manic flip-flopping makes one wonder if he’s actually two people. Character arc — a move from his pathetic off-island self to the powerful, purposeful Locke we see on the island. But there’s much more to Locke than we even understand by season five.

Kate — Fugitive, murderer, liar, impulsive – acts without considering consequences.
Kate is misguided – acting sometimes with the best intentions, but with disastrous results for the people she loves. Her impulsivity causes her to tend to do the exact opposite of what her allies wanted her to do, thinking it’s her best course of action. She is often caught in a decision about who to follow. We recognize a good side to Kate, that doesn’t seem masked. We witness Kate seeming sure of herself, and then distraught when she discovers she’s completely wrong about something. She’s loyal, a good listener and seems genuinely concerned about others. Character arc — remains to be seen. Possibly progress toward better decision-making?

Sawyer — Con-man, tortured soul, orphan, guarded.
Sawyer seems to do everything in his power to make people hate him – and he’s succeeding. When his guard is down, though, we see that he’s ashamed of his “bad” past, but doesn’t feel there’s anything he can do about it. He resigns himself to the role he’s chosen. (Character arc — showing the good that’s been in him all along — free will can impact destiny.)

Sayid — Soldier, torturer, murderer, tech-wiz, lie-detector
One of the more honest and predictable characters, it’s easy to like Sayid despite the fact that he consistently does horrible things to people. His moral compass is different than mine, but I think he usually does things with the best of intentions – sometimes regretting his actions afterward, other times not. Character arc — continual progression toward becoming a non-murderer, with continual regression to the role he knows so well.

Jin – Husband, hit-man, poor-fisherman-turned-hig-society, outsider
Sun – Dissatisfied wife, secret-keeper, envious of Americans
These two characters develop in unison, even when they’re not together. We see Sun prepared to leave Jin for doing horrible things, supposedly in the name of their marriage. Although both seem to want to be rescued, as time passes it almost seems like crashing on the island was a blessing to them both. Character arc — rediscovering the true love they had for each other when they married.

I would love to read your own LOST character arc comments – please share!

LOST Homeschool Lessons Series:
Themes
Character Arc
Symbols
Games!
History/Literature