Fear and Courage

[kirkthenelson]

Hey everybody! I've read about good vs. evil, etc. Didn't J.J. Abrams state in an interview that the groups were black and white, but not necessarally "good and evil"?

From the beginning of the first episode Jack was showing how he faces his fears (forced himself to operate instead of giving up). Other characters run away from them. It looks like this is the dividing factor.

Kate is always running. Even the government had a hard time catching her!

Remember when Michael was running away from some mysterious creature in the jungle? As soon as he stumbled on Sun (in a state of undress), the threat seemed to disappear. Why? His fear was replaced by embarassment (among other things).

Locke is facing his fears, and his story arc on the show has been overwhelmingly positive. The guy got his legs back! HOW that happened is a mystery. But he also looked at "the creature" and lived to tell the tale. He wasn't afraid, even calling it beautiful.

Sawyer (jerk that he is) accepts his fate quite quickly, hoarding and commenting that no rescue is coming.

What about the woman who died at the beginning of last week's episode? She was swimming in the sea. Maybe she was trying to swim toward a ship she saw, and died as a result!

This also seems to manifest itself in which camp the survivors choose. If you accept your fate, you'll live near the water. If you rely on the hope of rescue, you'll live on the beach.

Thoughts?

[cinderellabop]

Wow, that is an excellent point! I like that much better than the "good vs. evil" theory, and it makes a lot of sense. For example, Charlie is near the water as he is about to confront his personal demons. It seems logical that he will come out stronger from it. Kate, however, has yet to confront hers completely, so she hides from them, clinging to hope of a rescue that would actually cause her to lose her freedom anyway.

Nice thinking! Welcome to the board!

[drabauer]

I like this theory as well. I thought it a powerful statement when Claire faced up to the task of the memorial service, while Jack didn't want to deal with it. The episode before a character(s) is profiled the character(s) always have to make some sort of moral choice, and we are left wondering why they are hesitating, etc.

Rather than the model of Greek tragedy--strong characters doomed by their fate--I would rather see Shakespearean--characters who make their destiny, but are compromised by their flaws and inconsistencies.

[Baron X]

When did we ever see Locke show fear? How do you know he conquered them? We have not established he was afraid of anything to begin with. Yes he was loser, but he talked back to his boss at work. He was not afraid to spend a lot of money for a pretend friend. I'm going to have to disagree, if they had showed he was afraid of something like they did with Jack, then maybe, but remember his battle cry before he came to the island......."Don't tell me what I can't do!!!". Does not sound like some one with fear to me.

[drabauer]

I don't think kirkthenelson meant to imply that everyone had to have a Fear with a capital F, and then overcome it. I took it to mean that when challenged with any kind of dilemma a character either faces it or he/she doesn't. Jack faces up to all of the physical challenges, but not the emotional. Time will tell whether Locke is a hero or somewhat delusional. People will shift positions, sometimes embracing change, sometimes resisting it.

[JacksGirlfriend]

Kirk: Like your thoughts and this is the kind of thing I usually love to ramble on about, but I am thoroughly brain dead today. So I apologize (or am saving you space in your thread - however you'd like to view it).

JacksGirl