Jack has a major hero complex, and almost all of his actions can be explained by figuring out whom he's trying to save. (Shannon, Boone, Kate, Claire, Michael, Walt, Juliet, hoping to get everyone rescued if he can get off the island, etc..) Jack seems driven with the need to save everyone and will not sacrifice anyone else, though he will sacrifice his personal morals/beliefs.
Jack will turn out to be the tragic hero of LOST. So far he shares a lot of common traits with that archetype. His tragic flaw is his stubbornness and compulsive need to fix things and his reversal of fortune was when he called Naomi's people.
His stubbornness caused him to call the Kahana, but his reversal of fortune comes when he encounters Ben at the funeral parlor and agrees to go back.
There is also evidence Jack represents the epic hero. He is on a cyclical quest, started out alone but has amassed allies along the way. His morals mirror that of current popular society. He has a sort of demigod status "he walks amongst you, but he is not one of you" He has no superpowers but an extraordinary skill (surgical) that he uses to help people. He has also returned to his home transformed.
All of Jack's actions of taking all responsibility for the safety of his group are driven by his absolute refusal to trust anyone else. This was first a response to his father's betrayal of his mother and compounded by his cheating wife.
Jack is already Jacob's replacement
When Sun was hit on the head and could no longer speak English, Jack gave her a notepad to help her find her voice. He also touched her by extending his hand and asking her to join him. Both of these acts are significant in that the context of the exchange tracks the manner in which Jacob helped Richard find his path on the Island. Richard was in despair and Jacob was there. Sun was in despair and Jack was there. This was Jack's first step into filling Jacob's shoes. Jack is learning to guide with the lightest touch, and because he touched Sun, she is now a candidate (or Jack's representative). It is also significant that Jack saw two other houses in addition to seeing his own house in the mirrors at the Lighthouse. One of the other houses was an Asian pagoda style house which looked very much like the Pagoda style house seen in Sun and Jin flashbacks of Season 1. Jacob told Hurley that Jack has to realize for himself that he has something important to do, but another reason Jacob sent Jack and Hurley to the lighthouse was so Jack would eventually know how to use the Lighthouse. The mirrors must be forged from the sand on the Island which contains the unique properties inherent in all things found there. Jack will have to forge these mirrors and it will take a very long time; like Jacob's tapestry. A person can be angry about spending eternity on the Island, or make the most of it by being productive and enriching themselves.--Roger.barret 18:24, March 31, 2010 (UTC)
Jack's Purpose
Clearly Jacob is not done and needs a "body" to control similar to the way MIB is controlling Locke's body.
This is obviously contradicted by the facts and should be deleted, as per theory page rules. We have seen Flocke standing right next to Locke's body. The MIB is NOT controlling a body. This assertion is speculation at best, unfounded nonsense at worst.
Jack will ultimately save them all by getting Locke (not Sayid) to take the poison. He is a conflicted leader, representing "everyman." He has been riddled with self-doubt and made the wrong (apparently) choices but still doesn't quit trying. See discussion page for more on this.
I don't think Jacob needs a body to reanimate. He has Hurley (and possibly Miles) who get to talk to dead people and relay his intentions. Jacob doesn't need a body...he has all the chess pieces he needs to play his games. Also Locke doesn't seem to be reanimated either. The monster is like the First on Buffy...it takes the forms and memories of the dead. The MiB takes the form of dead people, Jacob merely sends dreams and visions of dead people.
Of course Sayid is not Jacob because there is no other body. Like the fact that there are two bodies of Locke.
Christian's body was hidden by the monster, who can pick things up physically in any form. He hid the body so Jack and Claire would not know he was an imposter. Of course, we don't know why he didn't hide Locke's body better but maybe Ilana's team was searching for it harder. Jack really didn't look around after he saw his dad's coffin was empty.
Agreed that Sayid, Claire and the rest of the French team were just infected.
Jacob is not inhabiting Sayid's body, MIB is. MIB was inhabiting Christian's body as well and while inhabiting Christian's body he lured Claire into the cabin, which is why the ash around the cabin was broken, and Jacob whispered help when Locke visited with Ben. MIB while inhabiting Christian's body also was the one who told Locke he would have to die in order to come back to the island and save it. He tricked Locke so that he could then use his body to carry out the rest of his plans.(not sure what those are yet=maybe create his dark army to fight Jacob's for the island...)
MIB is not inhabiting Locke's body, no one is. This has been firmly established, especially since we saw MIB walk right past Locke's dead body. MIB has taken an artificial form that just looks like Locke, which is entirely different than inhabiting Locke's body. Whatever is going on with Sayid is something different, since that is not an entity taking the form of Sayid, but rather Sayid's actual body, infected or what have you...which is entirely different than Locke's situation.
MIB doesn't want to fight Jacob for the island. He wants to go home.
The being "claimed" is what happened to Rousseau's group and why she had to kill her friends when she realized they had been taken over and the same would happen to her if she didn't stop it first. This supports the theory that being claimed is like being possessed which is different then when the MIB takes over a deceased's body. What we don't know is whether those possessed are extensions of the MIB's power or something else.
The Monster needed John Locke's form and only John's to carry out his plans because it was John Locke who was the new leader of the Others. He had to be Locke to convince Ben to Kill Jacob. Now that it is perfectly clear to all present that he is not John Locke, he can take on any other form that suits his purposes.
Lennon said that if Sayid dies they would all be in trouble. That means death is something they fear, especially now that their protector Jacob is dead. They may not have the idea that MIB took Locke's form hence they fear the death that happened in front of their eyes meant MIB is returning by "claiming" Sayid's body.
The latest episodes and the existence of a parallel universe is our first clues as to what the island is. Everyone on 815 died and and various unknown entities are possessing their bodies. There appear to be good and bad entities and their abilities and the awareness of the person who is possessed varies as well. For example, Locke was a bit of a weak, pathetic man off-island. When he crashed and died, something took him over and made him walk again, and is more of a leader. When Locke was killed it opened the body for possession by someone else. The "test" that was given to Sayid is to determine which side the entity is on, good or bad, and his death opened the door for possession by someone else. Eventually the good and bad sides will start to war, that is the war that was said to be coming in "the incident". This also explains why the 815 people couldn't return to their lives off-island. Clearly, a lot of questions remain, but this is the most likely explanation for everything.
The Entirety of Lost was Jack's Dream
He was leaving Australia with his father's body, and blacked out after putting on an oxygen mask in the plane. His subconscious then went to work with his struggles around his father, and created an elaborate fantasy where ultimately his hero complex, based on trying to get his father's approval, would save the world. In the end of this dream, he is able to forgive his father, as he sees that he is responsible for the man he is today.
The first episode begins with Jack opening his eyes and the last ends with him closing his eyes, making the entire series "Jack-centric." His character is the only character to have full resolution around the issues in his life, the very issues which each of the candidates gave Jacob reason to pick them.
Can't be, since the show shows intricate stories of many other characters. Lost isn't Jack-centric.
Doctors at George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates recorded brain activity of people dying from critical illnesses, such as cancer or heart attacks. Moments before death, the patients experienced a burst in brain wave activity, with the spikes occurring at the same time before death and at comparable intensity and duration. Writing in the October issue of the Journal of Palliative Medicine, the doctors theorize that the brain surges may be tied to widely reported near-death experiences which typically involve spiritual or religious attributes.
No one could have survived the initial crash, so the entire show was from the surge in brain activity right before Jack died due to his injuries from the initial crash. Jack's death scene showed how he was actually dressed in the airplane crash, blue jeans and a t-shirt. How he was dressed in the moments after the crash, in the suit, was part of his brain activity surge.
They survived because Jacob brought them to the island. They can't die until their purpose in life has been completed.
Epilogue
Jack will be found by Ben and Hurley, and he will be cremated and his ashes preserved, as was the case with Jacob.
