Changes: John Locke

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About Locke

In the first two series of the show, John Locke has played a key role in the happenings on the island. Know as John or Locke by his fellow survivors, he has survival skills and tracking knowledge which have on numerous occasions proved vital to the losties and also appears to be well educated. This can be seen in his broad range of knowledge which encompasses many literary and cultural subjects. He is also fond of games, possibly due to his time spent working in a toy store.

There is also evidence that he is a fan of ‘The Godfather’ series of movies. In the Pilot episode we can see him do the orange peel trick that Vito uses with his grandson. In a flashback in the episode Lockdown he tells Helen that he'll "take care of everything" with the same distinct inflection used by a young Vito. He also used Italian in the episode Hearts and Minds.

John Locke also seems to have a lot of psychological baggage. In his flashbacks he has great trouble letting go of his desire for approval from his father, Anthony Cooper, and until the episode Live Together, Die Alone, he believes that his destiny lies on the island.

Before The Crash

Family

Born to Emily Annabeth Locke and Anthony Cooper
Was abandoned by his parents as a baby and grew up in various foster homes.
Had at least two presumably-foster siblings - a sister, Jeannie, who died when he was young, and an unnamed brother with whom he played Mouse Trap - and a great aunt named Bea Jones.
Was tracked down by his mother as an adult, who, telling him that he was "always kind of special," put him back in contact with his biological father.
Seemed to bond with his father, after they met the became friends and spent time hunting together
- It was really a façade so Anthony Cooper could steal his kidney and then cut off all communication with him.
Began to stalk his father, parking his car across the road from his home and simply sitting there, but stopped this habit once he met Helen
Became involved with Cooper once again. Cooper had conned some thugs out of a large sum of money and hid it in a bank account which he required assistance in accessing; in return for John's aid, he would share $200,000 of the money with him. John did this, and it remains unknown whether or not John kept the money.

Work

An unspecified amount of time between five and ten years before the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, he was working as an assistant manager in a large toy store.
While with Helen, Locke founded a home inspection company named Welcome Home (with customers that included Nadia)
Worked as a Regional Collections Supervisor box company (possibly owned by Hurley) just before his trip to Australia
- Enjoyed playing Axis & Allies with a co-worker, exchanging pretend military jargon such as follows:

"Colonel Locke, is this line secure?" (Locke looks around)
"Line secure."
"The target area is secure and maneuvers are a go for 1300 hours."

His boss, Randy seemed to bully him because of this, noting that Locke had no actual military experience.

Helen

Attempting to deal with his feelings by attending an anger management support group, he met Helen and began a relationship with her.
- Helen distracted him from his issues with his father.
Prepared to ask Helen to marry him, but his plans were disrupted by the sudden return of his father to his life. When Helen discovered his involvement with his father and the money, she turned down John's proposal and left him.
A while later, attempted to re-enact his previous relationship by involving himself with a phone sex operator (or someone similar) going by the name of Helen.
- Invited her to go on a trip with him, she refused, and the "relationship" was ended.

Handicap

Through circumstances which are as yet unknown, Locke lost the use of his legs four years prior to ill-fated his journey on Flight 815.

Trip to Autralia

Stubbornly refused to allow his disability to affect his life, made plans to go on a Walkabout in Australia to challenge himself, only to find that once he arrived in Sydney, he was forbidden from participating.
- Angrily, but ineffectually, retorted: "Don't tell me what I can't do!"
  - With no other options, prepared to return to America aboard Flight 815, briefly encountering Rose at the airport beforehand.
Much to his own embarassment, Locke had to be carried onto the plane by flight attendants and seated in 24D.

On The Island

Season 1

Awakened on the beach after the crash of Flight 815 and was shocked to discover that he had regained his ability to walk.
- This profoundly affected Locke, who had spent years preparing for a survive-or-die situation, and, due to his self-expressed outlook as a "man of faith," believed that it was his destiny to be on the island, and that everything was happening for a reason.
Was the first to bear witness to the monster
- As a result, came to think of the island as an entity unto itself with a plan for them all.
Attacked Sayid and destroyed his makeshift radio equipment in order to prevent the discovery of the origin of the distress signal.
- This fact was not known by the castaways for some time
Was generally held in high standing amongst the group for his many skills including:

His tracking abilities, allowed the survivors to traverse the jungles
His hunting skills, which regularly provided the group with meat from slain boars.
His shared powers of perseverance with Charlie, helping him to quit his heroin addiction (the two men became close as a result).

While attempting to track Ethan Rom, Locke discovered the hatch
- Recruited Boone to aid him in excavating it, but kept it a secret from the rest.
Went so far as to drug Boone because he believed that he was going to reveal the hatch's existence to the other castaways. (The hallucinogenic experience successfully served to open Boone's mind to the mysteries of the island and - like Locke before him - to emotionally let go of others close to him, and strengthened his resolve to aid Locke in his quest.)
With Boone, discovered Claire after her escape from The Staff
Built a cradle for Claire.
Constructed a trebuchet in a failed attempt to shatter the hatch door's window, an attempt probably inspired by Mouse Trap.
Had a vision of the crash of a beechcraft.
- With Boone, tracked the plane to its resting place in the canopy.
- Because his legs appeared to steadily cease function (perhaps the result of some psychosomatic belief that the "island" was abandoning him), Boone was required to climb to the plane.
  - The plane tipped and fell from its place, killing Boone.
Returned to camp with Boone’s injured body but fled to the hatch without telling Jack the true nature of Boone’s injuries.
- Boone died despite Jack's best efforts
- At the hatch, he demanded that the island tell him what it wanted, and what he was to do next.
  - A light to appeared within the window and disappeared just as quickly, reaffirming Locke’s faith.
Confronted violently by Jack when he returned to camp.
He soon told the rest of the hatch, but his reputation as a secretive liar earned him temporary dislike by the group.
Continued to keep secrets, however, when he did not reveal that Walt was responsible for burning the first raft.
Embarked with Jack, Kate, Hurley and Rousseau to the Black Rock to recover dynamite to blow the hatch open.
- During the trek, Locke was seized by the monster and almost pulled into a pit by its smoky tendrils before some of the dynamite was used to repel it.
  - During the event, he had asked Jack to allow the monster to pull him in.
Was present for the destruction of the door to the hatch.

Season 2

Upon entering the newly opened hatch (discovered to the The Swan Station of the DHARMA Initiative), Locke was briefly held captive by Desmond, the operator of the station.
- When Desmond fled, Locke continued his job of entering the numbers and pushing the button, which he believed was extremely important.
  - Helped establish a rotation of the castaways for pushing the button, so it could be done efficiently.
Discovered that Charlie had been hoarding heroin-filled statues from the beechcraft, upsetting him because he considered it a breach of trust.
Severely beat Charlie following Charlie’s kidnapping of Aaron, instigated by a series of delusions.
- Subsequently became quite close to Claire in a fatherly manner.
Due in part to the subtle manipulations of "Henry Gale", a member of The Others that the castways were able to capture, John found himself at odds with Jack for "leadership" of the group and the role of decision-maker.
Initially believed Gale's assertation that he was not one of the Others
Called on Gale’s help when his leg was impaled by a blast door during an impromptu lockdown in the hatch.
- Consequently, promised to protect him from the other survivors
Discovered a hidden map drawn of the island drawn on the blast door.
Following the revelation of Gale's deception, Locke was thrown into a state of self-doubt when Gale claimed that he never pushed the button.
His faith in the island's abilities was bolstered a bit when a conversation with Rose, who made it clear that she was also aware of the island's healing properties.
He and Eko uncovered The Pearl, a station containing a film which attested that the act of pushing the button was nothing more than a psychological experiment.
- Locke’s faith in the island and perception of it was shattered, but Eko took away the opposite belief - that pushing the button was essential.
Witnessed Charlie hurling the remaining heroin statues into the ocean.
Removed his splint to reveal a healed leg.
Was determined to prove that the button was meaningless.
- Entered into a partnership with the returned Desmond
Triggered a lockdown that shut Eko out of the hatch, intending to wait until the countdown ended on the assumption that nothing would happen.
- When Desmond read printouts from the Pearl and attempted to push the button, Locke smashed the computer in protest.
As the countdown ended and the electromagnetic energy beneath the station began to build up, Locke spoke only three words - "I was wrong" – to Eko, who had made his way into the computer room.
Desmond subsequently triggered the failsafe, venting all the electromagnetic energy through some sort of mysterious detonation.
During this, Locke was inside the Swan, and his fate subsequently remains unknown.
- Many have speculated that he survives, certainly Locke having a flashback explaining why he is in a wheelchair in Season 3 backs this up.

Trivia

John Locke (1632-1704) was an English philosopher, who believed in the "State of Nature" - how people would live together without any laws or government. He also fully developed the idea of Tabula rasa, which incidentally is the name of an episode. He is also discussed in Bad Twin, where he argues that the highest goal of our intelligence is the careful and constant pursuit of true and solid happiness...the thrust of his argument is that the best use of our reason is in working toward happiness.

Theories

Regarding Locke’s faith

While the episode title Lockdown was likely a double entendre for the events occurring in the hatch as well as "Locke" physically being brought "down", it may also have been a bit of foreshadowing regarding Locke's eventual fall from faith. It is also interesting to note that there are two men of faith on the island, Locke and Eko. One white and one black, just like the stones found with Adam and Eve. They are much like the stones that Jewish priests use in determining the will of God (called Urim and Thummim). Also interesting to note that Locke seems to love backgammon, a game of black and white stones. In "Raised by Another" Locke appears in Claire's dream with one black eye and one white eye.
In Walkabout we are led to believe that Locke had an early encounter with The Security System. Is it possible he had a similar experience at that time to the one had by Mr. Eko in The 23rd Psalm? Perhaps The Security System did not hurt him because he is "one of the good ones." Goodwin also implied that Eko was "one of the good ones."
Locke didn't reprimand Walt for burning the raft that Michael had built, and instead agreed that he likes it on the island too. This suggests that Locke may actually be fulfilling his dreams and finding happiness by being on this island. This may be the "Walkabout" he's always wanted to partake in.

Regarding Locke’s handicap

Locke became paralyzed by the men that his father stole money from.
Locke became paralyzed when the deck that collapsed under Hurley's weight crushed his legs.
In Deus Ex Machina there is indication that his paralyzed condition may be psychosomatic, and strongly tied to his personal feelings of self-confidence and self-worth.

Regarding his relation to the Others

The Others want Locke to be the leader of the castaways. This theory is substantiated by Henry Gale's admission that his mission concerned Locke (and also why Henry didn't kill Locke when he had the chance). Also, when the Others had Kate in their custody during The Hunting Party and surrounded Jack and Sawyer, they could have just taken the three they needed then. Perhaps Locke's presence was a deterrent. By removing Jack, Sawyer, and Kate, the Others have effectively removed the main obstacles to Locke being the leader of the castaways.
When Locke ties up Kate, he tricks Desmond to trust him, and gives Kate a knife. Maybe he will play the Others to get in with them like a spy.

Additional theories

Is there a link between the Golden Retriever who showed up after his sister Jeannie's death and Sawyer's boar and Kate's Horse?
Locke may have been trying to see Isaac of Uluru when he unsuccessfully tried to have a trip into the Australian outback in Walkabout.

Unanswered Questions

Why wasn't he on the list?
What cause his paralysis?
Did he die in the Swan Station?

@@ Line 147: / Line 147: @@
 ==Unanswered Questions==
 *Why wasn't he on the list?
+*What cause his paralysis?
+*Did he die in the Swan Station?
 ==Gallery==