Benjamin Linus.  Every single person that reads this analysis will agree with the statement that Ben is a manipulator to the core.  Probably one of the most brilliant minds you will find on the island.  Simply because he’s brilliant doesn’t mean he’s not evil.  Evil seems to be very dependent on your point of view on many things.  Ben refers to himself and the rest of the “others” as the good guys, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s right.  Good guys don’t kidnap people, run tests on children, and manipulate people to reach your own goals.  That’s a trait of an evil person.

We see Ben’s childhood, something that we don’t get to see for a lot of the other people on the island.  Seeing someone as a child explains many, many things about their life.  I can honestly say, seeing how Ben grew up, I understand why he is how he is.  Ben lacked a father figure; although he had a father, he wasn’t a good one.  I think that’s a very important thing in life.  We have to feel accepted in this world, and Ben unfortunately missed out on that.  Ben killed his dad, and felt it was greatly justified.  He didn’t even bury the body, which is unbelievable.

Ben is a genius.  He knows how to get exactly what he wants from not only people he knows very well, but also people that he doesn’t know very well, such as Jack, Locke, and many others.  He’s a skilled liar, as we see in Season two.  Remember when he claimed he was “Henry Gale.”  Most of the information about the balloon, where he was from, among a lot of other stuff, was created on the fly I’m sure.  It takes an extremely intelligent person to pull off something like that, and Ben did it with ease.  Ben is able to think on the fly in situations, such as we saw in the Season three finale, when informing his men to kill Sayid, Jin, and Bernard if he didn’t hear him within one minute.  That was simply a brilliant on-the-fly decision.

Although he’s a scoundrel sometimes, he at least has class.  We see some manners shine through, for example eating breakfast with Kate, and being courteous the entire time.  I guess sometimes it seems like his personality conflicts with itself.  We see his courtesy, but then at other times we see the exact opposite.  We can learn from Ben that a skilled manipulator can get what he wants when he wants it.  In fact, when I hear the name Benjamin Linus, I think manipulation.  We can also learn that a father figure is important in life.  Although Ben seems to get what he wants most of the time, it doesn’t seem that he is always happy, which is something that we have all been through at some point in life.

Juliet Burke.  I always had issues trusting Juliet.  Even though she eventually turned out ok, you still have to wonder if she’s really going to stick with them.  I mean, sure, she wants to get off the island just like everyone, but that doesn’t mean that she didn’t lie to the survivors at first, and continue helping Ben.  I think Juliet’s attraction to Jack is because she truly believe Jack can save her, and everyone else on the island, and she likes that persistence in him.  After seeing her past, it’s hard not to feel sorry for her.  You see her sister almost die from cancer, but then everything gets turned around.  The cancer is cured, and is pregnant.  Ben claimed the cancer returned, and he could cure it if Juliet would remain on the island, but Ben’s manipulation will be covered in greater detail in his analysis.

Juliet is a very caring person, and she demonstrates this many times.  She never stopped bringing Jack food, and was quick to trust him even after he almost killed her.  That tells you a lot about a person.  It’s similar to your walk in your religious faith, if you think about it.  Being one way in your place of worship is one thing, but acting like it outside the church is something totally different.  Even after Jack threatened her, she continued to do what was right, and that tells you a lot about her personality.  You see her get so upset when her ex-husband gets hit by a bus, and dies.  Of course we all would, but it just demonstrates her caring attitude.  I think Jack made a bit of a misjudgement trusting her so fast.  In fact, that’s a little out of Jack’s personality, usually it’s the opposite.

She feared not being accepted by the survivors of the plane crash, and her assumption that they wouldn’t trust her was right.  But, I can’t blame them.  You suddenly have a person that is part of a group that has kidnapped, and attempted to kill your people, wouldn’t you have issues too?  You have to wonder if it was Jacob that cured her sister’s cancer?  I mean, obviously we know that Jacob is supernatural; some type of god apparently, so is this the case?

In studying Juliet’s character, we can learn that lying is not a good thing.  Ben manipulated and used her, attempting to convince her that she could leave if he obeyed what she did, causing her to lie many times, even to the survivors.  But, being the person that she is, she saw the wrong in what she was doing and stopped before it was to late.  I think that’s a very valuable lesson to learn.

Ethan Rom.  We didn’t get a huge chance to see much of Ethan, until we started seeing him in some flashbacks in season three.  The first thing that I think of when I hear his name now, is his persistence.  If you remember, he altered the original plan of injecting Claire, and ended up kidnapping Charlie and Claire.  That tells me right there that he is persistent in what he does and doesn’t take no for an answer.  He seems like a kind person though, aside from a few moments.  I never really understood why you would send a surgeon to investigate matters going on, especially if he’s the only one they had.

Apparently, Ethan had some sort of obsession with Claire.  This is obvious, due to the fact that he probably kidnapped Claire and Charlie without any type of approval, but that’s simply speculation.  I believe that Ethan underestimated how clever the other survivors were, eventually leading to his death.  Ethan is also very convincing, as he assisted in talking Juliet into coming to the island to join the experiments.

Mr. Eko. Eko took up the John Locke’s religious position on the island when John lost faith.  John completely stopped believing that everything on the island happened for a purpose, and Eko had a prophetic dream about this, and took up John’s place in pushing the button.  Of course, as we all know, John eventually prevents Eko from pressing it, resulting in the explosion of the hatch.  I like Eko, for the same reason I like many other characters; because he has an enormous amount of faith.  There is just something about a person with faith, you just have respect for them; and know that they are devout, and there is something different about these type people.

Eko gave the ultimate sacrifice when he was a child.  Some guerrillas attempted to force Eko’s brother, Yemi, to kill a man, to prove that he was able to do it, in an attempt to get him to join with them.  Eko, knowing his brother didn’t want to do this, stepped in and shot the man for him.  This was a very brave move, and caused the guerrillas to take Eko instead of Yemi.  It’s a sacrifice that Eko gave up, to save his brother.  Yemi became a priest, and Eko grew up with the guerrillas, eventually becoming as wretched as they were.  So you have to stop and ask yourself, is Eko wrong in this situation?  Eko sacrificed himself to save his brother, but then turned just as evil as the guerrillas were.  I don’t think so; I think that life was placed before Eko, and he ended up exactly where he was supposed to be, which was on the island.

Eko is the only person that has stood up to the smoke monster and survived.  If you watch carefully, you can see all sorts of images flashing before his eyes in the scene.  A crucifix, Jesus’ face, his brother, and  many other things.  It is quite spooky, but interesting.  Eko in his past life, became a priest after his brother was taken onto a plane that was going to be used to smuggle drugs.  That very plane crashed on the same island that Oceanic Flight 815 did, which of course, Eko was on.  Eko’s reunion with his deceased brother was an incredible scene.

What can we learn from Eko comparing his life to ours?  That faith is a very good thing.  Faith in God, which he had, as well in faith in the island.  He knew that he had to pick up where John left off.  I think there’s a huge moral to the story, and that is when your friend falls, you have to be there to pick up where he left off, and encourage him to continue.  It doesn’t mean that it will always work, but it’s inspiring isn’t it?  Eko was so persistent to push that button; it almost reminds you of Locke when he first arrived on the island.

Ana Lucia Cortez.  Ana was a very different character.  She almost reminds you of a female Sawyer in many ways.  Her death, by Michael’s hands, was very unexpected.  She is very headstrong, and likes to do things her way or the highway.  When I saw her meeting with Jack in the airport, I somehow had a feeling that we would see that character come back later in the show, and to my surprise, I was right.

She struggles day by day with the guilt of killing someone.  She killed someone in vengeance.  She had the opportunity to turn her in, while at a police lineup, but instead, she let him go, and murdered him.  The reason being is the fact he shot her and killed her baby while she was still pregnant, and she couldn’t let it go.  It seems like we can see a pattern here with almost every main character of this show, even if they were only a temporary character.  Everyone has something that they can or at least couldn’t in their past, let go of.  Jack couldn’t let go of Sarah, Hurley couldn’t let go of his eating disorder, Sawyer couldn’t let go of what the con-artist did to him when he was a child, among all the other characters that have issues.  Perhaps the island is some kind of second chance to make things right in life?  At this point we really don’t know.

Back to the character though, Ana Lucia wished to be a loner.  We saw her character begin to come around more and more, just before Michael killed her.  Her running to Sydney with Jack’s dad, Christian, shows us precisely what kind of person she is.  She wanted to run from her problems, instead of facing them, which isn’t always the best idea in life.  We have to confront our issues, just like we have to confront our fears.  Running doesn’t always solve something, it just leaves it behind.  We see Ana appear in one of Eko’s visions, when Eko was told to help John, and find the “question mark.”

What can we derive from Ana’s personality?  That running from problems in life isn’t always the right answer.  I think that we can also learn that forgiveness is a very important thing.  I think we’ve all had times in our life that we knew we needed to forgive someone for something they had done, but either we are to prideful, or hold a grudge.  We can also see in Ana, that we have to be more caring, because being hostile in life toward people won’t get you anywhere.

Desmond Hume.  Desmond is my second favorite character, second to Jack.  Desmond is great.  In many ways, he is the exact opposite of Jack.  Think about the situation in the stadium.  Desmond asked him what happens if you fix the woman?  Referring to Sarah, which was supposedly an impossible surgery.  Jack responded, “Well that would be a miracle, brother.”  And Desmond said, “And you don’t believe in miracles?”  And Jack responded negatively.  So that situation tells us that Desmond believes in miracles, at least a little bit.  Probably because of the call he felt he had on his life, to become a monk.  We see him indulge in alcohol a great deal, but this is due to the fact that he is stuck on the island, in a “bloody snow globe,” as he called it.  His ability to see the future is also very interesting.  We see him prevent Charlie’s death numerous times, until the unfortunate season three finale.

I think the island taught Desmond what was most important to him, which was Penelope.  We see that he left his life to enter this race around the world, to impress her father.  Well he gets stuck on this island as a result, and comes to realize what the important things in life are.  We see Desmond accidentally kill Kelvin, and you could tell he was upset that he had.  I’m sure that completely changes you, after killing someone.  He chased Kelvin outside and followed him to find that he was repairing Desmond’s boat, in an attempt to leave.  He let the countdown timer run down to zero, consequently building up an electromagnetic charge, causing Oceanic Flight 815 to crash.  That is so amazing to me.

If I had to describe Desmond with one word, it would be persistent.  We see him almost allow Charlie to die, simply because he believes he can find Penny.  That is pretty dedicated.  He is a very good guy though, and we see him help out a great deal.  He is very caring too.  If you remember the season three finale, he intended to go down to the looking glass in Charlie’s place.  That is a very courageous thing to do, simply because he knew Charlie was going to die.  It takes a very good person to do something like that.

I think we can learn from the character Desmond, to realize what is truly important in our lives.  Sometimes it’s hard to see the whole picture, and Desmond had a problem doing so with the Penny situation.  He was so hurt by what her father said, he couldn’t see clearly about what he needed to do with Penny.  But it’s also arguable that he didn’t marry her because he was afraid, as the old lady in the watch shop says.  In life, we have to go after what we want, regardless of what others say, and do what we believe is right.

Christian Shephard.  Very interesting name isn’t it?  You have to wonder if the writers did this intentionally.  Two connotations to Christianity in one name.  Christian is a great character.  The father of Jack, and we find out in season three that he is also the father of Claire.  You can tell that Christian pushed Jack so hard as a child.  I mean the first season showed us that.  We also saw in the first season, that Christian told Jack not to be a hero in certain situations, because “people will blame you when something goes wrong.”  This is true, and we even see this happen to Jack in the series a time or two.

As we all know, Christian is an alcoholic.  Christian and Jack actually get in an argument in one episode, referring to this.  Jack discovers that Christian had been calling his ex-wife, Sarah, and Jack goes off the deep end.  Jack couldn’t let Sarah go, and was dialing all the numbers on her cell phone.  Christian enters the room, to attempt to figure out what Jack is doing.  Jack calls one of the numbers, and it ends up being his fathers.  Christian claims, “I think I know a little about being obsessive,” and Jack responds with, “No, being a drunk is not being obsessive.”  The conversation ends with Christian telling Jack to, “Let it go.”  We see this referenced in a few episodes.

I believe that Christian feels as he is a failure in life, and that is part of the reason he is an alcoholic.  Many of us can relate to this, looking to alcohol or some other form of pleasure to ease pain in our life.  To pick one word to describe Christian, I would say critical.  We see this numerous times, especially toward Jack.  I believe that Christian knew that Jack was a better doctor than he was, but he wouldn’t admit, which in my opinion is a character flaw.  He even tells Sawyer, in Sydney, that he wished he had the courage to pick up the phone and call Jack and apologize for all that he’d done to him, and tell him he’s a “better doctor than he’ll ever be.”

I think that we can learn from Christian Shephard’s character that if we wait to long to do something in life, we may never have the chance.  Christian had unfinished business with Jack, but he never apologized; he never forgave Jack for turning him in, although it was the right thing to do.

Anthony Cooper. Well what more can you say about Anthony other than a scoundrel? Not much actually. I think he’s a pretty sorry human being. We saw the end of Anthony’s life at the end of season three, and I have to say, he had it coming. John Locke wanted nothing more than a father, and Anthony used this to his advantage. We see Anthony actually con his own son out of a kidney. If you don’t know the story, basically what happened was, John never had a father in his life, and lacked that father figure that most of us do have. John wanted it very badly though. Anthony knew this, and for the first time in his life, meets John. For a few weeks they hunt and do other activities together. Anthony then informs John that he is in need of a kidney from a willing donor, and tricks John into giving it to him, then leaves him. A very disturbed individual indeed. You can almost see a pattern of every single character having a messed up parent in their life. Coincidence, or purposefully done by the writers? Hopefully we’ll find out soon.

John, becoming obcessed with Anthony, stalks him at his home for a few years, subsequent to Anthony asking John to assist him in a con. He faked his death, to make some money that he stole, and splits the money with John. John tells him that he didn’t do it for the money. We never see a compassionate side of Anthony Cooper, because deep down he is evil. We see in Season three that Anthony Cooper is also the individual that conned James Ford’s (Sawyer’s) mother, consequently causing Sawyer’s father to kill his mother, then himself. We see the death of Anthony, by Sawyer’s hands. Anthony is also responsible for the paralyzation of John, by pushing him out of a window. I find it interesting to think that neither Locke or Sawyer would be on this island if it weren’t for Anthony.

Anthony referred to the island as “hell” when talking to Sawyer, on the same episode that he was killed. It seems like he accepted the fact, and almost knew that he would be going there. Character’s like Anthony will have an unknown past for the rest of the series, simply because he wasn’t a main character. However, it would be very interesting to know what drove Cooper to act how he acts, and commit the wrongs that he did.

Bernard Nadler. Bernard is a different character. If I had to use one adjective to describe him, it would be overbearing. It seems like he tries to hard sometimes. If you remember the SOS sign, it’s a perfect example of his character. It seems like he wants to get certain things done, but doesn’t quite have the ability or sense to do it sometimes. Bernard seems to have that heroic side that he tries to shine sometimes, but it really just doesn’t pan out. He made it a goal in life to cure Rose(his wife), of cancer. He didn’t give up until he believed she was cured. When in reality, she wasn’t cured; she simply lied to Bernard so he would stop trying. Ironically enough, the reason that they are on the island is because of the attempt. As previously stated, they traveled to a healer in Australia, which proved unsuccessful.

In my opinion, it was very brave of Bernard to marry Rose knowing that she only had a limited time to live. That take a lot of courage, and realizing that you will get attached to a person that is going to die. Bernard sometimes acts like he must prove himself, such as staying behind to blow the tents in the finale of Season three, but everyone wants to be a hero I guess.

I think that we can learn from Bernard, that in life, we have to be more accepting of what is to come, and enjoy time that we do have, instead of trying to change things. You’ll notice that Bernard, although he does love Rose, cannot accept the fact that she is going to die. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that we will do whatever in our power to save people, but he took it to the extreme. In life, we have to sometimes accept the inevitable, which may in reality, be our “fate,” and move on with life. If we can’t enjoy the present, how can we look forward to the future?

Rose Henderson.  I like Rose.  The coolest thing about her has to be her enormous amount of faith.  If you remember earlier in the series, everyone thought the tail section of the plane was destroyed and everyone on it was dead, but Rose did not accept this fact.  She believed by faith that her husband, Bernard, was still alive, and sure enough, he was.  Rose was told at one point in her life that she only had two years left to live, and just after discovering this information, she met her husband, Bernard.  After she informed him of this, he did not care, and proposed to her.  He tried everything in his power to heal her, even going as far as a faith healer.  In fact, this faith healer, Isaac, that she visited, was in Australia, and told her that she couldn’t be healed by him, because her healing was meant to happen somewhere else.  It’s definitely not coincidence that her healing did happen, on the very island that they crashed on their way back from Australia.

If you remember, Rose was in a state of shock when they first arrived on the island, not talking for about three days straight.  But subsequent to that event, she handles life on the island very well.  Probably better than most of the other survivors.

If you remember the episode where Charlie was hung by a rope, Rose approached him and discussed his behavior, which was very similar to how she was when they first arrived on the island.  Of course, this attitude was due to the fact that Claire was missing.  She encouraged him by telling him that he basically needed to pray, and she ends up praying with him.  On that same day, she tells him that there is a fine line between denial, and faith, which was referring to her faith in Bernard still being alive.

It almost seems like Rose takes a mother position on the island many times, encouraging people and almost guiding them, but not directly.  Hurley trusted her about his thoughts on blowing up the food in the bunker.  We also see many other characters put faith in her and trust her.

We can learn from Rose that in life, it’s a great thing to have a positive attitude.  Pessimism is a very, very bad quality.  We see that Rose, had enormous amounts of not only faith, but also optimism, which helped her get through each day.  That’s something that can inspire us all.  If we are having a bad day, or even a bad week, month, or year, it’s better to look to the future, about how it will turn out, other than looking at how bad of a situation that we are in.  I guess as far as the concept of destiny and fate, Rose reminds me of John Locke.