Shannon Rutherford.  Shannon would be a half decent character if she didn’t complain so much!  Not trying to start this analysis off in a negative way, but it’s the truth.  She has a major problem with authority, and people telling her what to do.  To be honest though, it’s what is expected from a girl like her.  She is your stereotypical blonde, expecting things from people, and using them as she sees fit.  If you remember the episode where she thought she saw Walt, you’ll remember how upset she got when Sayid didn’t believe what she told him.  This reinforces that type attitude.  She, like many other people on the island, has a desire to demonstrate to people that she is capable of doing something.  In example, Walt’s dog Vincent.  She told Sayid that she wanted to find the dog when he got lost, because it’s the only thing that anyone had asked her to do, and she didn’t want to disappoint Walt if he returned.

She had as much of an attachment to Boone as he did to her, getting highly upset when she felt that she lost control.  We see from her past, that she was in at least one abusive relationship.  Perhaps this desire was caused by getting every single thing she wanted as she was raised?  Who knows, but she wrongfully used Boone, talking her boyfriends into forcing him to bribe them out of the relationship with her.  Definitely a sick mind that we’re dealing with here.  If you remember the flashback of Boone and Shannon in the airport, Sayid asks her to watch his bag.  Moments later, to show her authority, she claims that an “Arab guy” had left his bag lying beside her.  I think if I had to pick a single adjective to describe Shannon, it would be “impatient.”  You also see at one point during season one, Shannon using Charlie to catch fish, when Boone had claimed to her that there was no way that she could survive on the island alone.  Definitely following the exact same behavior pattern we’ve seen every other time.

She begins to “see” for lack of a better word, Sayid.  Boone warned Sayid that it wasn’t a relationship that he wanted to get into, but Sayid ignored the warning.  Numerous times we see Shannon lose patience with Sayid, as well as claiming that he didn’t believe her about the Walt sightings.

What can we learn from Shannon?  That we shouldn’t use people to through life.  You can see Shannon’s twisted logic many times, from turning Sayid in to show she had authority, all the way to using Charlie to catch fish for her.  Unfortunately, there are hundreds of girls that are identical to Shannon in this world, and will skim by based on nothing more than their looks in life.  Shannon, just as Boone, is deceased.

Boone Carlyle.  Boone is a cool character in my opinion.   Even though we haven’t seen him in a full-time role since season one, he is still a very important part of the show.  In my opinion, he is the sole reason that the hatch was discovered.  Do you remember what happened?  Boone was out with John, hunting, and it became dark outside.  Boone claimed he was going back, and John tossed him the light.  Boone, clumsily didn’t catch it, and it fell to the ground, and hit what sounded like metal.  That one event caused them to find that hatch, and shaped the destiny of every character on the island.  I like Boone, but I think he has almost has the need to please people.  Take for an example, when Jack asked him for a pen, he desired nothing more than to help.  Then him following Locke, almost like he was his father.  I am guessing because this is due to the lack of a father figure in his life.  He only had a step-father, and people like this tend to seek out a father figure, and Locke happened to fit the bill.  There was almost an unnatural connection between them, almost like Boone was to loyal to John.  Boone doesn’t seem to have a messed up past like the majority of the other survivors.  From what we saw of it, it seemed fairly clean actually.

Boone also had a need to show that he was powerful, almost like no one would believe him otherwise.  He claimed that he was very powerful to one character early in the show.  You saw a complete turn-around when he believed that Shannon died, and he lost his attachment to her.  That shows that Boone was more or less obsessed with Shannon, which was apparently obvious, considering he came all the way to Sydney to simply rescue her from a guy, and paid $50,000.
 
Although I found Boone a little annoying at times, I believe he was developing into a pretty cool character.  He’s almost like a wanna-be rich kid, but that side of him wore off.  We see Boone warn Sayid not to pursue Shannon.  Of course this was most likely due to the fact that he was still in love with her.  To sum Boone up, I’d call him kind, brave, and daring.  Boone does not keep secrets from anyone.   He is very chivalrous at times, but he put his trust in people to easily in my opinion.

What can we learn from Boone?  We cannot get attached to things in life.  Well, perhaps attached isn’t the correct word; maybe obsessive about something, as he did Shannon.  Every single thing besides her clouded his judgment, due to the fact that he felt the need to protect her, although she may not have even deserved it at times.  Boone was very courageous, and died in an attempt to save everyone by using a radio in a plane he and Locke found.  Locke later referred to him as a “sacrifice that the island demanded.”

James “Sawyer” Ford.  And now we are at last, but definitely not least, Sawyer.  This is another character that I know a lot of people have been waiting on.  To sum up Sawyer in four words: arrogant, stubborn, fearless, and conceited.  He’s arrogant and stubborn in the fact that he’s all about number one.  He doesn’t care about anyone.  He’s the polar opposite of Jack in my opinion, in almost every way.  Think about it, Jack wants to help everyone on the island, and he risks his life to do that, numerous times.  Sawyer is all about saving himself, and does whatever he can to stay ahead, no matter if that means risking other’s lives, killing people, stealing, etc…  Think about when Michael was out in the jungle looking for Walt, and Jin said he was going to help find him.  Now I understand that Sawyer was injured, but he wouldn’t have helped either way, because it put his life in danger.  Sometimes you see Sawyer’s good side shine through, and you can tell that he does have a heart.  He even tried to apologize to Michael, because Michael blamed him for the loss of Walt, but Michael wouldn’t accept the apology. Now that I think about it, he’s similar to Jack in one way, and this is the only way I can think that they’re similar: They both keep their past bottled up.  Heck a lot of people on the island do that though.

You really kind of have to feel sorry for the guy.  I mean think about what happened to his parents.  Think about what his dad did at such a young age.  That leaves a big mark on a person.  Sawyer probably entered the life of crime because of that.  It’s so amazing to me how much our childhood can affect who we are.  I mean don’t get me wrong, I know that’s why we are who we are, but it’s so amazing.  It’s tough to stop and think how people can be different, and some have more or less morals than others.

Sawyer’s a ladies man, because he acts so indifferent towards them, therefore causing attraction.  He’s a really fun character to watch, that’s what I like about him.  I used to hate his guts, I won’t lie; but as the show went on, he started growing on me.  I love it how he has a nickname for everyone, and all the one-liners are awesome.  Part of the reason he has so many issues is because he won’t tell anyone anything.  He keeps everything so secret, and just like I talked about with Jack’s analysis, that can’t be healthy for a person.

What can we learn from Sawyer?  Just like I said above, you have to be more open with people.  It’s the way humans are designed.  We have to share our feelings and thoughts, or we will get major depression issues, among many other things.  Another thing we can learn is be more caring and loving toward people and you will get a lot farther in life.  I think the people on the island would much rather risk their life to save Jack before they would Sawyer, just because of his attitude toward them.

Walt Lloyd.  Walt’s a good character.  He’s young, therefore making it tough to analyze, because his personality is still being shaped, and the island is having a huge impact on that.  He’s not very brave, but that’s totally understandable, since he’s so young.  Early in season one, we see Walt almost make a bond with Locke, because he felt like Locke was more of a father than his actual father was.  That’s understandable considering how he grew up.  As any child, Walt stands up and says what’s on his mind, however he seems to be a little smarter than your average kid.  It would be tough to handle things at that age in the situation he’s in, yet he does a good job.

His powers are a little strange.  It still hasn’t really been explained yet, from what I can see.  If you think about what happened with the raft, and how he burned it the first time, then the second time it was rebuilt, he got kidnapped.  Perhaps he foresaw something?  Or perhaps it’s just a coincidence, nevertheless it is strange.  Overall he’s a good kid though, and will probably grow into a good guy.  It’s amazing to watch the bond that he grows with his father (Michael).  When they first arrived on the island, Walt didn’t want anything to do with him, but as time progressed, they grew closer.  Michael learned what he had to do to become a good father, and Walt realized that he was doing his best.

What can we learn from Walt?  That the mind of a child is an amazing thing.  I really think that.  I believe children have amazing amounts of faith.  As a child, I saw more prayers answered than I have recently, and I really believe it was because my faith was so much more enormous.  I wouldn’t necessarily say Walt is faithful, but he shows us how the mind of a child is so much different than an adult.  They can accept the unbelievable, and hope for things when others believe all hope is lost.

Michael Dawson.  To sum Michael up in three words, I would say: paranoid, brave, and strong.  He’s not very social with people, but it doesn’t really see to bother him.  Basically he’s worried with one thing, and that’s taking care of Walt.  Even the raft was for Walt.  He doesn’t keep many secrets, because I guess he doesn’t really feel a need to.  He never makes that many friends either, from what we’ve seen so far anyway.

Michael deep down has a really good heart, but it really seems like it’s been hidden by so many stressful situations.  It seems like he’s had so many hardships, so many issues with his wife, Walt, and other things, that it has hidden that good person.  I have a friend that reminds me of Michael.  Not every part of him, but a lot does.  He seems to be out for number one more than anyone, and doesn’t mind casting blame on others very quickly. You sense a hint of doubt in Michael every now and then.  Maybe that was another part of building the raft.  I mean don’t get me wrong, of course he wants to get off the island just like everyone else, but he feels that he has to initiate that.  It amazes me the way that people like Michael can care so much about their child, or someone they love, and care so little about other people.

Michael’s paranoia also gets annoying at times too.  For example when Walt was hanging out with Locke.  It really bothered me.  You have to wonder if that was because Michael felt that Locke was taking the father figure.  I can kind of understand Michael being a poor father though; I mean he’d never done it.

What can we learn from Michael?  To be more considerate.  People in our world respond so much better to nice people than they do to hostile people.  It really is amazing how much a smile will do in the world.  Also, make a friend or two out there!  Come on, I mean he’s stuck on a desert island, and he won’t even chat with people.  You’ve also got to learn to accept apologies from people.  Remember when Sawyer was trying to get his son back, and failed, and Michael blamed him?  That really angered me.  It wasn’t Sawyer’s fault at all, but Michael had to blame someone.

Kate Austen.  Kate to me is just annoying as can be.  I hate to start the article out like that but she really gets under my skin a lot.  Nevertheless, she is an interesting character.  To sum her up in two words, persistent and stubborn.  She always wants to “tag” along, and that is really annoying.  Ok enough of the negative, lets focus on the positive.  Ok, well of course we know she has a rough past.  Up to this point, it’s hard to tell if she’s really guilty or not, and is she as guilty as the marshal made her out to be?  That’s a tough question to answer, because we really haven’t seen enough of her past to make that call.  She’s caring and courageous too, I’ll give her that.  She’s always willing to help however she can.  She never reveals anything about her past to anyone.  She even tried to pull the wool over Jack’s eyes, even when she made him think she trusted him.  I think that’s a very unhealthy lifestyle.  Why keep things like that hidden?  It isn’t good for anyone in the long run.

She has a need to please Jack.  Why is that?  Perhaps it’s because of his leader position.  You don’t see her running to Sawyer or anyone like that to talk to about issues or anything.  And another great point, in the second season, when she upset Jack, she did everything in her power to get his approval back.  Inherently, either her stubbornness or need to help caused her, Jack, Sawyer, and Locke to get into quite a pickle.  That’s back to the dishonesty thing.  Dishonesty is never good for anyone in the long run, even if it seems to be the best thing at the time.

I honestly don’t think she means any harm when she asks to join along on the little treks though, I think it’s just a need to help type thing.  Kate was the last person that I thought would be the convict, on the episode where they were all speculating on who the prisoner was.  She has quite a sense of sentimentality too.  Remember using the guy just to break into a safe that had the small airplane in it, simply because it belonged to a lost love?  That’s pretty amazing in my opinion.

What can we learn from Kate?  That dishonesty is a bad thing.  That hiding your past is a bad thing.  Does everyone get a chance to start over on this island?  Yes, but that doesn’t mean that everyone shouldn’t know about what you’ve done in your past.  I think though that she felt that if she revealed that, there would be trust issues, and of course there would be.  We can also learn that we need to listen, and do what we are told by those in leader position, regardless of whether or not we like that choice. 

Sun Kwon.  Sun is extremely kind in my opinion, yet she keeps so much a secret.  Take for an example the failure to mention to her own husband that she spoke English.  Of course this could have been done out of fear, but nevertheless, it was still a secret.  I don’t believe she’s very daring or courageous though.  She hasn’t demonstrated those qualities as of yet.  She doesn’t seem very independent either.  It seems like she gets pushed around quite a bit, for lack of a better statement.  You can see in many episodes how Sun definitely desires freedom, in so many different ways, and is totally denied that by her husband, Jin.  Their relationship is very interesting to me.  She almost gets pushed around by Jin, and it’s very harsh at times.  Yet it doesn’t bother her, at the beginning anyway.  She takes it, and respects him.  That’s a very good quality in my opinion.  The ability to respect and treat someone right who doesn’t do the same to you.  She’s very sentimental about things too.  If you remember when she lost her wedding ring, how much it meant to her.  When confronted by Jack about it, Jack claimed that the same happened to him, and he had a cheap replica made.  It’s amazing how two people can be so different in certain aspects.

There seems to be an underlying relationship between Michael and Sun in my opinion.  You can definitely see a hint of attraction there.  I remember one episode where Sun asked someone if they thought that everyone was being “punished,” and if that’s why they were there.  That’s an interesting thought isn’t it?  And if so, punished by whom?  For a philosophical thought, if they theoretically were being punished, are you telling me that every single one of the characters were inherently bad?  And if so, is it worth it to punish good people so bad people can receive what they deserve?  Perfect comparison to how our world is.  All the calamities and things that happen in our world, is that punishment for how we act.  A very interesting point.

Sun seems to have a need to make Jin happy.  I understand that’s a need that all wives have, but not to her extent.  You can see throughout her past doing incredibly ridiculous things to get his approval.  Of course that all changes in season two.  I think the roles almost get reversed, and Sun takes the whip out of Jin’s hand and begins to use it.  It definitely strengthens their marriage though.  I think that Sun and Jin are exact opposites.  You have Jin, which is harsh at times, stubborn, and at times insensitive, but then you have Sun, which is kind, easy-going, and extremely sensitive and sentimental.  However she’s similar to Claire, other than the fact that she’s not whiney like Claire is.

What can we learn from Sun?  That being secretive about things doesn’t always help, it often times makes things worse.  Just as mentioned, keeping the secret of speaking English from Jin eventually did more harm than good.  It almost Caused Jin himself to get beat to death by Michael, for a simple misunderstanding.  It’s amazing how much conflict can arise when two people can’t communicate.  We can also learn that treating people nice, and helping others can get us a long way in life.

Jin-Soo Kwon.  Jin is another great character.  It may be a little tough to analyze him, because of his failure to speak English; however his past shows a lot.  It’s kind of funny to me that you can see his personality even though he doesn’t even talk to the other people.  In my opinion, there are two parts of Jin’s life; one before he began working for his wife’s father, and one after.  If you look at the past, before her father came into the picture, Jin seems to be a much more sensitive, easy-going guy.

I absolutely love the episode with the woman in orange.  This can teach us so much in life.  In case you don’t remember it, it’s the episode based on Jin’s history, and we see him talking to a friend of his at the beginning of the episode.  His friend is reading some type of book that would foretell the future, and he told Jin that love would find him soon.  Jin asked what color she would be wearing, and his friend said orange.  Jin took it almost as a joke, and shrugged it off.  Later in that episode, at the very end, Jin is walking down a road beside a river, because he had just quit his newly acquired job, and he passes an absolutely beautiful woman.  He noticed after she walked by that she was wearing orange, and he looked back to take a second glance, and then he bumped into Sun (his wife).  That one single thing teaches us so much.  It shows us that one small occurrence, good or bad, can lead to a better thing.  It shows us that one thing in our life, no matter how right it feels, can lead to something bigger.  It’s a chain of events in his life that lead to her.  Coincidence?  Who knows, but it’s an encouraging thought.  I think we’ve all had those times in our life where we sit back and say, why is this happening to me?  What is going on?  But then, later in life, when you have the ability to zoom out and look at the big picture, it’s a lot clearer.  It’s just getting to that point is sometimes tough.

Jin has a good heart, even after he started working for Sun’s father.  Although it probably hardens over time, we see him spare peoples’ lives in numerous episodes.  It amazes me too how people like Michael and Jin can hate each other’s guts at one point, and then become friends later.  It amazes me even more since Jin can’t speak English.  I think Michael and Jin are actually very similar, but Jin seems to be more caring.  He’s similar to Michael in the fact that they are both stubborn.  That’s one aspect of both of them that I really don’t like.  I think he’s courageous though.  The fact that he went on the raft shows that.  I believe that Jin thinks that hard work will get you far in life, which I don’t necessarily agree with.  He’s extremely hard on Sun, until season two anyway.

What can we learn from Jin?  That hard work doesn’t give us everything.  We can also learn that the little things in life that seem meaningless can really be very important.  Times that we will cry over things will always lead to better situations.  The hard part is realizing that while you’re in that situation, and understanding that things work out in the end. 

Sayid Jarrah.  Sayid is a great character.  Definitely another one of the characters that makes you sit back and wonder.  Sayid is very strong, heroic, and smart.  As we can see from many episodes, his past is very tragic, and like many others on the island, few know about it.  Like Jack, Sayid is a natural leader, leading people as he sees fit.  He doesn’t steal Jack’s thunder though.  He sits back and lets Jack handle things.  He’s very patient too.  Probably due to his military background.  I think Sayid realizes that most people aren’t inherently good.  Another similar aspect to Jack is the fact that he doesn’t reveal anything about anyone that would cause others to look down on that person.

As we see on the island, people place stereotypes on people like Sayid, and automatically assume he’s evil since he’s Iraqi.  It has to be annoying, if you put yourself in that position.  Think about it, what if you were stereotyped as evil to another nationality?  Of coures I guess all Americans are to an extent, but probably not to his extreme.  But anyway, wouldn’t that make you a little bitter?  But it doesn’t really seem to affect him, and you have to respect that.  Sawyer began casting blame on him very early in the series, about numerous things that were happening.  Although no one else expressed it, I’m sure many others assumed many things were his fault too. 

Sayid’s love for Shannon is amazing, and that’s something that I guess I can’t really grasp.  I can’t see how they really “click” for lack of a better term.  I just don’t see it.  Maybe it’s the fact that Shannon needs someone to take care of her, and he feels the need to take care of someone.  You can tell how someone’s personality changes a bit when a love interest is involved.  Take the episode when Shannon asks him to kill Locke, because she believed that Locke killed Boone.  It isn’t really in Sayid’s personality to jump to conclusions and point a gun at someone; nevertheless, Sayid for some reason seems to think that Locke may have killed Boone, until of course he convinces Sayid otherwise.  It just goes to show you how much of an effect love can have on your life, and it isn’t always on the positive side.

Like Jack, Sayid also looks on the logical side of things.  Take for an example the Walt sightings that Shannon continually had.  Sayid said numerous times that it had to be a dream, or her imagination, because it simply wasn’t possible.  We never get to hear his opinion on the hatch though, whether he believes it was destined or coincidence.  I remember an episode where Sayid had to repair the computer for the countdown clock, and he didn’t even ask why he needed to do it.  I believe his exact words were, “all I know is there is a timer counting down, and I must repair this before it reaches zero,” or something to that extent.  He didn’t ask questions, or feel the need for everything to be explained.  Perhaps that in itself is a demonstration of at least a hint of faith?  Who knows, but he’s definitely a smart guy.  He understood Locke’s logic, when Locke explained that he was the one that had hit Sayid on the back of the head to eliminate their chances of finding the signal that had been transmitted for the past 16 years.

What can we learn from Sayid?  A lot.  We can learn from viewing how people treat him, not to so quickly judge people by their ethnicity.  I hate when people get stereotyped.  Although he gets stereotyped at first, he quickly breaks that by impressing the rest of the survivors.  On a side note, that’s something I love about some people.  If a first impression doesn’t leave a big mark, and they impress me later, that’s very admirable to me.  He’s able to analyze people quite well too.  I think he nailed it when he claimed that Ana Lucia had a lot of guilt from her past.  He was right on.  We can also learn from him that patience is a much better way to handle things than rushing into situations.  There’s something about him that after you get to know him, he’s almost a loveable character.  Two perfect examples, the first when he was taken captive by Danielle, and the second when he was tied up by Ana Lucia.  Although he’s a bit aloof at times, he has a charismatic way about him.