Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ABC
television series Lost, played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of
the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their
attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader
island history they are a part of. The character was originally conceived by
creator J. J. Abrams, though the direction of storylines owes more to
co-creator Damon Lindelof and fellow showrunner Carlton Cuse. J.J. Abrams,
the creator of Lost, once told Entertainment Weekly, "Jack Shephard may
be the greatest leader in any television series." Actor Matthew Fox would have
some influence on the character during the course of the series' production.
For example, Fox's own tattoos were incorporated into the character's
backstory. Although at an early stage in the show's development, the character
was originally intended to die in the pilot, the writers soon changed this
plan, and Jack became the show's main character from its pilot episode
onwards. The de facto leader of the crash
survivors, in the show's first four seasons, Jack is very much a man of
science. He serves as the antithesis of man of faith John Locke; however, his
experiences in season five mold Jack into a believer, to the point of
becoming John Locke's spiritual successor in the final season. His
leadership role culminates in him taking briefly over as protector of the island
from its immortal guardian, Jacob, and being the one to engage one of the
series' villains, the Man in Black, in a climactic battle to the death. Jack's
storylines have included the exploration of his relationships with various love
interests: fellow survivor Kate Austen, and Juliet Burke, who is initially a
member of the mysterious Others, who are the series' visible antagonists for the
majority of its run. Other key relationships in the show involve Claire
Littleton, whom he discovers is his half-sister; Hugo "Hurley" Reyes as his
right-hand man; and Sawyer, his rival for the affections of Kate, even when at
some points, Sawyer calls him the nearest thing he has as a friend.
Characterization Prior to the crash of Oceanic Flight
815, Jack was born into a successful family, with aspirations of following in
his father's footsteps. He attended Columbia University and graduated from
medical school a year earlier than his classmates.
Despite Jack's gifts as a physician, he is haunted by his relationship with his
father, a neurosurgeon at St. Sebastian Hospital. Jack exposes his father's
alcoholism, ending his career. In September 2004, Jack's mother, Margo,
orders him to find Christian, who has exiled himself to Australia, and bring
him back. Jack goes to Sydney and finds that his father has died. Once Jack
identified his father's body, he made arrangements to bring him home. Jack
boards Oceanic 815 bound for Los Angeles on September 22, 2004, with his father's
casket in the cargo hold. On the island, Jack plays a key role in
the survival of his fellow survivors in the immediate aftermath of the crash,
instructing others to help those with injuries and using his medical
background to assist the wounded. The survivors look to Jack as their leader;
however, he is reluctant to embrace the position and repeats his father's
rationale that he does not "have what it takes." Exhausted from tending the
wounded, attempts to rescue drowning survivors and sleep-deprived, Jack
begins chasing hallucinations of his father in the jungle. He drops his
skepticism when he finds his father's coffin but it is empty. Struggling to
cope with demands made by the castaways, he meets John Locke in the jungle, who
provides some guidance for Jack's leadership. Jack returns to the beach
camp and gives a speech on how they are going to live on the island and tells
them about the caves; one part of his speech—"live together, die
alone"—becomes a mantra amongst the survivors. Through his medical tending
and visibility within the camp, Jack quickly develops many personal
relationships with the castaways, most notably finding a potential romantic
interest in Kate Austen, a right-hand man in Hurley Reyes and a mutual respect
for former military torturer Sayid Jarrah.
Throughout the series, it has been stated numerous times that Jack is a
natural leader. These things have been demonstrated many times by his ability
to think quickly and analyze crisis situations. Jack intentionally represses
fear and anxiety, usually in order to remain strong for other people, as he is
the one they turn to during crises. Initially, he rejects claims of fellow
survivors, such as Rose Nadler and John Locke, who believe they are on the
Island for a reason and that the Island has mystic properties. He does this to
not give his fellow survivors false hope. On the Island, Jack also seems to
repress his feelings for Kate Austen, which he has only twice ever fully
admitted to, and even then only once in a very emotional tone of voice. However,
after escaping from The Island, Jack and Kate admit their love, move in together,
and raise Aaron, Claire's son. Jack's habit of repression sometimes
does flare out, usually in his propensity to become violent when he is
enraged. He is also prone to become highly obsessive and willing to do
anything to help the survivors, even if it's to his detriment. Jack is, deep
down, a very caring person and has sacrificed himself for his crash-mates
several times. After being rescued, he sinks into alcoholism and drug abuse out
of severe depression. He blames himself for leaving almost all the fellow
survivors behind while he was safely rescued. This leads to his delusions
that his father is still alive and a suicide attempt, which indicate that
Jack has not been completely able to cope with what happened on the island.
Digital Spy's Ben Rawson-Jones marked a "difference in the characterization of
Jack [who] has become known as the trustworthy, honest type since Oceanic
Flight 815 crashed, so his blatant lies about the island under oath were
definitely dramatic." After being rescued, seeing visions of
his father, and being visited by John Locke, Jack's outlook underwent a
fundamental change. He began to believe in fate and destiny. When Juliet asked
Jack why he had returned to the island, Jack told her "because I was supposed
to." Jack's faith leads him to sacrifice himself to prevent the island's
destruction. He believed that saving the island was what he was "meant to do." In
many episodes, Jack is portrayed as having a Messiah Complex.
Development In the original outline of Lost, Jack
was going to be killed halfway through the first episode. Lost co-creator J. J.
Abrams was interested in Michael Keaton for the role, as Abrams wanted to work
with him. However, scripts were never even sent to him, as the character was
made into a regular, and Keaton wasn't interested in a series. The producers
felt that if the audience became attached to the character during the
first episode, and then he was killed, they might resent the show. His death
was meant to shock the audience so they would never know what would happen next.
The role ended up going to Matthew Fox, who was "very excited" about it, as it
was the genre and tone he was looking for.
= Tattoos= For story purposes, the tattoos on
Jack's arm read: "He walks among us, but he is not one of us." However, Matthew
Fox already had the tattoos when he started on Lost. The producers
considered putting make-up over them but, instead, decided to keep them and
just fit them in with the plot. According to Assistant Professor Xinping
Zhu of Northeastern University, the tattoo is made up of four Chinese
characters from a poem written by Mao Zedong in 1925, and the Lebanese
Phalangist symbol. Fox's tattoo translates to "Eagles high up, cleaving
the space". In an interview, Fox said that, for him,
getting a tattoo is a "pretty intense experience" and something he would not
do in the "spur of the moment". He thought it was a "really cool idea" for
Jack to have tattoos. Since Fox used tattoos to represent memories or
meaningful events in his life, the writers took a similar approach when
dealing with Jack's tattoos. Reception
Critical and viewer opinion has been positive for Matthew Fox's Jack
Shephard. BuddyTV praised Matthew Fox's lead role performance in "Through the
Looking Glass" as "Emmy worthy" The San Diego Union-Tribune's Karla Peterson
praised Fox's work in "Something Nice Back Home", The Palm Beach Post's Kevin
Thompson "thought [that] Matthew [Fox] did a nice job conveying a wide range of
emotions—scared, haunted, frustration, jealousy, just to name a few" in the
same episode. Matthew Fox won a Satellite Award for
Best Actor in a Dramatic Television Series for his role as Jack in 2004. He
was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2006 for Best Actor in a television series -
Drama and a Television Critics Association award in 2005 for Individual
Achievement in Drama. He has also won two Saturn awards, including Best Actor
on Television in 2005 and Best Actor in a Television Program in 2007. In 2010,
Fox received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in
a Drama Series. References