James "Sawyer" Ford
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James Ford, better known by the alias "Sawyer," is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Josh Holloway.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Prior to the crash
A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, (and with the appropriate southern drawl), Sawyer, whose real name is James Ford, is a con artist who has taken on the alias of the con man known as "Sawyer," who was responsible for the destruction of his family.
The original Sawyer had an affair with the young James Ford's mother in order to con his family out of their life savings, prompting James' father to murder his mother and then commit suicide out of grief. He later dropped out of school in 9th grade. Vowing revenge, in an ironic twist Ford finds himself in financial trouble and is sucked into the world of con artistry himself, adopting Sawyer's profession and even his specific modus operandi to survive, using his looks and charm to seduce women and divide families. He also takes the original Sawyer's name as an alias and, perhaps, as a symbol of his own extreme self-loathing.
The method of conning that the original Sawyer used was implemented on a woman named Jessica and her husband David. However, the deal runs through when Sawyer sees their young son, in whom he sees himself.
One of Sawyer's cons is a divorced woman named Cassidy Phillips, who tells him that she did not get a significant settlement in the divorce proceedings. While getting dressed, Sawyer accidentally opens a briefcase filled with fake cash bundles, which is one of his favorite cons (meant to give off the impression that he is rich, so he can more easily con his victim into giving him money meant for an investment). Cassidy, however, sees through the con immediately, but is also intrigued, asking Sawyer to teach her how to con someone. The two scheme a jewelery con by overpricing fake goods, and con two men at a gas station. Cassidy later asks if he can teach her how to pull off a "long con", and reveals that she got $600,000 from her ex-husband. Later (at the diner where Kate's mother works), Sawyer has lunch with his partner, Gordy, who tells him to continue to con Cassidy despite Sawyer's feelings for her. Sawyer returns to the house and tells Cassidy to run because Sawyer's partner Gordy is going to kill them, and points to a car waiting outside. He reveals that the "long con" is Cassidy herself, and that he knew about her money from the beginning. He then sends her off with a bag which he appears to have stuffed with the money. However, this was all part of the con: the car was empty and the real money was hidden in another bag, ready for Sawyer to take once Cassidy left.
Although Sawyer appears to be through with Cassidy, she presses charges and he is sent to an eight year sentence in prison. Cassidy visits Sawyer in prison after two years, telling him that she bore his daughter, Clementine. In prison, Sawyer meets a man named Munson, who was sent to prison for stealing a large quantity of money. After an extended con, Munson begs Sawyer to take his money and move it, since he does not know how to. In exchange for a cut of the money and the commutation of his sentence, Sawyer tells the Warden and a representative from the Treasury Department where the money is. Sawyer asks that his earnings be put in an anonymous bank account for Clementine.
A few weeks before the crash, James is told that the man who ruined his childhood, the same man from whom he took his alias Sawyer, was in Australia. James goes there and kills him, only to find out he has been set up and the man he has killed was not Sawyer. Before making his final decision to kill the man who he thought was "Sawyer", Sawyer meets a man in a bar who, after the crash, he realizes was Christian Shephard, Jack's father. Sawyer does not reveal this encounter to Jack until Exodus: Part 1. While still in Australia, an uncooperative Sawyer is dragged into a police station after a barfight (revealed in Boone's flashback in "Hearts and Minds"). A policeman informs Sawyer that the man he has head-butted in the bar was Warren Truss, the Australian Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. He is deported from Australia and banned from ever returning, thereby ending up on the fateful flight.
[edit] After the crash
On the island, Sawyer quickly begins to collect and hoard items from the plane crash. His actions are criticized by others as selfish and appalling; he defends his actions by stating that they are "in the wild" now, and a different set of rules apply. Sawyer becomes the resident smart-talking rebel on the island, a prolific source of colorful, often insulting nicknames for other castaways. These mannerisms make him easily despised by most of the islanders. Michael, noting that the otherwise entirely self-centered Sawyer seems eager to volunteer for dangerous tasks, theorizes he may have a deathwish. Sawyer develops a particularly antagonistic relationship with Jack, who routinely demands that Sawyer release medical supplies for injured or sick castaways; the two men are also rivals for the attentions of Kate. When coincidence convinces Jack, Boone, and Sayid that Sawyer has asthma inhalers that Shannon desperately needs to breathe, Sawyer does not tell them that they are wrong ("Confidence Man"). He acts like he has them, and refuses to tell them anything. Sayid and Jack decide to torture Sawyer by forcing bamboo spikes underneath his fingernails. Sawyer taunts his captors, refusing to tell them anything until they finally threaten to gouge out his eye. Sawyer insists that he will only tell the truth to Kate (who had had been aggressively pursuing since the crash). Once she arrives, he extorts a kiss before admitting that he never had the inhalers. Sayid, in frustration, stabs Sawyer in the arm.
Kate recognizes that Sawyer purposely incites others into hostility against him because of his desire to be punished and hated. He shows Kate a letter written to "Mr. Sawyer" describing the pain of a young boy whose life "Mr. Sawyer" ruined. At first, Kate thinks that the letter was written to Sawyer; when she notices the date on the envelope (1976), she realizes that Sawyer, himself, had written the letter to the real Mr. Sawyer as a child. As time passes, Kate and Sawyer develop an intimate friendship and learn that they share backgrounds as criminals and fugitives tormented by guilt.
He kills time on the island by reading books (such as Watership Down, which is "about bunnies", Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret - "predictable" -, Of Mice and Men - "puppies get killed" -, and A Wrinkle in Time) salvaged from the plane; this has caused Sawyer to develop hyperopia, forcing him to wear reading glasses made by Sayid. His voice also seems to entertain and comfort Claire's baby. The Australian authorities had deported him under his real name, which is listed on the flight manifest. At one point, Hurley shares the passenger manifest list with Locke; Locke eventually reveals to Sawyer ("The Hunting Party") that he is aware of Sawyer's real name and occasionally calls him James.
Sawyer buys a place on Michael's raft in an attempt to escape the island. While on the raft, he is heard singing Bob Marley's "Redemption Song", in a bit of metaphorical happenstance. When Sawyer, Jin, Michael, and Walt encounter another boat at sea whose passengers demand that Walt come with them, Sawyer pulls a gun, given to him by Jack before they left, to protect Walt. He gets shot by "The Others" and goes overboard with Jin diving in and try to rescue him. After the boat leaves, he climbs onto the wreckage of the raft with Michael and pulls the bullet out with his fingers from his shoulder. Due to infection and a loss of blood, Sawyer becomes ill and passes out ("Abandoned"). Michael, Jin, and Mr. Eko make a stretcher for him and proceed to carry him back to their camp. Back at camp, he is taken to the hatch, where Jack declares him to be septic. Sawyer is feverish ("What Kate Did"), and he repeatedly whispers "I love her" to Jack. Several minutes later, he attacks Kate; he chokes her and asks why she "killed" him. She flees the hatch, believing that Wayne, a man she killed, is seeking her from beyond the grave. When she returns to explain herself to "Wayne" (in Sawyer's form), Sawyer awakens from the fever with no idea what she is talking about. After Kate leads him into the jungle, they are visited by a black horse, which Kate has seen before.
Later, Michael locks Locke and Jack in the armory and leaves to find his son. Sawyer frees Locke and Jack and leaves with them to find Michael (who had left in search of his son). When the Others confront the hunting party, Sawyer is shot again, but this time the bullet only grazes his face. The apparent leader of the Others, whom Sawyer nicknames "Zeke," threatens Kate, who had secretly been following the team; Sawyer is visibly shaken and angered at the possibility of losing her, and hugs her when she is finally released. When they get back to camp Sawyer comforts Kate in saying that he would have done the same thing that she did, in contrast to Jack's anger that she followed them after he had ordered her to stay behind.
Sawyer's antagonism with Jack remains unabated, and later Jack again accuses Sawyer of stealing medicine ("The Long Con"). Sawyer decides to make an aggressive move against Jack and Locke, the only ones with access to the armory, to take control of all the survivors' guns. Secretly conspiring with Charlie, Sawyer arranges for Sun to be attacked by an unidentifiable assailant and then exploits existing tensions within the group. After suspicion turns inward, Jack decides to distribute the guns for self-protection. Sawyer goes to the hatch to warn Locke that Jack and other survivors are coming for the guns, and Locke decides to move them, leaving Sawyer in the hatch to press the button. Meanwhile, Charlie secretly follows Locke and discovers the locations of the guns. Charlie and Locke move the guns to a secret location and Sawyer announces his accomplishment that night, when Jack and Locke are arguing over the guns (Sawyer: "There's a new sheriff in town"). When Kate confronts him to ask why he has to make everyone hate him, he replies that at least she still likes him.
Sawyer later loses the medical supplies to Jack in a poker game ("Lockdown"). When he asks Jack why he did not try to get the guns back, Jack replies: "When I need the guns, I'll get the guns." Ana Lucia later seduces Sawyer in order to steal a gun that he had refused to give her ("Two for the Road"). After Michael uses that gun to shoot Ana Lucia and Libby, Sawyer is faced with the dilemma of letting the dying Libby suffer or reveal the location of his hidden stash of goods and guns, Sawyer does not hesitate to do what is necessary to help Libby ("?"), revealing to Kate that his guns and supplies are buried under his tent. Sawyer also expresses grief after Ana Lucia's death, and feels guilty that he was so passionate with her without even knowing her last name. He also tells Jack that he is the closest thing he has to a friend.
Unaware of Michael's treachery, Sawyer agrees to accompany Michael to recover his son, and recruits Sayid for the team ("Three Minutes"). Michael's unexpected negative response to Sayid's assistance gives Sayid and Jack warning that Michael has "been compromised", although they do not share this information with Kate, Sawyer, or Hurley. Sawyer kills one of the Others during a subsequent firefight, and he is the first to get shot in the neck with a tranquilizer dart when the Others ambush them. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley are held at gunpoint; Hurley is allowed to leave, and Sawyer, Jack, and Kate are taken away by the Others. Sawyer wakes up in a large metal cage in the jungle ("A Tale of Two Cities"). He is briefly enlisted in another prisoner's unsuccessful escape attempt and is quickly recaptured by Juliet. He successfully solves the puzzle of the food dispenser (the cage, with its levers, feeders, and stimuli is essentially a large Skinner Box, a behavioral test device), and eventually successfully earns himself a fish biscuit, food pellets, and a small stream of water.
Kate is soon placed in a nearby cage, and Sawyer shares his fish biscuits with her. They are ordered to break and haul away rocks ("The Glass Ballerina"). Sawyer's unabated disobedience brings him into regular conflict with Pickett, the Other overseeing the work, who shocks him with a stun gun whenever he (or Kate) gets out of line. The pain provides little deterrence to Sawyer; after watching Kate getting more tired and despondent, Sawyer throws down his wheelbarrow and kisses her passionately. Pickett hits Sawyer over the head with an AK-47 rifle, but Sawyer fights off Pickett and several Others and takes the gun. Juliet, holding another gun to Kate, forces Sawyer to cease his attack. Later, he reveals to Kate that he had been testing the reflexes and abilities of their captors, and that most of the Others do not have much experience with actual fighting, except for Juliet. After another escape attempt, Benjamin Linus cons Sawyer into thinking that the Others had implanted a pacemaker into his chest that would cause his heart to explode if his heartbeat reached an active rate (as it would, for example, during an attack or escape attempt). Ben also threatens to put one in Kate if Sawyer tells her what they have done, or if he does not cooperate ("Every Man For Himself").
Sawyer's subsequent change in behavior frightens and confuses Kate; she wants him to tell her what happened to him, but he refuses in order to protect her. After Colleen is killed by Sun, Colleen's husband Pickett makes an unprovoked attack against Sawyer. Because of the pacemaker, Sawyer does not fight back and is badly beaten. Pickett repeatedly asks Kate if she loves Sawyer; the beating does not stop until Kate admits that she loves him. She later says that she only said this to stop Pickett, although she voluntarily remains in her cage when Sawyer refuses to try to escape with her, despite his insistence that she look out for herself. Ben soon reveals that there was no pacemaker in Sawyer's chest, telling Sawyer that they had conned him in order to earn his respect. Ben also shows Sawyer that their current location is an entirely separate island from the one where the castaways live, and that there is no place to run even if he breaks out of his cage.
Sawyer does not want Kate to lose hope, so he does not tell her the truth of their predicament immediately. After Kate becomes aware of Pickett's intention to kill Sawyer, she frees herself and Sawyer from their cages and tries to get him to run ("I Do"). He reveals that there is nowhere for them to run, and they decide to remain by the cages. They kiss and consumate their relationship. Sawyer asks Kate if she loves him. She smiles and kisses him, and he tells Kate that he loves her too. Pickett returns with a gun and drags Sawyer away from Kate; he is about to kill Sawyer when he receives word that Jack has taken Ben hostage in the middle of a surgery. Jack demands that Kate be freed, or he will let Ben die on the operating table.
[edit] Nicknames
Sawyer has a quick wit and sarcastic sense of humor relying heavily upon popular culture. He often gives nicknames to his fellow castaways when they bear a resemblance to a television or movie character. His nicknames for male characters are almost always derisive and politically incorrect, while his nicknames for female characters tend to be almost endearments (e.g. Freckles, Sunshine, Mamacita, Betty, Dimples, etc). He is also known to use the nickname "Hoss" on several of the men in the group, including Jack, Locke, Mr. Eko, Hurley, and Sayid (referring to Dan Blocker's character, Hoss Cartwright, from the TV western show Bonanza). Almost all of his nicknames for Hurley are based entirely on his weight problem ("Stay-Puft" - a Ghostbusters reference - "Jabba", "Mutton-chops," "Lardo," among others). The high number of nicknames were compiled in one of the extras of the season 2 DVD, entitled The World According to Sawyer.
[edit] Trivia
- The character of Sawyer was originally meant to be a slick, suit wearing city con man. However, when Josh Holloway forgot a line at his audition and subsequently kicked a chair across the room in frustration and loudly swore, the writers liked the edge he brought to the Sawyer character and decided to write Sawyer as more of a Southern, edgy con man instead.
- Matthew Fox originally auditioned for the parts of both Jack and Sawyer. Jorge Garcia and Dominic Monaghan read Sawyer sides when they came in to audition because there was no existing script for their characters.
[edit] References
- ↑ J.J. Abrams (Director) Josh Holloway (Actor). (2004) Lost Season 1 DVD [DVD]. Los Angeles: Buena Vista Home Entertainment..
- ↑ J.J. Abrams (Director) Lloyd Braun (Director). (2004) Lost Season 1 DVD [DVD]. Los Angeles: Buena Vista Home Entertainment..
| Lost | |
|---|---|
| Production: | DVD releases • Episode list • Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 • Soundtrack |
| Main characters: | Ana Lucia • Ben • Boone • Charlie • Claire • Desmond • Hurley • Jack • Jin • Juliet • Kate</br>Libby • Locke • Michael • Mr. Eko • Nikki • Paulo • Sawyer • Sayid • Shannon • Sun • Walt |
| Supporting characters: | Bernard • Rose • The Others |
| Organizations: | DHARMA Initiative • Hanso Foundation • Oceanic Airlines |
| Elements: | Crossovers • DHARMA Initiative stations • Flight 815 • Mythology • Thematic motifs |
| Miscellaneous: | Gary Troup • Lost Experience • Rachel Blake • In popular culture • Video game |
