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Meta: On Captain Jack Sparrow and the Nature of Good and Evil
Author: djarum99
Disclaimer: not mine, no money coming in
A/N: Just some thoughts that have presented themselves in the course of writing in this fandom. This is where the characters as I see them come from; it is also the result of a very long work week, too little sleep, and Friday night ( Read more... )
A subjective term, to say the least, with some core elements that hold true. In the context of human experience, it often means doing the difficult thing, opting for our second or third choice, ignoring self interest and choosing love in its broadest sense, from the personal to the spiritual.
I think this definition goes very well with PotC and the usage of the term "good" in popular media in general, take the Harry Potter series, for example, where "good" is defined as "what is right" opposed to "what is easy".
TnT once said that Jack may not exactly be termed a "good man", but has his own internal moral landscape and Jerry Bruckheimer very recently confirmed this in stating that he can tell between good and evil perfectly well, he just tends to ignore this most of the time.
IMHO, Jack very consciously avoids to be "good" for two reasons:
1. Being good seemingly never led to any "rewards" for him; this is implied as early as CotBP when he states that "one good deed is enough to condemn a man"
(furthermore, like Elizabeth, Jack is a very modern character caught in the 18th century. Things he may consider to be good - freeing slaves, for example [if that rumour is true] - are not considered "good" by law and society)
2. IMHO, deep in his soul, Jack IS a good man, possibly better than most of the other characters. He is capable of great determination and loyalty - just think of his "love" for the Black Pearl. Still, it is quite telling he gives it all to a ship! The Pearl is "just a ship" (as he observed himself), she won't betray or exploit him, and I believe that this is Jack Sparrow's greatest fear and the thing that keeps him from being "good". Trust and friendship led to him being marooned on the infamous island for the first time, betrayed by Barbossa and probably also by his friend Bootstrap. Love, in the end, led to his death.
Jack is, IMHO, the most passionate of the characters in PotC, his emotions are strongest and therefore he is rather vulnerable and actually very easy to hurt and betray. Jack himself is aware of this, that's why he keeps from being "good" so desperately, the same is true for relationships with other people. Staying from "being good" is what keeps Jack Sparrow alive. Will may constantly claim he'd die for another person (Liz, his father), but I think in the end, it's Jack who's actually capable of doing it - which obviously collides with his strong desire to live. I actually wonder which side of him would have won out if Elizabeth hadn't chained him to the Pearl. Terry thinks he'd have stayed anyway, Ted doesn't think so. So we'll never know, even though this tells us a lot about Jack's inner conflict.
I don’t see any of the characters in POTC as truly evil.
Well, I think that Beckett is pretty close to being evil ...
He is Jack’s antithesis, a man who suffered love’s inequity and painful price and chose to reject it in full, literally cutting out his heart. Jack embraces pain, joy and anything else life has to offer with a song in his heart and an eternally optimistic spirit.
May I agree to disagree? ;)
Jack doesn't embrace anything in life - he very consciously avoids feelings for other people. And Jack doesn't embrace pain, he merely tries to avoid it and from what I've read so far in the leaked AWE scripts, it seems as if he is tempted to follow Davy's example ...
Jack may seem eternally optimistic, but I think this is rather a way to convince himself that everything's alright, even though he knows perfectly well it isn't.
Apart from that, I agree with everything you've said :)
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~I think this is rather a way to convince himself that everything's alright, even though he knows perfectly well it isn't.~
Hmm; to me that is a true optimist; a pessimist would protect himself by means of a conviction that everything is always wrong, and therefore 1)he's immune to hope, and therefore risk, and 2)why invest in anything? Jack invests himself wholeheartedly in the things he chooses as his focus, hence 10 years trying to regain the Pearl.
I agree that Jack is vulnerable because he feels things so passionately; I just believe that in doing so he is well aware of the pain that goes with it. He certainly does hide his feelings; as you said, he has his own moral code and lives in dangerous world. He's learned harsh lessons about letting the mask slip, but I don't think that means he doesn't have passionate feelings, or refuses to form attachments. As far as embracing pain, what I had in mind was the Jack Sparrow who grinned on the gallows; he certainly does try to avoid it, but when it comes, well, hello beastie.
I love discussions like this-there are so many ways to interpret the films and the characters, and I love hearing other people's perceptions. And Beckeett? You're right, he comes pretty darn close-not quite pure evil, but close. The only logic I can put behind this (and it's probably insane troll logic) is the "fate intervenes" line and the look on his face when he talks about he and Jack "having left their mark on each other."
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