Played by: Josh Holloway
Reason for trip: Deported for headbutting an Australian cabinet minister.
Profession: Con man
Character Analysis
Sawyer's Island Experience
Sawyer's Letter
Sawyer's Stash

A native of Tennessee, Sawyer is a con-man who has taken on the alias of the con-man, Frank Sawyer, who was responsible for the destruction of his family. Sawyer, whose real name is James Ford, is known for collecting and hoarding items from the plane crash and for being the resident smart-talking rebel on the island. This makes him easily hated and despised by most of the islanders. He hits on Kate a lot, but as time passes on it is her whom Sawyer seems to relate to the most as the two have shared a common bond and understanding of each other. He kills time on the island by reading Watership Down and Wrinkle in Time salvaged from the plane but this has caused him to become far-sighted and he had to get reading glasses made for him. His voice also seems to entertain and comfort Claire's baby.

Sawyer's had a tough childhood. His father shot his mother and then killed himself after he found out about a conman that his mom was dealing with. Now it could have been about the money but it could have been about the sex...

Either way it left our little Sawyer an orphan.

Before the crash James was told that the man who ruined his childhood, the same man from whom he took his alias Frank Sawyer, was in Australia. James went there and killed him only to find out he had been set up and the man he killed was not Frank Sawyer. Before making his final decision to kill who he thought was "Frank Sawyer", Sawyer met a man in a bar whom, after the crash, he realized was Christian Shephard, Jack's own father. Sawyer did not reveal this to any of the other survivors until Exodus: Part 1.

In Boone's flashback, Boone is sitting in a police station when two police men drag in Sawyer, who is not cooperating. This was later revealed to be because of Sawyer's participation in a bar fight, and because of that he was ordered to return to the United States, thus ending up on the fateful flight. A policeman informed Sawyer that the man he had head-butted in the bar fight was the Australian Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. Sawyer was deported from Australia and banned from ever returning. Presumedly the Australian authorities, who were aware of Sawyer's real identity, would have deported him under his real name. If so, it has not been explained how Hurley, who had the passenger manifest list, was unaware that Sawyer was an alias. Although, it could be assumed that the manifest listed Sawyer as James "Sawyer" Ford, and Hurley who also uses a nickname, decided to stay quiet about Sawyer's real name.

Character Analysis:
Sawyer is opportunistic and he's known for his habit of hoarding anything he can salvage. He always looks for ways to profit from every situation. But if he is approached nicely or a crisis situation occurs he has no problem giving away things from his stash. However, if people demand things of him or approach him in an accusatory manner, he won't budge. He's incredibly stubborn and he refuses to back down (even under torture) once he gets his back up.

Sawyer is torn between wanting to drive other people away, and feeling hurt that it works. He acts like a jerk to everyone around him, but then seems bothered when people categorize him as one and keep their distance from him. Sawyer seems annoyed when Jack informs him that he's helping him because no one else wants anything to do with him. (SOL). At times it seems as if Sawyer would like to be part of the group, but he's not very good at communicating with people. For example in the Pilot he joins the group on the hike, but then spends the entire time complaining and insulting everyone. He fears rejection so he acts as if he wants people to reject him. That way when people pull away from him because of his attitude, he doesn't feel like he's made a genuine effort and then been shot down. It's only through the encouragement of other people like Kate that he's put himself out there in an attempt to socialize, as for example, in the Solitary golf game.

He generally doesn't make an effort to help out. He'll lounge around while others are working. But when he does offer assistance he is easily offended and/or hurt when it's not immediately accepted or he is not thanked for the offer. For example, he took offense when Kate snapped at him when he sought her out to tell her about Jack and the cave-in. (the Moth) By the end of the season, instead of just stalking off or getting offended, he took it upon himself to help out anyway by cutting a new mast for the raft. (EX1)

Sawyer hates to be vulnerable. He doesn' like it when others pity him, or even show him sympathy. He exacted revenge on Kate after she told him she pitied him, throwing the word pity back in her face when Jack was trapped in a cave-in ("look at the bright side, now you have someone else to pity" (The Moth). He yelled at her to get out of his tent when it appeared that she was feeling sorry for him (CON). He also hates to be at the mercy of other people, especially people he feels animosity towards. He tried to bait Jack into letting go of his arm when he'd been stabbed and Jack was trying to control the bleeding. (CON) He also refused to allow Jack to check out his severe headaches until Kate forced him to. (DEM)

Sawyer enjoys pushing the buttons of everyone around him, mostly to see how much he can get away with. Sometimes it seems to stem from a desire to interact with someone, but an inability to reach them on a "normal" level. For example he seems intrigued and interested in Kate, so he initially goes out of his way to give her a hard time, flirt outrageously with her, and try to "get at her." Other times it seems to stem from a childish desire to be difficult and belittle other people in an effort to appear strong. Sawyer can slip into the "‘bully" role easily. For example, when he stole Claire's diary and taunted Charlie with it (SPECIAL). He seems to take pleasure in riling people up, but he doesn't enjoy it when the tables are turned. He wasn't pleased when Jack had a little fun with him in DEM, when he was made to admit in front of Kate that he'd slept with prostitutes and had an STD.

Sawyer hates the person he's become, which is evidenced by the fact that he took the name of the person he hates more than anyone in the world. (CON) On some level, he goes out of his way to get others to hate him because he feels that what he deserves. He doesn't exactly want to die, but he feels he deserves to be hurt and/or punished. He let himself get tortured for inhalers he didn't have, rather than admitting that he didn't have them. He almost seemed to be begging people to hurt him. A part of him also feels that death would be easier than facing his life. He told Jack to let go of his arm when he was trying to stop him from bleeding to death in (CON) and Michael speculated that Sawyer wanted to get on the raft because he wanted to die. (EX1)

Because Sawyer experiences a great deal of self-loathing, he tends to be particularly difficult to people who are well respected and admired by others. This is particularly evident with Jack, who Sawyer sees as the "hero." He'’s the guy who always does what'’s right and is considered to be a "good person." Sawyer resents that because on some level he wants to be that type of person, but he just doesn't know how. Because of that resentment, Sawyer is constantly trying to "break" Jack, to get him to lose control. When Jack punched him in Confidence Man, Sawyer kept taking the punches and taunting him to see if Jack would continue to hit him even though he wasn't fighting back. Sawyer feels that if he can get Jack to behave "badly," it'll bring him down to his level, which will in turn make Sawyer feel better about himself.

Sawyer often deals with people on a physical level. When he's frustrated he'll start a fight with someone. For example Sayid in the pilot. He's also defended his property with violence. For example, when he beat up Boone in Confidence Man. Even with Kate, Sawyer is very physically aggressive. He asserts himself physically with her, especially when she initiates contact in any way. He's also not afraid to help break up fights however, especially towards the end of the season when he started to slowly become part of the group.
Copyright 2005, Queen Ellessar