Lost characters make up the most in-depth character map.The Lost characters have abundant connections to one another, but the connecting force for all of them that makes up the center of the show is the island itself. Click for Free Writer's Block Help E-Zine and Free E-Book Even if you have never watched this show, I'll whittle the plotline down to one of the multiple main ideas. A plane crashes and the only Lost characters that survive take refuge on an island that is, by no stretch of the imagination, the most interesting character of them all. None of the actual people on the island hold a candle to the abstract and unpredictable concepts that this island presents to them. The island has a history all its own - its own character map, if you will - and viewers are eager to learn any small detail they can about the background of this land mass in the middle of the ocean. The island's varied and perplexing history is fascinating, not only because it is not a human character, but because, through the character mapping that the writers have done, they have opened up the realm of possibility, and created a theorizing frenzy by the show's avid viewers. Not only does the island have a history in and of itself, but each Lost character that is on the show, that has crashed on or been on the island at one point or another, has some tie to it that cannot be squelched. They are attached to this island, and can't seem to pull away from its metaphorical magnetism. It is the center of the show. Without it, we, as viewers, wouldn't have as much of an interest in the human characters, as they were all pulled to the island for one reason or another, and their back-stories become more relevant and telling of their own histories because of some of the items found by characters as they traverse the island. The island on Lost also helps the stories of the other characters progress. Items are found on the island that bring to the forefront some problem, quirk, or memory that a person on the island has. This not only furthers the significance of the island as an important character in that it seems to reveal items, memories, and more and more questions, but as an important force in the development of all of the other characters on the show. The point behind all of this is simple. TV writers are just like you and I are. We are looking for ways to write our short story characters, novel characters, and other characters in books, just as the writers of the Lost characters are looking for the most fascinating ways to make their characters desirable to watch. Character mapping is the right tool for this. On Lost, your readers must find a way to make sense of all of the characters, find their connections to one another, and come to a full understanding of how each character affects his own life. Sometimes he may affect other characters as well, through his actions and reactions to what happens around him.
To return from Lost Characters to the Character Mapping Page, click here |