Is Locke a good man?

[Him]

A lot has changed.

[TimeTravellingBunny]

Originally Posted by E Pluribus Unum

I think everyone is selfish, on some level. For example, I'd feel bad leaving Walt and Mike to die, if I were in Locke's situation (notice, I'd feel bad/guilty)

"No good deed is a selfless act" - in my opinion.

Well, there is the philosophical standpoint that EVERYONE is selfish, and even when we do a good deed that doesn't benefit us in any way, even if we're not going to receive accolades, we're basically doing it to feel good about ourselves.

On some level, it's true. On the other hand, it's an absurd way to look at things, because it would mean that I should equally value someone who shoots me in order to take my money, and someone who risks their life to save me.

So if people want to look at it this way... Locke is selfish. So is Jack - helping people in order to prove to himself that he's "got what it takes", despite what his father used to tell him. So was Eko - trying to get his 'redemption' for his past sins. And so on. Does selfish equal bad? In that case, I guess we'll have to come to the conclusion that everyone is bad?

Now, as for the question: is Locke a good man or a bad man... He's not a bad guy but he's not really a goody-goody either. I think he's got a great capacity for both, and he's perhaps more ambiguous than any other character on the island in that respect, or at least he's one of the most ambiguous characters. This is what makes him so interesting. I think the show has been playing with that duality since the beginning (the black and white backgammon pieces; Locke's black and white eye in Claire's dream in "Raised By Another"...).

[TimeTravellingBunny]

Originally Posted by Beach Crew

And then Charlie, Locke helped Charlie, stopped him taking the drugs but at the same time this led to Locke becoming closer to Claire, and beating Charlie to the parental role. And then when Locke punched Charlie, that was way out of line, and just wrong. And it showed how the supposed great man has a temper also, and sometimes struggles to control it.

How did Locke helping Charlie lead to Locke becoming closer to Claire? One had nothing to do with the other. Claire didn't even know about Charlie's addiction at the time. Locke became closer to Claire when he asked to help him build the crib.

It was just wrong? I wonder what would happen to you if you set a fire to a camp full of people and stole a baby from his mother and took it to the water, shouting some insane things about having to 'baptize' the baby(even though you're not even a priest). You would consider yourself very lucky if being punched three times is all the punishment you received.