Lost Character Study: Sayid Jarrah

The Show’s Boldest Swing And An Antihero In His Own Mind

Like so many of the best shows during this period Lost took incredible swings for the fences, in terms of character as well as plot. One of the most incredible then and now has to be with Sayid Jarrah, played brilliantly and soulfully by Naveen Andrews.

Naveen Andrews as Sayid.

Fatigue over the War in Iraq had already set in by the time the Pilot of Lost was being written and in a post 9/11 America bigotry against Islam was becoming increasingly excused. So it was astounding to have a character such as Sayid Jarrah who was not just Iraqi but who when asked in the Pilot said he served in the Republican Guard. That Sayid was a devout Muslim was something that the show frequently illustrated (we saw him praying on multiple occasions both on the island and in flashbacks) though his faith was never the focus the way it was for so many other characters.

In a way when it was revealed that Sayid had been a torturer less then a third through Season 1 it was actually less of a creative risk: 24 had already become part of the Zeitgeist and Battlestar Galactica had already been willing to use similar methods on Cylons during its first two seasons. The difference was we never saw Jack Bauer feel any regret when he beat up suspected terrorists. By contrast the first time Sayid tortured anyone — Sawyer when he was…