MISSING LINKS

There are a few large missing links in the LOST mosaic.

BEN'S MOTHER.  We only saw her briefly in the woods just prior to child birth. What type of person was she? Was she connected to the island in some unknown way?

SAWYER'S FATHER. We never saw him, but his reaction to his wife being swindled (a murder-suicide) must have been part of a pre-existing, driven or obsessive personality that had to have had left an impression on young Ford. Was Sawyer really trying to become Cooper or trying to run away from becoming his own father?

JACK'S MOTHER. We only see her briefly in the background. She seems to be a country club wife, a border line timid alcoholic who puts up with her husband's successful practice because of the status and lifestyle she had come accustomed to over the years. What kinds of morality and life lessons did she impart on Jack?  Was she a counterbalance to Christian's negativity?

JACOB'S FATHER. Where was he after the ship wreck? Why did he not go looking for his wife (and if found her after childbirth), go looking for his son? Was Jacob's mother "alone" on the ship - - - a widow or a slave? And Jacob not having a paternal influence in growing up alter his outlook on life?

SAYID'S MOTHER. We saw a brief glimpse of Sayid's stern father during a flash back to Sayid's Iraqi childhood. It seems that the father had great influence on Sayid become a strong man. But was Sayid's mother overwhelmed by his traditional father and culture so much so that it put the guilt and shame into Sayid's subconscious to be a better person than his father?

SHANNON'S FATHER. We only saw him in the emergency room, from the same crash that led Jack to his miracle surgery on his future first wife. Was Shannon's father a doting one, always bailing her out of trouble so much so that she grew up lacking any responsibility or accountability for her actions? Is this why Boone had to try to assume a parental enforcer to try to get Shannon away from being a spoiled trust fund child when her father died? The one fact that hit Shannon hard was once her father died, she was cut off from the family wealth. She was on her own, still making bad choices. In some respects, her old life died with her father.

CHARLIE'S PARENTS. We don't know much about them. It seems that Charlie was closer to his brother - - - that was his family. Were Charlie's parents so cold to him that Charlie escaped into the literature of what a perfect family was supposed to be like (and transferring that notion onto Claire and Aaron)?

DESMOND'S PARENTS. We know nothing about the raggy man. Desmond lacked discipline, drive, goals and steady work ethic to survive in any sort of middle class existence. Was his parents free spirits, hippies or outcasts who left him at an early age to fend for himself?  If so, this young independence must have been a strong survival instinct for Desmond, so much so that he was afraid to commit to things because it would strangle his independence streak.

It seems one or both parents background was missing in the back stories of several major characters. The missing parent character traits could explain the motivations, fears and direction of the main castaways and how they interacted with the people in their lives.