Dead Man’s Chest (

1730, age 40 )

Jack is at his worst with communicating with others when it is his own life on the line, because he knows inherently that his life has no value to others. This is not a matter of depression or even low self worth – it is a matter of having been raised by pirates. His childhood taught himevery person will act in their own bests interests first – and saving other people is not, generally, a lucrative thing to do. In fact as someone who has saved many people Jack can attest to this being very factual – outside of turning those one saves into allies and crew members, generally speaking in the long term saving lives tends to do a man very little good, so it is no wonder that few folk bother to do so.

Because of this, Jack is exceptionally secretive because he knows if it comes to light that Davy Jones is after him and the Pearl in particular, not only will he lose his crew – he will not be able to fetch another one. He leads people to follow him by getting them to believe they are after treasure – then, that they are after power – because if there is something in it for them to gain then he knows they will participate. ( Jack also enacts this line of thinking in Brethren Court and, many issues as I have with the series, it is not wrong here, either. )

However – despite the fact it is his life on the line, Jack isn’t honestly keen on sacrificing other lives for his own. He is stalling for time more than anything else – he knows if he gets Davy Jones’ heart, every person he has to use as a stalling tactic will be freed, so what’s a short jaunt on the Flying Dutchman in the long scheme of things?

This is his thought process when accepting Davy Jones’ demand for 100 souls in exchange for his own – though that doesn’t stop him from trying every trick in his goddamn arsenal to get Will Turner back immediately, and that’s something that is very true to Jack. William is, at this point in the game, someone Jack considers a friend – and it goes against Jack’s internal code to turn his back on him – so yes, he tried. This post actually covers my arguments on this front, so no need to go further in on it.

Jack is fighting for his life at the very start of this movie, and literally all the way through it. His actions are more extreme than usual as a result of being very aware that he is outrunning a ticking time bomb he placed on himself thirteen years ago. Jack always manages to find a way out of trouble, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he expects to – and while he takes very long methods to ensure his own survival – there are some things that cannot be escaped, not the least of which being conscience and fate.