How Jack Sparrow Keep His Cool No Matter What

“Crazy people don’t know they are crazy. I know I am crazy, therefore I am not crazy. Isn’t that crazy?”

The character of Captain Jack Sparrow is an iconic character known for his wit and many idiosyncrasies. He doesn’t change his behavior to please anyone and always acts the same, whoever he meets, be it Captain Barbossa, King George Augustus in the Royal Palace, or a beggar on the streets. Throughout the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, we see him act bizarrely in front of admirals, governors, pirate captains, sea monsters, and fellow pirates. He is not afraid to be himself and takes a certain pride in his eccentric behavior. He is different from others around him, which makes him colorful and memorable. Jack Sparrow is undoubtedly a character that will remain in the viewers’ hearts for many years to come.

“Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate.”

Yes, Jack Sparrow is a notorious pirate, a raider who attacks other ships to loot treasure. He does love getting his hands on a shiny treasure from time to time. But he knows fully well that treasure comes in all forms. Jack’s goal throughout the movie series is to get his hands on the Black Pearl. For him, Black Pearl is not just a ship. “Wherever we want to go, we go. That’s what a ship is, you know. It’s not just a keel and a hull and sails; that’s what a ship needs. Not what a ship is. What the Black Pearl really is, is freedom.” This quote makes us understand that Jack treasures freedom above all things, even above gold, silver, or gems, a pirate’s most prized possessions.

“This is the day you will always remember as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow.”

If you have watched ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ you must know all about Jack Sparrow’s special compass. Unlike other compasses, it does not point to the north. But it always points to the direction of his greatest desire. This is an excellent way for Jack to always keep his end goals in mind. However, even without his compass, Jack always shows purposefulness in everything he does. Of course, some of his actions might look ridiculous at first. But in the end, these silly actions always help him to reach his goals,  no matter the circumstance.

Another interesting thing about his character is that he always puts himself first. How often do you get distracted by a new attraction and lose sight of your goal? For ordinary people, this is a pretty common thing. We often end up helping someone else reach their goals and forget all about our dreams and goals.

“The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can’t do.”

This quote reflects his philosophy on life - that there are no real rules or boundaries; you can do whatever you want as long as you’re willing to put in the effort. This philosophy often gets him into trouble, but it also allows him to accomplish things that others thought were impossible. Throughout all Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Jack faces various dangers. He loses his ship, gets captured by cannibals, ends up facing the hangman’s noose, etc. But instead of giving up and losing hope, he always uses his brain to find a way to get out of these situations by hook or by crook. No matter how dangerous the situation is, he always finds a solution. His solutions are often smart and creative. Remember how he walked underwater using an upside-down canoe in The Curse of the Black Pearl?

Another interesting facet of his character is his ability to negotiate. “Why fight when you can negotiate?” Yes, Jack is an infamous pirate. But he doesn’t hesitate to use his glib tongue to get out of life-threatening situations. He even utters absurd lies or bends the truth to his advantage to save his life. This teaches us that violence isn’t always the answer.

“The Problem is not the Problem. The Problem is Your Attitude about the Problem.”

A problem remains a problem as long as you look at it as a problem. If you look at a problematic situation as an opportunity to learn something new or an opportunity to challenge yourself, it’s no longer a problem. On his journeys, Jack would hit stumbling blocks over and over, but he never gets deterred by them. From repeatedly losing his beloved Black Pearl, getting captured and imprisoned, and to getting almost eaten by sea monsters, Jack faces them all with a smile. He doesn’t get scared or worried; instead, he changes his perspective to something more productive and tackles the issue from an angle no one else thinks of. Of course, having a great sense of humor always helps to adapt to any situation without losing perspective. Changing our attitude is a simple concept that’s easy to understand, but it’s a lesson we fail to follow most of the time.

“Better to not know which moment may be your last. Every morsel of your entire being alive to the infinite mystery of it all.”

Jack personifies the idea of living in the moment. Remember the scene in ‘The Curse of the Black Pearl’ where he is stranded on a deserted island. His first thought on the island is not about survival but about finding the hidden cache of rum. Another interesting scene is when Jack finds himself left stranded on a boat at World’s End; the arrow of his compass doesn’t point to his ship but points to the direction of his rum bottle. It’s only when he takes a big gulp of rum that the compass starts to show the direction of the Black Pearl. This means what he needed most at that moment was to have a sip of rum. This is a good indicator of the way his mind works. Jack lives in the moment and does not worry obsessively about the future. Even when everything around him is crumbling down, he is able to enjoy life’s simple pleasures – his bottle of rum and his beloved sea. After all, what’s the point of living if you cannot enjoy your life?

“It’s not so much the destination as it is the journey.”

His destination may change, finding the black pearl, the fountain of youth, or Poseidon’s Trident, but Jack always prefers to stay in the ocean. Even when he reaches his destination, there’s not much of a difference in his attitude. His love for freedom and the sea shines through all the decisions he makes. In fact, he enjoys the journey that takes him to his destination. We never see him worry excessively about reaching his goals, but we do find him enjoying his bottle and having a good time wherever he is, in his beloved ship, in a delipidated tavern, or even in a dark dungeon cell.

All of us have goals in our lives. But sometimes, we become so obsessed with achieving these goals that we forget to live our lives. It’s important to have goals or destinations. But you really start to live your life when you start enjoying the journey of life, not just your destination. This is a life lesson all of us can learn from the character of Jack Sparrow.

“I’m dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It’s the honest ones you want to watch out for because you can never predict when they’re going to do something incredibly … stupid.”

No matter how many people work under him or how many people befriend him, Jack never trusts them, be it Gibbs, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, or Tia Dalma. As Jack himself says, you can always expect him to be dishonest and untrustworthy. He knows that he can ultimately only count on himself and trust in his own intelligence. He also knows that honest people are unpredictable and dishonest people cannot be counted on. This is why he never fully reveals his plans to others and ends up surprising or shocking everyone at the end of the movie. On most occasions, this quality proves to be very useful and brings him success.