From a young age, he learned how the gang operated, seeing how loyalty and teamwork connected everyone. He witnessed how the gang recruited new members, managed relationships, balanced power, and adapted to survive in a tough environment. This experience taught him to follow in Dutch’s footsteps, and looking back, the gang raised the perfect outlaw. Unfortunately, if the series continues from Jack’s perspective or is a sequel, Jack is already set up to be a gang leader.
Jack Was Raised By Outlaws, And Everyone Looked Up To Dutch
Jack Had No Reason To Doubt Dutch
Jack Marston didn’t have a typical childhood that would make him an honest man in Red Dead Redemption 3. Instead, he grew up in the chaotic life of the Van der Linde gang. His early years weren’t about textbooks but real-life experiences as an outlaw. He watched the complex relationships within the gang, learning about power struggles, shifting loyalties, and the constant fight to live outside the law. He saw how the gang respected Dutch van der Linde. Dutch taught John and Arthur his point of view, and he likely did that with Jack.
Jack didn’t just watch; he absorbed their beliefs and the idea that they were a united family in a world that opposed them. This mixture of love and violence shaped his view of loyalty, as the gang felt like family to him. He wasn’t just an observer but fully involved, picking up on the unspoken rules and hierarchies that made up their world. This upbringing, where he was both cared for and forced to mature quickly, gave him a unique perspective on life. It shaped him with the traditions of the Wild West while also giving him the potential to change them.
Jack Only Saw The Law Do Evil To His Family, Thanks To Ross
It’s Hard To Say Who The Good Guy Is
From Jack’s viewpoint leading up to Red Dead Redemption 3, the law wasn’t a force for good. It felt like a harsh enemy that unfairly went after his family. Growing up, he was always on the move, escaping from lawmen who relentlessly chased the Van der Linde gang. This made him see law enforcement as the real oppressor instead of a protector. His feelings were further solidified by the death of his father, John, who Edgar Ross, a government agent, betrayed.
For Jack, Edgar Ross was not just an isolated case; he symbolized a system that never had his family’s best interests in mind.
Ross represents the kind of authority Jack is taught to distrust, especially as he watches men he views as evil continuing to hunt his family. These experiences made him resentful and convinced him that the so-called civilized world was corrupt and hostile. Jack proves this is his viewpoint by hunting Ross down and killing him.
For Jack, Edgar Ross was not just an isolated case; he symbolized a system that never had his family’s best interests in mind. This reinforced Jack’s belief that the government was inherently bad and that there was an “us versus them” mentality. Even when his parents tried to settle into the new world, Ross and the law took those opportunities away. To Jack, the law wasn’t a fair judge of justice; it was the direct source of his pain, loss, and the unfortunate end of his childhood, all because of the actions of Ross and the Bureau of Investigation.
Jack Already Knows How Gang Life Works
Jack Was A Student of Gang Life
Jack’s early years were not spent playing games on a dusty farm; they were a comprehensive curriculum in the workings of a gang that he can form in Red Dead Redemption 3. Based on listening to others, he received a living, breathing education into the operations of the Van der Linde gang’s complex, multi-layered criminal organization. He absorbed lessons not from dusty books but from observing the very mechanics of the group, seeing how they recruited members, how allegiances were formed and maintained, and how power shifted within the camp.
He saw the importance of the family bond within the gang, which operated, in many ways, as an extended unit with all the intricacies and nuances of traditional family life with all the good and the bad it came with, such as unconditional love and care, but also the violent fights and the ever-present dangers of the outlaw life. This understanding is not theoretical but part of his very being. He was not just a child in a camp; he was an apprentice in the school of outlaws.
Remember that Jack never saw his dad go after some gang members or the fall of Dutch. He was kidnapped during big events and only has memories of good times.
Every aspect of his childhood was a lesson in the gang’s core belief system: that they were not “the bad guys” but a family against a world that was trying to tear them down. The new world, with all its rules and laws, was not a better way of life. His understanding of this dynamic is not something he learned but something he has lived and breathed, and when his father stepped away from that life, he was killed by the people Dutch warned them about. It’s hard to imagine he would think Dutch was wrong.
Jack’s Ending Shows He Ends Up A Gunslinger
Jack Is His Father’s Son
In the final part of Jack Marston’s story, we see that no matter how hard his family tried to protect him from their violent history, he becomes the gunslinger they wanted to avoid in Red Dead Redemption 3. Jack’s life is shaped by his father’s past and the harsh world around him, leading him to a final act of revenge that confirms his role in a cycle of violence. Jack may end up being more than a random gunslinger.
His idea of loyalty, influenced by growing up with the Van der Linde gang, gets distorted by the trauma and losses he faces. After his father’s betrayal and his mother’s death, paired with a deep mistrust of authority instilled in him since childhood, Jack is pushed down a dark path. In his final moments, it’s clear he doesn’t find peace in avenging his family. Instead, he fully embraces the outlaw lifestyle, and the next step seems pretty simple.
Jack will likely go on to form his own gang in Red Dead Redemption 3 because he takes pride in the outlaw life. This is confirmed through the combat dialogue Jack gives: “Now do you believe I’m a Marston?” That shows that he likes the idea of living up to what he thought his father was and who he saw as the true heroes of the old West – Dutch and his gang.
