The mutually dependent companion of the part one. You must read part one first for this to make sense. This is a subjective analysis of the symbolism of Lost; a thesis. This is not a theory of the quantum mechanics of the events on Lost, there are plenty of other good theories for that. This is a focus on the Losties, not everyone else as per the title. Hopefully you will rate and comment based on creativity and logic and not on the accuracy of off-screen moments or whether or not you fully agree. On paper things look much duller or simpler than on screen.
Starting where we left off and ending where we began in part one...
What lies in the shadow of the statue? He who will save/protect us all. The answer is rhetorical and pertains to sacrifice. Those willing to make any sacrifice necessary for the greater good will save/protect the world from those unwilling to make that sacrifice. The Island is an attempt by a higher intelligence to create paradise. What is paradise? The state of enlightenment or nirvana. Nirvana is describes as the highest happiness, a goal hoped for but not attained, a place or state of oblivion. How does this relate to the Losties, eternal life and reciprocity...?
(Mikhail: After years of unpleasant activities towards our enemies, I applied to an advertisement. 'Would you like to save the world?' it read. Thats how I met them...)
Jacob and MIB's war is of atonement. Can the living atone and make amends and appreciate the gift of life while alive or do they need the threat of death to do this? Will they destroy any chance at life on Earth via a physical body before they realize that no matter what geographical or metaphysical plane of existence we all will still exist together? The same people you see in life will be the people you see in death. That's scary if there are evil people that exist. Not so scary if everyone learns to wake up and stop all the atrocious hate. Why is it ok to want to see a loved one in the afterlife but not someone you've wronged or has wronged you? If one of us in the community suffers, then we all suffer the same for it. I'll come back to that point.
(MIB to Ben: Welcome back to the land of the living...)
There is a Life side and a Death side on the Island, an illusional barrier created by the ignorance of it's inhabitants. Both sides appear similar physically except are inhabited by either the living or the dead on the Island. The divide is growing by the malevolent acts of the living which reinforces the illusion that the dead are gone and don't exist. They coexist but there is animosity. The DI can't coexist with the Other's. Losties can't coexist with the Other's. There is even dissent within each group. The Island being a kind of emotional contagion entity, reacts and the barriers and illusions are put in place (unknowingly) by the residents themselves. The Whispers are from the transference of energy when passing from one side to the other, but I'm sure they also have another meaning like the Island trying to communicate with its inhabitants, in a more empathic way.
The Smoke Monster takes the essence/souls from the Life side to the Death side of the Island and keeps them there. Life and death are separated by the conflict so there has to be a boundary line and the Monster was created as a sort of guardian. This is what the scanning process it does indicates. It can reach into your essence/soul and pull out memories and manifest them if it chooses because, as the Island preaches, there can be no ignorance and should be nothing you need to hide. You have to free yourself from any burden to achieve nirvana. Nearly everyone on the Island lies or deceives each other. It can also reach inside your body when dead and pull out your essence/soul and transport it to the Death side. The lightning flashes inside of it are a reaction from the electromagnetic energy of the Island needed to maintain the portal from life to death. This divide or barrier isn't what was "supposed" to have happen on the Island and I think the lightning is to sort of indi! cate a frustration at having to exist at all. It's like a law enforcement agent of the Island that dutifully serves but is a little apprehensive and slightly belligerent because of it's job and why it's even necessary to do it. I presume it exists as something else on the Death side, very likely the white light Locke saw. In the s6 finale we will see the view from the Death/merged side and Smokey's true form will be revealed as a white light. The symbolism being, while alive they saw a keeper of the dead as scary or dark. In death they had been enlightened to see it as a white light. I think this is hinted at or at least keeping with the inverse of the end credit logo. I won't take any stabs at trying to explain why it needed to take Yemi's corpse away other than to say it needed Mr Eko to believe it was Yemi in order to repent and felt if the corpse was missing it would coax him into atoning. There could very well be some other reason the corpse was gone though.
It's interesting that the Smokey being the the boundary line between Life and Death had a boundary of it's own being the sonar fence. One invisible boundary holding back another sort of invisible boundary.
(Mr Friendly: We got a misunderstanding your people, my people. Right here there's a line. You cross that line we go from misunderstanding to something else.)
The cabin and the ash line around the cabin is a truce barrier set up by Jacob and MIB. It allows them to meet with an inhabitant on the other side but restricts their movements to only the cabin. The cabin transports back and forth from the Life and Death sides and this is why it disappeared from Locke when he led his group there. In s4ep1 Hurley saw the cabin in a few different places because his ability to see thru the illusion of Life and Death caused disorientation when he briefly saw both sides without realizing it. His sadness over Charlie's death influenced this somehow. He got separated from the group and saw the Death side. In a way its like what happened to Minkowski and Desmond. The boundary line of two planes like life and death or the real world and the Island causes the side effect of the mind to become disoriented and confused because as Ben said "I'm sorry you're too limited to see." The ash circle on the chair in the cabin restricts Jacob or MIB to that spo! t only when on the opposite side, but they can move freely in the cabin when it's on their side.
The entity that reanimated Christian Shepherd is the proxy. The mediator of the Island. It met with the dead MIB in the cabin. It interacted with the living, handing Sun a photo. It assists both sides in an attempt to resolve the dispute and merge all the growing divides of the Island, not just life and death. (Locke: Can you help me up? Christian: No sorry, I can't do that.) As in, you made the choice and now you have to fix it. The count to five hospital scene with Christian and Jack was another symbolic example of this. "Relax, count to five and fix it."
Locke is so important and special because he will become the first human to be granted eternal life. He will surpass the barrier of life and death, merge them and become eternal, not just ageless. (Richard is mortal. He can be killed, he just doesn't age.) Evidence: The image of Locke's face "in between" the black and white stones in the the Pilot pt2. The "Life" AND "Death" of Jeremy Bentham. A black eye and a white eye in Claire's dream. He led a faction of the Losties, and he led a faction of the Other's (or was going too). A cut above one eye and not the other. In the sweat lodge vision Boone told him: You have to bring the family together again John. These don't JUST indicate conflict and balance. It's to show that Locke will have life and death then eternal life to converge the two. This is what I meant in part one about restoring the Island's faith. In reward for his loyalty, he will be resurrected. He is supposed to teach the living and the dead how to attain eternal! life because he has known suffering from both life and death. He lived. He died. Then he lived forever. Don't tell him what he can't do. All things are possible, even eternal life. "Why do you find it so hard to believe? It's never been easy!" Who better to teach that than Locke? The Island needed a saviour. Locke needed a saviour. Reciprocity.
(Horace: Jacob's been waiting for you for a long time. You have to find me, and when you do you'll find him.) Horace is dead, on the Death side. Locke is there now in '07. With Jacob murdered his essence is on the Death side as well, so Locke can finally "find" Jacob. I believe Jacob will sacrifice something so that Locke can take over his position and once defeated MIB's position, thus attaining the merger of eternal life. All things that rise must converge. Perhaps Jacob will give up any existence at all on the Island and we'll see him in the alternate timeline as a man helped by the eternal life version of Locke. Also I think the real dead Christian Shepherd will switch shoes with Locke while they're both on the Death side, and this will somehow be important or necessary for communicating with Jack who is on the Life side. Perhaps this will make it possible to temporarily jump his consciousness into the mediator entity to communicate with Jack. (Christian: Say hello to m! y son, for me.) I can see him saying that again to Locke and having new meaning to it in s6.
(Jack: ... did you ever think the Island was trying to fix things, and we were just getting in the way?)
So why do the Island and the Losties need each other? Because they both need to be freed of any divide or conflict within them in order achieve paradise. The Island is an ATTEMPT by a higher intelligence to create paradise. Humans keep getting in the way of that. Each of the Losties of 815: Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Sayid, Jin, Sun, and Claire all feel directly or indirectly responsible for the death of someone prior to their arrival on the Island. Interestingly Locke is the only exception. They have other issues to resolve as well but are all candidates to be brought to the Island because Jacob is lobbying to the Island that the living can be remorseful, atone, and be willing to sacrifice their lives for the greater good of the Island and save the/their world. This is to prove that there is no reason to continue the illusion on the Island of life and death being separate, no reason to have ignorance, and no reason why nirvana can't be achieved paradise had. All things can! coexist together. I'm sure Jacob is directly or indirectly responsible for MIB's death and is attempting to atone for this by his "work" on the Island. (MIB: Do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you? One of these days I'm gonna find a loophole.) As in, 'one of these days I'm gonna find a way to kill you and have my vengeance.' Dead is dead, you don't get to come back from that.
When Ben turned the FDW he forever intertwined the fates of the Island and the Losties. Locke was instructed by the Island's mediator to do this. (I told YOU, to move the Island. When did listening to him, get you anywhere worth a damn?) The Island told Locke to move it, and since he didn't the destiny's of the Losties and the Island were further meshed together. MIB's escape and loophole exploitation was because of the Losties failure to work with the Island; failure of reciprocity. It's illogical because of the time travel element and thus you can't really apply real-world logic to a work of fiction. This also supports why I believe there has to be an alternate timeline. The Losties only came to the Island because they were already there. It doesn't make sense unless there is some kind of reset, but leaves two realities. Furthermore the attainment of nirvana is to reach a state of oblivion. As in what the H-bomb reset attempt was, except the RIGHT way. So there must be an ! alternate timeline in which the Losties never land on the Island and don't remember because to reach nirvana you wouldn't remember the pain of your "old" life anyway. It's the hope (to the audience) that no matter how much suffering you are going thru in life, there is also "another" you reaping the rewards of paradise.
Looking thru some of the titles of the episodes, they have suggested this all along. "Tabula Rasa" (clean slate), "The Whole Truth", "Something Nice Back Home", "This Place Is Death", "He's Our You" just to name a few. So by coming to terms with their lives, atoning, and adopting a constructive limitless peaceful attitude and lifestyle the Losties will become enlightened and achieve nirvana; paradise. Their "work" on the Island will do this. The Island has provided them the opportunity to save the/their world if they are willing to make the sacrifice. It has gone thru the same redemption process, in part because it is a sort of emotional contagion of it's inhabitants, a mirror. The reciprocity is because it only achieves paradise thru feeding off it's inhabitants actions. It is part of them, one of them. It has the power, like they have the power but they must be mutually dependent on one another. If one of us in the community suffers we all suffer the same. However, if all ! of us in the community are in paradise then each one of has attained paradise.
Why does the Island need the Losties? To achieve the paradise intended.
Why do the Losties need the Island? To achieve the paradise intended.
RECIPROCITY
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Reciprocity 2: Why the Losties need the Island by Locke's disciple
(Comments: 13)
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13 Comments:
Excellent work. This is really more fan fiction that it is theory, but I like it. Like you said it's only the symbolic analysis, not a what if this what if that type theory. Good work, both of them are good reads. I'm surprised you got such low ratings, but most people want fanciful stuff about scientific theory not symbolic analysis. Screw'em.
There's a lot of things you mentioned that I missed while watching the show. A good outline, like the first one. You're right people should rate theories based on logic and creativity because the truth is no one knows what'll happen. If I wrote a theory saying Sawyer time traveled and is Locke's real dad that would suck, but if I wrote something more creative and logical even if wrong hopefully people would understand it and appreciate the effort.
I think the problem is most people will not pick up on how you tied all the symbolic moments together. I myself didn't even realize that every Lostie killed, or caused someone to be killed in their past. I'm sure the war will be more complex than just a zombie movie, but I agree somehow MIB wants Jacob dead so he's out of the way. I would only point out that for some reason he has the power to shape-shift so I don't know if I'd classify him as dead. Maybe undead like Christian would be a better term. Good work all in all.
@Locke's disciple
Good work. I disagree about the dead wanting retribution and that's all the war is about, but I do like some of the other speculations. I love the idea that the Island is an emotional contagion that feels what it's people feel. That could be why apparitions appear. I gave you 5 stars because of what you said about judging it based on creativity and logic and not so much if I agree with everything.
Thanks Keith H and J&K. I knew this half would get lower ratings and expected comments saying it was unoriginal or boring. It's why I explained that on paper things look duller or seem simpler than on screen. If 7 years ago you read an idea for the show from JJ Abrams that said "these people land on an Island and there is a monster of black smoke and they see ghosts" that might not sound as interesting as what its become with all the other elements they added. Seeing it all on screen and then the way the writers tie together each storyline and payoff things is what makes Lost so intriguing.
I don't mind if people don't agree with it. I didn't mean zombies live on the Island and want revenge like Night of the Living Dead. I meant that there exists a "dimension" where the dead on the Island live the same as the way the living people do. The Island takes their image and it forms the apparition to speak to one of the living. It can't speak to them directly, it has no body. So it's not really that dead person, it's the Island manifesting the image of the dead from the other side. Life and Death sides might sound boring, or unoriginal, but then how many other times have you seen time travel, ghosts, CGI monsters or a hidden, secret-place where magic happens? Maybe not all together but it has been in a lot of other sci-fi stories. Lost is unique in the way they execute the story.
I could've went into more detail about MIB's war. I don't mean to say all he wants is vengeance, its much more complicated then that. Ask yourself, why would he need Jacob dead? Does the Island explode once he does? He said things will change once he's gone. To me that means no more doing what Jacob has done, and what has Jacob done? Bring people to the Island, heal Locke from the fall (speculative), help others. Jacob is the healing and positive side of the Island. With him gone someone will need to take his place, hence the title of the s6 poster "Who is the leader?"
What do all the Losties have in common prior to coming to the Island that could be related to Jacob? One thing is they've all been responsible directly or indirectly for someone's death. The Island has tested each Lostie and now that will kick into overdrive since Jacob is dead. MIB can use all his powers of shape-shifting and manipulation. He will press at their most vulnerable spots, namely the deaths they have caused and their self esteems. They will have to sacrifice and as Abbadon said "find out what their made of"
Help me out here - whom did Claire kill or cause to die? Her car wreck with her mom turned out OK (if indeed the woman we are told is Carole Littleton is actually her, recovered).
However, we do know that Anna Lucia killed, Eko caused his brother's death, Des killed Kelvin, Richard killed en masse...who am I forgetting?
On the other hand, most modern dramas have an illogical amount of killings going on; part of our currently violent society.
As stated above, very thoughtful and interesting theory/summation. There is no doubt that symbolism is one of the foundations of this show, unlike most other serial dramas. This brings LOST closer to the world's most accomplished literature, which elevates the show beyond 99% of most TV.
this entire thing just reeks of pretentiousness and ridiculousness
@Elegiamore
You're right Claire didn't kill anyone, my mistake I forgot to edit her out of the final draft.
@Patrick T.
It's not 100% accurate of course, no theory of Lost will be. If you want to discuss or debate Lost I'm up for it. I took a stab at answering some questions, so sue me.
I'm curious to know what's ridiculous about it.
Final Draft?
What you don't shoot from the hip?
Come on all the best gunslingers shoot from the hip!!!
I usually just start typing up my fresh thoughts then do a spell check and bam!!! Theory.
Jack and Kate plus 8, Locke's Disciple, Ricky, others, we *REALLY* need to meet up in a chat room periodically to hash all this stuff out in real time.
I'm going absolutely NUTS waiting for s6! And I guess I'm curbing the urge a little to post here.. and wait and refresh and wait and refresh these posts hoping for interaction.
Who's with me? We can join the spoilerslost chatrooms like #lostspoilers. I would really enjoy just hammering all this stuff out there with you guys.
Let me know please. I figure I'm not allowed to give out my email address here in these posts so I'll just keep coming back here to see if you guys are game.
Again I agree with a lot of your writing, and some things I think might be open to a different interpretation.
I don't think the apparitions of dead people hint at them 'existing' on another level still. I think Miles spoke for the writers in Season 05 when arguing with Hurley. He wondered for example if by detonating Jughead they would cause the Incident in the first place, which I am sure is exactly what happened (if they hadn't detonated the bomb, the Island would have been destroyed completely by the pocket of energy taking over). He explained to us furthermore why the Losties are in the past, but not in THEIR own past, which is right, of course. He told us they could die. AND he told us that once someone dies, this person is gone, there are just remains of consciousness that tell him about the last minute's facts and feelings - like an emotional photogramm. But there is no person left. I think Hurley sees this people like he saw Dave - out of imagination and a need to survive emotionally. Jacob told him it was a gift, but it could also mean it was something useful he invents when his mind in in need of advice or emotional support.
Furthermore I don't think that MIB is some kind of a revengeful spirit. He and Jacob are aspects of the Island that are at war. The Island might be a little schizophrenic after all. I am wondering a lot recently WHY MIB would tell Locke to bring the Oceanic 06 back. When Richard talks to Locke he even says that the only way to SAVE THE ISLAND would be to bring them all back. So I guess MIB/Flocke knew that if they didn't travel back in time, they would never prevent the destruction of the Island. So he would be the one that is responsible in a way for the detonation of an H-bomb. He is bound to the existance of the Island.
I still don't believe there is a paradise available for human beings. The 'death side' of the Island is evoked in the Losties' minds because both Jacob and MIB are manipulating them. I don't know about the whispers, because there is no pattern that would fit to their every occurence, but very often they occur before someone is in danger. This could be someone warning them, but also being a means to unsettle the 'victims'. I am sure Shannon for example was guided into following 'Walt' by someone who wanted her to be killed by Ana Lucia - in order to see how they would react. I think it was MIB who wanted to drive the Losties into bloodshed to prove that they are bad and destructive.
This might be a reaction to a deep disappointment about human beings that simply won't achieve the state of enlightenment. I however believe that the Island as an entity as a whole is "a place where miracles happen" because it is essentially a good place. It offers a setting to become 'good', too - which means to find oneself first of all. But I don't believe it means an extreme like Nirvana.
And this fits nicely with your ideas about the boundaries on Island, which I think are especially interesting. I think the Island is a place of LIMINALITY - where both 'good' and 'bad' transcent their old meanings. Liminality is a state of mind that occurs or is created deliberately in times of important change (rites de passage) in a person or a character - but it can also mean to change from life to death. Illness can be seen as a liminal state, for example. Maybe all our Losties can be said to have arrived on the Island in a liminal state, there were somehow in between places. The Island is a liminal place that can absorb this emotional liminality and turn it into something productive. Liminality is also a concept that can be transferred to theatrical settings (as Victor Turner did) and to historical events that take place as a theatrical drama (he calls it a "social drama"). I think the Island might just offer such a setting, like a stage. And on this stage it mirrors and intensifies the characters' emotional distress - so they can learn to transcent their limits.
"I'm sure Jacob is directly or indirectly responsible for MIB's death..."
I really like this idea... partly because I really really REALLY hope that Jacob and the MIB aren't some kind of island gods, but just people like our Losties.
really.
Our Skies...
Very well said! I completely and absolutely agree.
Our Skies...
I doubt you'll read this, since these comments sections are difficult to have a proper discussion with it being hours or even days between responses. I'd prefer a chat room or email. If you're up for it sometime, let me know. You have some fascinating observations and I find myself reading your comments and saying to myself, "Wow I thought the same thing, but..." or "That's a good point! I agree!"
The writers were (or may have been) expositing the rules of the universe that the Lost world exists in with Miles and Hurley's dialogue about the dead. My reason for saying there is an illusion of Life and Death and how it relates to Miles has to do with character development. Miles has an ability, but it isn't fully developed IMO. I like what you said about Hurley using his ability to see dead people as a form of comfort. IMO Miles is the same way.
Miles never knew his father and was lead to believe he was dead and "could never go where he was." He felt like a freak or crazy because of his ability. In opposition of Hurley, Miles used is ability to take advantage of others. Although, I don't think never knowing his father was enough of a (or the only) motivation to deceive others with his gift. This was a way of saying Miles' ability is not unlike Hurley's in that he uses it as a form of comfort. He, like everyone else that I theorized, believes that the dead are gone. To the characters this symbolically represents their attitude that the dead aren't able to defend themselves, and don't or can't look on with disapproval in response to the acts of the living. Dead is dead, you don't get to come back from that. This could be interpreted as having a "kill someone to get rid of them" type mentality, or "I better do the right thing in life because I only get one chance at it" type mentality. The characters will go from the former to the latter over the course of the show. Perhaps not literally "kill someone to get rid of them" but more to a degree of ignorance and unaccountability of their actions.
It's what I meant about the illusion. Even someone like Miles, who can sense a presence that has been killed, doesn't have the fully developed mind set to communicate with them or acknowledge their existence in terms of recognizing that they are indeed present on the Island. He only hears/senses them, like Hurley only sees them briefly. I think each will develop their ability and it will illustrate their importance to the mission, as well as the development of their character.
Great thoughts on liminality, but you MUST believe in paradise to have it Our Skies!! Just kidding, I get what you mean about it being out of reach of the living. That's my point though; the Island has been attempting to attain the impossible with respect to attaining paradise. I don't think we'll see it before the show ends, but we'll get a sense somehow that the Losties made it there. Perhaps the ALT timeline is about a new set of different candidates to come to the Island and take part in their own test. A way of saying a new world must be saved and this time it will be a different group to do it. Perhaps each of the Losties will interact with one of these new characters and the writers will weave their stories in the six degrees of separation style of the flashbacks of the Losties. So in other words the Losties will be the victims of these new folks that will have to make amends. Like saying Kate's father Wayne was a candidate from the previous test. I don't know about that idea though because it seems out of keeping with the focus on the Losties, but it could kind of show the loop theme. Perhaps it is a perpetuating game that gets played with new players in each reality?
The war isn't strictly about the unrest of the dead. I meant to say the Life and Death side don't have contact with each other because, just as you and I live our lives, we don't expect ghosts to show up and talk to us. Only Jacob and MIB are aware of any other existing plane. That is what the truce barrier in the cabin is. A way for Jacob to discuss an issue with the dead if he so wishes. Or vice versa with MIB, although I believe neither has used this option in quite sometime.
Symbolically it is the perfect place for a mediator like Christian to instruct someone as crucial to the Island as Locke. They meet inside a truce circle (of ash) and the Island mediator talks to the future human mediator. Locke answered, "I'm here because I was chosen to be." And Christian says, "Thats absolutely right." This could be interpreted as MIB happy about his plan of deception working. But I believe it was the Island being pleased that he was accepting his destiny as it's saviour. Or more specifically the role it had hoped he would accept.
I get the sense that the writers saying s6 will have a s1 feel can also mean what most people thought about the show being purgatory in season 1. I could see them explaining that this is how heaven grants entrance. Not that the Losties really did die, but that they were brought to a heaven like place to be judged. If a place like heaven exists, I could imagine it having a real world "readiness" test it periodically commences. If you know you're dead or are about to die, you would probably be more likely to atone. However what if you knew you were still alive and just landed on a crazy Island? How do you act? Not to say they are dead or the Island is heaven, just more of a "run thru". Perhaps it is like the Pearl station, the test is of Jacob and MIB not necessarily the Losties.