The "Big Bang" And The Birth Of The Sideways World by Christopher

[This is a summarized, but also expanded, version of a theory partially developed in other posts (links at end).]

When you're analyzing a story like Lost, you look for symbols, and when you realize what you're looking for, the writers of Lost are hitting us over the head with a big one.

* The Island is a mother, in the sense of "mother earth"
* The Swan, or more particularly the construction hole at the Swan site, is the Island's womb
* Jughead represents a fertilized egg deposited in the womb
* The Island couldn't give birth until Juliet, the OB/GYN brought to the Island to fix its fertility problem, fell in and "operated" on the bomb
* Jughead exploded, but its energy was absorbed by and coupled with the Island's magnetic energy, and a baby was born: the sideways universe. "It worked."
* This whole process is a "big bang" both literally and metaphorically--the crude joke is intentional
* Sadly for me, I think this validates the "sideways as epilogue" view

This is a METAPHOR. But it's about as graphic a metaphor as I can imagine. If you think this is crazy and over the top, you're right, but that doesn't mean the symbolism isn't there.

If this sort of symbolic reasoning sways you, consider further the possibility that Jacob is a father figure and his lighthouse is a phallic symbol, used to launch his sperm, the "candidates," towards the island. There can be only one candidate, just like there can be only one sperm who fertilizes an egg.

Smokey, the man in black, dwells in a cave, an aborted or shriveled womb. He would like to be a father too, but his "mommy issues" have rendered him barren, unable to contribute to a birth the way Jacob can. He's resentful. Squirrel baby? The closest he can come to having a child. Claire? Perhaps a zombie bride. (I think he views her as a daughter as well, but that's a little complicated.)

Now some people have brought up the Volcano, and that could easily be another metaphor if and when its time comes. Maybe this symbolic womb will also be fertilized, or destroyed, and that's what sinks the Island. Maybe the candidate/sperm will enter the volcano, another "big bang."

I am a little sorry to say it, but this can go on and on. Think for a minute about what the act of hitting the button in the Swan Station represents. The big red button. Hint: it's procreative in nature, but doesn't actually contribute to a baby being made. Desmond's manipulating the button resulted in a climactic moment in which a bunch of Candidates were showered onto the Island. From a tube-shaped vessel . . . really, it doesn't stop . . .

There are a lot of details that still need to be understood, and I am NOT suggesting that this symbolism is all there is to the story--there is undoubtedly a lot more going on. We also don't know if the sideways world is a good baby, a bad baby, or one going through growing pains.

Many of the premises of this theory, including a discussion of "daddy" and "mommy" issues, are contained in the following posts:

* Daddy Issues: http://theoriesonlost.blogspot.com/2010/03/all-best-theories-have-daddy-issues-by.html
* Mommy Issues: http://theoriesonlost.blogspot.com/2010/03/on-sick-mommies-and-their-treatment-by.html