The Magic Box by Cerberus108

"What if I told you that somewhere on this island, there's a very large box... and whatever you imagined, whatever you wanted to be in it, when you opened that box, there it would be. What would you say about that?" -Ben Linus

After Across the Sea, many people seem confused as to what this Light truly is. They are upset because it seems to simple an answer, almost 'magical'. Others are coming up with outlandish ideas as to what it could be. I have my own theory, which I've been formulating for some time, and it still fits nicely within the context of the show. However, my theory is not THE correct theory. In fact, I've come to realize there IS no correct theory. Damon and Carlton have given us a show that demands we exercise our own imagination in coming up with the answers, and they have been doing that on purpose all along. Now, with only a couple episodes to go, they are making us jump through hoops more than ever. Why? we ask ourselves. Why not just give us the answers? Do they even know what the Light and Smokey really are?

They do. The Light and Smokey are the definition of ambiguous. The writers are going to deliberately leave us in the dark, because WE are the answers, and have been all along.

Whether you're a science nerd or religious freak, or simply someone who enjoys a decently good TV show, you can find something to relate to in Lost. This is the only show I've seen which leaves so many plotholes to be filled in by fans, that the fans become the show itself. Just look at how many blogs and forums fill up the internet. We have been providing ourselves with answers from the very start, using character analysis and time travel theories and quantum physics and ideas of fate, just to figure out what the hell is happening. And that's the beauty of Lost. We, the audience, are able to actively partake in the storytelling in an entirely speculative role. Damon and Carlton have even come right out and said they don't know every answer to the show, and while that angers some people, take a moment to look at how many plausible answers have been created to fill in those gaps. It's amazing how we can rationalize anything those guys throw at us.

And now, with the finale only weeks away, we are faced with the Heart of the Island- the Light. EM Pockets, Exotic Matter, Jesus's vacation spot... it doesn't matter what it is. It's not anything, and yet it's everything at the same time. It's whatever WE want it to be. We can say it's the source of all goodness in the world, we can say it's Heaven on Earth, we can say it's an undiscovered source of immense unknown energy from which the human consciousness has developed from due to electrical sparks in the synapses of the brain. These are all correct, because they're all the same thing in the end. The Light represents whatever we want it to.

And Smokey? He's the opposite of whatever we think the Light is. He could be the devil incarnate, he could be pure evil, he could be the result of merging a tainted conscious with the pure energy of creation... He is all these things at the same time. He has no name, no identity, because that is exactly what the writers want. He is nothing, which makes our brains struggle to categorize him. Our natural reaction is to explain and identify things, and this show gives us endless amounts of mysteries to do just that.

I doubt they'll ever come straight out and explain the Light and Smokey. After the finale, we will be left with such a massive lack of explanation that these threads and forums will explode with new ideas, and everyone attempting to tie up what the hell really happened. I will say this now, you will ALL be correct, because Lost is completely subjective to the viewer. It has always been about science and faith, light and dark, and how these ideas intermingle. Lost has become a breeding ground for the imagination precisely because it refuses to supply answers, and I hope it stays that way.