Fate vs. Freewill has been a recurring theme since the show started? Is everything set out for us as a plan? Do we each have a destiny? Or ... Do we each have the power to control our own lives and make whatever we want to happen, happen?
I personally believe that everything that's happening in Lost is an elaborate illustration of that struggle of Fate vs. Freewill. It asks the question, what happens when people try to challenge fate by expressing their freewill?
The time travel plot device is a brilliant example of having the ultimate freewill. If you can travel back to any point in time in the past or the future and alter the course of events, you are exhibiting your freedom to do whatever you want.
But we know that doing that is not entirely allowed under the confines of this show according to a certain Ms. Hawking who clearly stated that the universe has a way of course correcting events. Some things are supposed to happen and even if you try to exhibit your freewill, things that you don't want to happen will happen anyway. That is fate.
I think this struggle of freewill & fate applies to every single character on this show in many deep levels, but it is very hard for us to see it in all these characters because their story arcs are not complete yet.
So to illustrate it very specifically to the events of the show, let's take a character whose story arc is complete, someone who has been with us since the beginning who we can dissect everything and see what we can learn. Of course I am talking about Charlie Pace.
In the very first flashback we see of Charlie "The Moth", we see how he became corrupted by drugs. Charlie & his brother Liam are on the verge of becoming rock stars. They're backstage at a show and Liam is high as a kite and has just sung Charlie's only lines in the song. Charlie feels snubbed and to make matters worse, Liam then basically tells Charlie that he doesn't need him. Charlie soon turns to drugs.
The next major flashback we see of Charlie "Homecoming", Charlie is already a major Heroin addict and in order to score some more drugs he is talked by a friend into dating a rich young woman who he then plans on stealing from. But Charlie grows attached to her and he's honest with her about how he thinks his band won't ever get back together and she tries to get him a job selling copiers. He's faced with a dilemma: he's completely strung out and he needs the drugs so he steals an expensive artifact from her father, but he also feels the need to prove to her that he can take care of her so he goes on the copier job. He fails of course, being as strung out as he is. And when he returns to her to apologize she tells him that he can't take care of anybody.
These two flashbacks are the main set up for Charlie's reasons for being on the island. Fate has brought Charlie to the island. Fate has brought all of the characters to the island. As Eko & Locke have said, everything that has happened has happened for a reason. Charlie has two major conflicts in his life that need resolution on the island: he needs to kick his drug habit and he needs to be needed.
By the end of the first season, he has achieved both of these things. Locke helped him learn how to kick drugs in "The Moth" and he is now needed as a father figure to Aaron and as a companion to Claire.
In Season 2 flashbacks there is an emphasis put on the fact that Charlie needs a family and that ultimately Charlie needs to save his family. By now Charlie, Claire & Aaron have very much become a family. In his flashback "Fire + Water" Liam has abandoned him for his own family, and Charlie says, "I'm your family" and "What about my family?" We also see a strange dream sequence in which Charlie's mother gives him a piano and asks him to "save us". Throughout the whole episode Charlie believes that Aaron is in danger and needs to be saved. Trying to save Aaron, he scares Claire and she becomes distant from him. Eventually in the season he earns back her trust and they all become inseparable.
Now we get to Charlie's deaths.
Way back, before Desmond was even a concept on this show, Charlie had probably the nastiest brush with death than any other character. In an attempt to save the pregnant Claire from Ethan, Charlie was hanged by the neck. Essentially Charlie was dead. But Jack cut him down and tried to revive him. It didn't look good. But Jack didn't give up, he pounded and pounded on Charlie's chest, even we Kate made it obvious that Jack's actions were futile. Then miraculously Charlie awoke.
That was Season 1. Then in Season 2 & 3, enter Desmond.
At the end of season 2, Locke breaks the computer in the Swan and the electromagnetism is going wild. Desmond is trying frantically to get the failsafe key and Charlie asks him "can I get some help". Desmond responds that he is trying to help and he turns the failsafe key.
We now know what happened after that. Desmond turned the key, went back in time and then wound up back on the island, naked, but now with the ability to get flashes of events that haven't happened yet.
Desmond tells Charlie that he's going to die. Just like the man with the red shoes that Ms. Hawking knew would die. It seems that no matter what Desmond does, it is Charlie's fate to die.
We've already seen Charlie basically die by hanging, but Jack interfered. Now Desmond is the one interfering and preventing Charlie's multiple deaths.
First is Charlie's death by lightning. Charlie is with Claire & Aaron in the tent, protecting them like he always does. If he were to have died by the lightning, he would have died protecting them. But Desmond has his flash and builds a lightning rod, saving Charlie.
Then there's Charlie's death trying to save Clarie from drowning. If he died, maybe he would have saved Clarie's life or maybe they both would have died. Either way, Charlie would have gave his life trying to save his family. But instead Desmond had his flash and decided to go into the water first and save Claire so Charlie wouldn't have to.
Then there's Charlie's death on the rocks. If he'd have died there, it would have been to try to save everybody by following Claire's plan to attach a message to a bird. He would have died to save the whole group. But Desmond again interfered and stopped that sequence of events from happening.
Then there's Charlie's death by arrow in the neck. If he'd have died there, it would have been trying to help them find Naomi and ultimately find rescue and save everyone. But Desmond interferes and tells Charlie to duck.
Then Desmond decides to be honest and he tells Charlie the flash he's had about Charlie drowning in the underwater station that will secure the rescue of Claire & Aaron.
It seems that it is Charlie's fate to die.
Why?
Well he's led a selfish (and according to Charlie) meaningless life.
Fate has brought him to the island and given him a chance to redeem himself. His first test was the heroin Mary statues and he passed that test, beating drugs. His second test was being finally given a family and then having to save them. His fate wasn't really to die, but to redeem himself for his selfish life. So his fate was to die saving his new family. That was his fate. In any of the scenarios that he would have died, whether it be the arrow to the neck or hanging or slipping on rocks, it would have been to save his family.
It was his fate. Charlie chose to accept his fate and do what he needed to do. That's what "Greatest Hits" was about. He was looking back at his life and realizing that it all meant nothing without his family and that to make up for the bad choices he made in life, he needed to sacrifice himself for his new family (Clarie, Aaron and the entire beach camp).
But then something strange happened. The situation was more complicated and he swam into the Looking Glass only to be caught by Bonnie & Greta. Desmond eventually came after him with Mikhail on his tail. We all know what happens next. It seems fate has made it possible that Charlie and only Charlie could have broken the code to the Looking Glass (it was a musical lock that he solved on the first try). And he's about to leave when he gets the message from Penny, and then Mikhail shows up and sets off the grenade.
So the strange thing that happened at the very last minute, was that while fate all along has brought Charlie here, he was given a choice. A choice at the last moment. Freewill. Does he attempt to save himself and possibly kill his friend Desmond in the process by trying to swim out the door. Or does he accept his fate and die, saving his friend in the process. He chooses the more noble route. He believe Desmond's prophecy that Charlie was meant to die in order to save his new family. He chose to stay there and die. And it was with this choice that he was redeemed.
Whew.
Now we'll do a quick comparison to another dead Lostie. Mr. Eko.
Mr. Eko was brought to the island by fate. He has led a life of sin. In Mr. Eko's life the idea of confession was a way to redemption. Fate brought Mr. Eko on his entire journey and at the end of it he was brought to be judged by the smoke monster. The smoke monster (as Yemi) asks Eko to confess. To confess his sins. He does confess but refuses to be sorry for his life. He accepts the fact that he has led the life he's led and says that he did all he needed to do to survive. That he is not sorry. If Eko was sorry he would have found redemption. And maybe the smoke monster would have not spared him anyway, but maybe would have let him have a heroic death like Charlie. But Eko refused to be redeemed, so he was given a death without dignity. He was beaten brutally and alone without an audience and ultimately buried without much fanfare. He chose not to be redeemed so he would not be a martyr like Charlie.
Not everyone on the plane was meant to die. They all cheated death from the get go ... they survived a plane crash! But as we saw in "Meet Kevin Johnson" some people like Michael were meant to live. Fate wouldn't let Michael kill himself. No matter how many times he tried. Just like fate wouldn't let Charlie live, no matter how many times Desmond tried to save him.
And yet at the very end of all their journeys they will be given a choice. Freewill will come into play. Just look at any of the other dead characters. Ana-Lucia. Shannon. Libby. Tom. Boone. They were all led to their deaths by fate, but given a choice in the end as freewill. Ana-Lucia chose to not kill Ben/Henry and gave the gun to Michael, accepting her fate. Shannon chose to finally open her heart to Sayid and essentially died for him. Had she not been there, it most likely would have been Sayid that got killed by Ana-Lucia or maybe someone else would have died instead of her. Boone died trying to communicate on the radio. Tom died finally surrendering showing that he was a good person, but fate in the form of Sawyer interfered punishing Tom for his misdeeds. I could go on and on.
What do others think?
Theory by Scott Gingold
I personally believe that everything that's happening in Lost is an elaborate illustration of that struggle of Fate vs. Freewill. It asks the question, what happens when people try to challenge fate by expressing their freewill?
The time travel plot device is a brilliant example of having the ultimate freewill. If you can travel back to any point in time in the past or the future and alter the course of events, you are exhibiting your freedom to do whatever you want.
But we know that doing that is not entirely allowed under the confines of this show according to a certain Ms. Hawking who clearly stated that the universe has a way of course correcting events. Some things are supposed to happen and even if you try to exhibit your freewill, things that you don't want to happen will happen anyway. That is fate.
I think this struggle of freewill & fate applies to every single character on this show in many deep levels, but it is very hard for us to see it in all these characters because their story arcs are not complete yet.
So to illustrate it very specifically to the events of the show, let's take a character whose story arc is complete, someone who has been with us since the beginning who we can dissect everything and see what we can learn. Of course I am talking about Charlie Pace.
In the very first flashback we see of Charlie "The Moth", we see how he became corrupted by drugs. Charlie & his brother Liam are on the verge of becoming rock stars. They're backstage at a show and Liam is high as a kite and has just sung Charlie's only lines in the song. Charlie feels snubbed and to make matters worse, Liam then basically tells Charlie that he doesn't need him. Charlie soon turns to drugs.
The next major flashback we see of Charlie "Homecoming", Charlie is already a major Heroin addict and in order to score some more drugs he is talked by a friend into dating a rich young woman who he then plans on stealing from. But Charlie grows attached to her and he's honest with her about how he thinks his band won't ever get back together and she tries to get him a job selling copiers. He's faced with a dilemma: he's completely strung out and he needs the drugs so he steals an expensive artifact from her father, but he also feels the need to prove to her that he can take care of her so he goes on the copier job. He fails of course, being as strung out as he is. And when he returns to her to apologize she tells him that he can't take care of anybody.
These two flashbacks are the main set up for Charlie's reasons for being on the island. Fate has brought Charlie to the island. Fate has brought all of the characters to the island. As Eko & Locke have said, everything that has happened has happened for a reason. Charlie has two major conflicts in his life that need resolution on the island: he needs to kick his drug habit and he needs to be needed.
By the end of the first season, he has achieved both of these things. Locke helped him learn how to kick drugs in "The Moth" and he is now needed as a father figure to Aaron and as a companion to Claire.
In Season 2 flashbacks there is an emphasis put on the fact that Charlie needs a family and that ultimately Charlie needs to save his family. By now Charlie, Claire & Aaron have very much become a family. In his flashback "Fire + Water" Liam has abandoned him for his own family, and Charlie says, "I'm your family" and "What about my family?" We also see a strange dream sequence in which Charlie's mother gives him a piano and asks him to "save us". Throughout the whole episode Charlie believes that Aaron is in danger and needs to be saved. Trying to save Aaron, he scares Claire and she becomes distant from him. Eventually in the season he earns back her trust and they all become inseparable.
Now we get to Charlie's deaths.
Way back, before Desmond was even a concept on this show, Charlie had probably the nastiest brush with death than any other character. In an attempt to save the pregnant Claire from Ethan, Charlie was hanged by the neck. Essentially Charlie was dead. But Jack cut him down and tried to revive him. It didn't look good. But Jack didn't give up, he pounded and pounded on Charlie's chest, even we Kate made it obvious that Jack's actions were futile. Then miraculously Charlie awoke.
That was Season 1. Then in Season 2 & 3, enter Desmond.
At the end of season 2, Locke breaks the computer in the Swan and the electromagnetism is going wild. Desmond is trying frantically to get the failsafe key and Charlie asks him "can I get some help". Desmond responds that he is trying to help and he turns the failsafe key.
We now know what happened after that. Desmond turned the key, went back in time and then wound up back on the island, naked, but now with the ability to get flashes of events that haven't happened yet.
Desmond tells Charlie that he's going to die. Just like the man with the red shoes that Ms. Hawking knew would die. It seems that no matter what Desmond does, it is Charlie's fate to die.
We've already seen Charlie basically die by hanging, but Jack interfered. Now Desmond is the one interfering and preventing Charlie's multiple deaths.
First is Charlie's death by lightning. Charlie is with Claire & Aaron in the tent, protecting them like he always does. If he were to have died by the lightning, he would have died protecting them. But Desmond has his flash and builds a lightning rod, saving Charlie.
Then there's Charlie's death trying to save Clarie from drowning. If he died, maybe he would have saved Clarie's life or maybe they both would have died. Either way, Charlie would have gave his life trying to save his family. But instead Desmond had his flash and decided to go into the water first and save Claire so Charlie wouldn't have to.
Then there's Charlie's death on the rocks. If he'd have died there, it would have been to try to save everybody by following Claire's plan to attach a message to a bird. He would have died to save the whole group. But Desmond again interfered and stopped that sequence of events from happening.
Then there's Charlie's death by arrow in the neck. If he'd have died there, it would have been trying to help them find Naomi and ultimately find rescue and save everyone. But Desmond interferes and tells Charlie to duck.
Then Desmond decides to be honest and he tells Charlie the flash he's had about Charlie drowning in the underwater station that will secure the rescue of Claire & Aaron.
It seems that it is Charlie's fate to die.
Why?
Well he's led a selfish (and according to Charlie) meaningless life.
Fate has brought him to the island and given him a chance to redeem himself. His first test was the heroin Mary statues and he passed that test, beating drugs. His second test was being finally given a family and then having to save them. His fate wasn't really to die, but to redeem himself for his selfish life. So his fate was to die saving his new family. That was his fate. In any of the scenarios that he would have died, whether it be the arrow to the neck or hanging or slipping on rocks, it would have been to save his family.
It was his fate. Charlie chose to accept his fate and do what he needed to do. That's what "Greatest Hits" was about. He was looking back at his life and realizing that it all meant nothing without his family and that to make up for the bad choices he made in life, he needed to sacrifice himself for his new family (Clarie, Aaron and the entire beach camp).
But then something strange happened. The situation was more complicated and he swam into the Looking Glass only to be caught by Bonnie & Greta. Desmond eventually came after him with Mikhail on his tail. We all know what happens next. It seems fate has made it possible that Charlie and only Charlie could have broken the code to the Looking Glass (it was a musical lock that he solved on the first try). And he's about to leave when he gets the message from Penny, and then Mikhail shows up and sets off the grenade.
So the strange thing that happened at the very last minute, was that while fate all along has brought Charlie here, he was given a choice. A choice at the last moment. Freewill. Does he attempt to save himself and possibly kill his friend Desmond in the process by trying to swim out the door. Or does he accept his fate and die, saving his friend in the process. He chooses the more noble route. He believe Desmond's prophecy that Charlie was meant to die in order to save his new family. He chose to stay there and die. And it was with this choice that he was redeemed.
Whew.
Now we'll do a quick comparison to another dead Lostie. Mr. Eko.
Mr. Eko was brought to the island by fate. He has led a life of sin. In Mr. Eko's life the idea of confession was a way to redemption. Fate brought Mr. Eko on his entire journey and at the end of it he was brought to be judged by the smoke monster. The smoke monster (as Yemi) asks Eko to confess. To confess his sins. He does confess but refuses to be sorry for his life. He accepts the fact that he has led the life he's led and says that he did all he needed to do to survive. That he is not sorry. If Eko was sorry he would have found redemption. And maybe the smoke monster would have not spared him anyway, but maybe would have let him have a heroic death like Charlie. But Eko refused to be redeemed, so he was given a death without dignity. He was beaten brutally and alone without an audience and ultimately buried without much fanfare. He chose not to be redeemed so he would not be a martyr like Charlie.
Not everyone on the plane was meant to die. They all cheated death from the get go ... they survived a plane crash! But as we saw in "Meet Kevin Johnson" some people like Michael were meant to live. Fate wouldn't let Michael kill himself. No matter how many times he tried. Just like fate wouldn't let Charlie live, no matter how many times Desmond tried to save him.
And yet at the very end of all their journeys they will be given a choice. Freewill will come into play. Just look at any of the other dead characters. Ana-Lucia. Shannon. Libby. Tom. Boone. They were all led to their deaths by fate, but given a choice in the end as freewill. Ana-Lucia chose to not kill Ben/Henry and gave the gun to Michael, accepting her fate. Shannon chose to finally open her heart to Sayid and essentially died for him. Had she not been there, it most likely would have been Sayid that got killed by Ana-Lucia or maybe someone else would have died instead of her. Boone died trying to communicate on the radio. Tom died finally surrendering showing that he was a good person, but fate in the form of Sawyer interfered punishing Tom for his misdeeds. I could go on and on.
What do others think?
Theory by Scott Gingold
