While reading “Checkmate - The Swan Versus The Orchid by Louis Ackerman” and seeing the list of people that Hurley talked to (about halfway through) I realized why the Others insist on burying the dead.
They need to bury the dead so that Esau/Smokey isn’t able to possess them. I say “possess” not “impersonate” because, except for Horace (who I will explain), no bodies have been found for those that weren’t buried.
Comparing the lists of people who were/weren’t quickly buried we can see that, post-death, those that were not buried took actions that furthered Esau’s interests while those that were quickly buried took either no action or benign actions (Jacob).
Dead people who were not buried and had a post-death appearance…
-Yemi: Post-death appearance right before Mr. Eko is killed by the smoke monster. Likely controlled by Esau.
-Christian: Told Locke he had to die, which is definitely what Esau wanted. Tried to lead Jack to his death off a cliff once.
-Horace: Tells Locke to find him, which leads to finding the cabin, which we now suspect was inhabited by Esau, not Jacob. Was seen during a dream, so the body may not have needed to be taken, just ‘scanned’ by Smokey.
-John Locke: Esau, duh.
-Alex: Told Ben to follow FLocke, leading to Jacob’s death.
-Rosseau’s shipmates: Definitely possessed by Smokey/Esau. Tried to kill her.
Buried people…
-Boone: Post-death appearance may have just been Locke’s hallucination/premonition. Not seen by anyone lucid.
-Shannon: No post-death appearance.
-Ana-Lucia: Seen by Hurley trying to help/comfort him.
-Libby: Tries to stop Michael from pushing the button to destroy the ship. Esau (as Christian) later wanted Michael to destroy the ship. Against Esau. (I know that the first time Michael pushed the button, it didn’t actually do anything, but Jacob may not have known that ahead of time.)
-Charlie: Seen by Hurley and trying to help (or at least comfort) him.
-Eko: Buried. Likely seen by Hurley comforting him.
-Nikki & Paulo: No post-death appearances (thank god).
-Tom (Mr. Friendly): No post-death appearance.
-Henry Gale: No real post-death appearance.
-All the red shirts (Paul, Tailies, Others, etc…): No post-death appearances.
Also, if there is no body, then I think neither Jacob nor Esau can impersonate/posses…
-Mikhail: Likely blown up at sea. No post-death appearance.
-Michael: Blown up at sea. No post-death appearance.
-Arzt: Dynamite. No post-death appearance.
Finally, I’ll go out on a limb and say that next season – since they died recently and were not buried – we will see a post-death appearance by Faraday and Charlotte …
(As a side note, this also lends credence to the theory that Horace’s wife, Amy, has some relation to the Others. She insisted on burying her first husband, Paul.)
They need to bury the dead so that Esau/Smokey isn’t able to possess them. I say “possess” not “impersonate” because, except for Horace (who I will explain), no bodies have been found for those that weren’t buried.
Comparing the lists of people who were/weren’t quickly buried we can see that, post-death, those that were not buried took actions that furthered Esau’s interests while those that were quickly buried took either no action or benign actions (Jacob).
Dead people who were not buried and had a post-death appearance…
-Yemi: Post-death appearance right before Mr. Eko is killed by the smoke monster. Likely controlled by Esau.
-Christian: Told Locke he had to die, which is definitely what Esau wanted. Tried to lead Jack to his death off a cliff once.
-Horace: Tells Locke to find him, which leads to finding the cabin, which we now suspect was inhabited by Esau, not Jacob. Was seen during a dream, so the body may not have needed to be taken, just ‘scanned’ by Smokey.
-John Locke: Esau, duh.
-Alex: Told Ben to follow FLocke, leading to Jacob’s death.
-Rosseau’s shipmates: Definitely possessed by Smokey/Esau. Tried to kill her.
Buried people…
-Boone: Post-death appearance may have just been Locke’s hallucination/premonition. Not seen by anyone lucid.
-Shannon: No post-death appearance.
-Ana-Lucia: Seen by Hurley trying to help/comfort him.
-Libby: Tries to stop Michael from pushing the button to destroy the ship. Esau (as Christian) later wanted Michael to destroy the ship. Against Esau. (I know that the first time Michael pushed the button, it didn’t actually do anything, but Jacob may not have known that ahead of time.)
-Charlie: Seen by Hurley and trying to help (or at least comfort) him.
-Eko: Buried. Likely seen by Hurley comforting him.
-Nikki & Paulo: No post-death appearances (thank god).
-Tom (Mr. Friendly): No post-death appearance.
-Henry Gale: No real post-death appearance.
-All the red shirts (Paul, Tailies, Others, etc…): No post-death appearances.
Also, if there is no body, then I think neither Jacob nor Esau can impersonate/posses…
-Mikhail: Likely blown up at sea. No post-death appearance.
-Michael: Blown up at sea. No post-death appearance.
-Arzt: Dynamite. No post-death appearance.
Finally, I’ll go out on a limb and say that next season – since they died recently and were not buried – we will see a post-death appearance by Faraday and Charlotte …
(As a side note, this also lends credence to the theory that Horace’s wife, Amy, has some relation to the Others. She insisted on burying her first husband, Paul.)
