Further Evidence On Random Vs. Purpose by DaKlenke

This theory is the six installment in my series on the grander points of interest in Lost. The series begins with "Reconsidering the Events of Season 3, followed by Parts 2 and 3 of the same name. Next came "Further Evidence of Desmond's Change" followed by "My Stance On the Powers That Be". For anyone who is reading this theory who has not read the aforementioned, I recommend doing so before proceeding as they make a slow and logical progression in understanding what we have seen on Lost thus far.

In this specific theory, I would like to provide a little bit more perspective on my opinions of Jacob and MIB (or as I prefer, Purpose and Random) and if I have time, I would like to delve a little bit into the character, Hurley.

To begin, I would like to address the conversation most commonly visited when trying to determine who Jacob and MIB are. In this conversation on the beach, the two “men” begin with a civil conversation that leads to there discussion of the ship sailing in the background. The MIB then accuses Jacob of bringing them to the Island in hopes of proving him wrong. Jacob responds by saying that MIB is wrong. MIB returns with, “Am I? They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It all ends the same.” Jacob then says, “It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress..”
I pose that this conversation has two different but interlocking meanings. First, I agree with the majority that these two entities are talking about mankind as a whole, on a societal level. However, on a more micro level, they are talking about the specific individuals that are brought to the Island. MIB, or Random, makes a valid point on both a societal and individual level in regards to the human condition. If you look at our Losties in particular, their lives post Island and pre flight 316 are exactly as the MIB says they will be. They are corrupted people whose lives reflect their inner weaknesses. Jacob refers to this outcome as nothing more than progress to a greater end.
Before delving more specifically into the arguments based around the lives of our Losties, I would like to step back and examine each entities more macro views on mankind. With Random, he believes that the inevitable end to mankind is destruction and general corruption. As for our personal experience as the audience of Lost, he isn’t too far off. A huge portion of the characters we have been introduced to have been slowly and methodically killed off, not even mentioning the gaggle of red shirts that have died along the way. As for Jacob, he believes that inherently, mankind is good and when pushed to their extremes, they will make the right decisions. I think that right there is the core dispute between Random and Purpose. Random believes that when pushed to the extremes, mankind will consistently make the selfish decisions (Desmond). Jacob believes that mankind will make the right decisions in the most dire of situations (Charlie).
So what truly defines the disagreement between these two entities? I think it is the dichotomy that we were first introduced to back in Season One; man of science versus man of faith. In the rapidly growing world of science, there is becoming less and less room for faith. Faith cannot be neatly explained and for science, the explanation is the end all be all. As for those who believe in any organized faith, whether it be Catholicism or Buddhism or what have you, there eventually comes a point where the individual has to realize that there can never really be a definitive explanation for what they believe in. Science cannot prove there is a God just as it can’t prove that there isn’t one. For people who fit into the “man of faith” category, there eventually comes a time where they themselves have to let the answer-seeking aspect of their mind go and just accept that the God (or Purpose) they believe in is real. For Jacob, he believes that as long as people be! lieve that they have a higher purpose, they will strive to make their own lives a testament to goodness.
In a nutshell, Random represents science, and Purpose represents faith. To me it makes sense that the avatar of science would want to kill the avatar of faith because in very real terms, science has come a long way towards killing the idea of God. Science, or more specifically men who believe in science, would like you to believe that the Universe was created by a random Big Bang and that life itself was not intentional but rather, just a random happening. Practitioners of faith would have you believe that the creation of the universe was not a random occurrence, nor was life itself, but that a higher being of some sort has a purpose for all of us. So in a literal sense, Jacob is this Purpose (this representative of faith) and MIB is science (representative of logical thought).
For now, that is all I am going to say about Random and Purpose, although there will most assuredly be more to come on the matter. I can guarantee you all now that I intend to write a rather extensive theory on the significance of sacrifice and what it means to the game being played by these two enemies (I’ll give you a hint; Jacob intends to prove to MIB that our Losties are inherently good by leading them to make a choice to sacrifice themselves for the ones they love.)
Moving on though, I would like to look more at our individual characters and how they fit into our respective entities game plans. As I said in my previous theory, Sayid was chosen by Purpose to shoot Ben and to enable Jughead to be detonated at the Swan site. Locke was chosen by Random to help bring about the loop hole he was intending to exploit, and Purpose chose Locke to become the vessel of his nemesis (and almost assuredly more than that). I also believe that Desmond fits firmly into Random’s camp, given that it was Desmond all along who made the loop hole happen and it was Desmond who rejected his purpose (“Pushing the button is the only great thing you will ever do”) and chose not to sacrifice his life with Penny. Even at the end of Season 5, Desmond tells Penny he will never leave her again. Desmond refuses to make the sacrifice, and therefore, he still belongs to Random.
But lets look at Hurley. For the first four seasons, I strongly believe that Hurley was chosen by Random. First and foremost, lets look at what defined Hurley as a character from the beginning; he won the lottery. More specifically, he won the lottery using the numbers that represent the end of mankind. That is a random occurrence on top of a random occurrence if I have ever heard one.
Furthermore, it seems that Hurley was NOT MEANT to be on flight 815. If you look at Hurley’s original centric episode, it seemed that fate was trying it’s hardest to prevent him from getting on the plane but thanks to the random generosity of the flight attendant who allowed him on board, Hurley made it to the Island. Now what all Hurley did on the Island that benefited Random I don’t know, but I would like to point out that thanks to Hurley’s ability to see the Cabin, Locke was able to get instruction from Christian about moving the Island. I believe that Random needed Hurley for this specific reason.
But after his escape from the Island, I believe that Hurley proves himself to be a worthy candidate in the eyes of Jacob. He does this by giving away all of his money. What better person to use to prove to Random that mankind is inherently good than the guy who wins the lottery and gives all that money away? I think that the reason Jacob did not approach Hurley until shortly before 316 was because up until he gave up the money, he still belonged to Random. Now that Hurley has proven himself to be a truly incorruptible character, he was chosen by Jacob for a higher purpose. Now as to what that purpose is, I actually have a guess.
The guitar case is the key. Jacob has chosen Hurley to undo what happened at the Looking Glass with Charlie. If you look back at Season 3, specifically during the time in which Desmond is having his flashes, Charlie, Desmond and Hurley are like the three amigos. I suspect that when we see our Losties get the chance to redesign their own pasts, we will see Hurley end up in this time period and it will be his purpose to prevent Charlie from dying. Desmond belongs to Random, Charlie belongs to Purpose ( he sacrificed himself willingly for the sake of others; Jacob’s truest intention) and Hurley is the character who belonged to Random, rebuffed that life, and chose a life of Purpose. His over all Purpose is to save Charlie and prevent our Losties from ever leaving the Island. And that statement right there may be the most Season 6 prediction you get out of me for a while.
For now, that is all I have to offer. In the near future, I intend to write about the significance of sacrifice and what it means to our respective entities. I also hope to cover which of our characters belongs to which entity (metaphorically) and what their respective roles have been in each entities game plan. Furthermore, I will be writing a theory about Season 5 and the events therein and I suspect that this theory will look much like “Reconsidering the Events of Season 3”. Finally, I have not forgotten about the importance of Charlie Hume being born in this alternate world created by Random and how Charlie Hume may be the antithesis of Aaron Little.
Expect more from me soon and for those of you who are consistently reading and providing me with positive feedback (Ricky and Monika for starters), thank you for your on going support.