Lost: Mythical Archetypes and a really thick Onion by writerdad

Last night’s episode ‘Across The Sea’ told us a story, a fable really, that gave us a more complete understanding of the Lost Mythology. Last night’s episode answered every question we need answered to fully understand the island, its origins and purpose. Joseph Campbell called myth and mythology the closest thing to absolute truth. Although we associate the word ‘myth’ with fiction or a false belief, myths, in the classical sense, reveal profound truths about the nature of man. The Lost writers have peeled back the final layer of their mythology—any seemingly unanswered questions are not relevant to the story they are telling and the myth they have created. The producers told us at the last Comic-Con that all the important questions would be answered. They have done that. They have now answered all the important questions. The final outcomes of the main characters and mankind will depend on their actions and choices in the final episodes. Final action and resolution.

The Lost Mythology is a complex and layered onion. On the surface, the Lost stories explored human emotions and relationships (Season 1), science and math (Season2-4), and spirituality (Season 5-6). There is a lot of overlap of course and the philosophical themes of morality, freewill, redemption are present throughout. Each season pealed back a layer, taking us deeper, literally and figuratively, into the island and its mythology.

On DarkUFO there are pages of great discussions on the human relationships and dramatic conflicts—how the characters’ past affects and influences their present situation. We have also read some really outstanding explanations of the quantum physics and time-travel aspects of the show. However, once the science layer was peeled back, revealing the spiritual and an ageless conflict between good and evil, there is confusion and more questions; especially after last night. We feel we have more legitimate questions that need to be answered, but there are no more layers below the spiritual. What lies beyond the stars and across the sea—will always be a mystery.

My take on this final layer of the Lost Myth is based on the universal archetypes, black and white, as symbols of the negative(evil) and positive(good) forces influencing the lives of men.

Here’s my understanding of the Lost Myth in its simplest form:

Per the Mother (Allison Janey) character’s explanation, the light exists in all of us. All men are born with a certain amount of positive life force (the light), which causes them to be attracted (think magnets) to the good. In other words, we are all born with a moral compass, a soul, which guides us in making good choices. However, the human condition, our ability to experience pain, physical and emotional, can cause us to give in to fear and behave in a manner that corrupts this light—pride, lust, greed, envy, gluttony, sloth, and anger.

The absence of light is dark. As our souls become corrupted by these deeds, the inner positive light fades leaving darkness. Then the negative energy force has more pull over us. Again, think magnetic forces (+,-). Our moral compass is broken and we stray from the path of leading good and purposeful lives.

But all is not lost, until that inner light goes out fully, we still have a choice in the sense that we can fight temptation (the pull toward negative) and find our way back to the right path through redemption.

Smokey and Jacob's brother are/were not one in the same. Smokey is the dark malignant force that exists where the light does not—the shadows. Smokey is the negative force, pulling on all of us, especially those whose light is dimming. On the show, Smokey has great power over the weak and immoral characters, those beyond redemption. Smokey is the opposite of the light force.

Here’s where I think many people are having a problem with the Lost mythology: The demigods or spiritual-myth characters seem too human. Jacob, his brother, and the Mother have human faults. Yes. That’s classical mythology. The gods fight and bicker. The demigods have their moments of doubt and transgressions. They kill mortals, engage in deceptive and manipulative behavior because that’s what those old mythical characters do. They are not the Omnipresent/Omniscient ‘one true God’ found in our modern Judeo-Christian mythology. (nudge nudge, wink wink.) That Old Testament Fellow is a lot more like his Greco-Roman predecessors than some like to admit. Anyway…

The birth scene at the beginning of the episode and the Mother’s taking the life of the boys’ birth-mother is confusing and troubling when you apply a Judeo-Christian morality—‘Thou shall not kill’. But in this fable (which is part of the bigger myth), the Mother character has special knowledge of the island and its place in the bigger picture universe. We pass moral judgment because that is what we are conditioned to do. But, if we put the New Mother’s actions in the context of protecting the world and mankind from a dark malignant force, the murder of the birth-mother is justified. The New Mother also seems less 'mystical' because she is not always sure which of the two boys is the really the chosen one.

Jacob seems to not cry when he is born—the perfect child. As an adolescent, he tells the truth and helps his mother. But later, when his mother is murdered, he succumbs to Wrath. In all great myths, when the hero stumbles, the villain becomes more powerful. Smokey first reveals himself to Jacob, flying out of the cave with a show of force, as if to say, “Game on.” I don’t think Smokey “escaped” or was released from the cave. Smokey was merely making his presence known to Jacob. Remember, Smokey already appeared to the Brother in the form of the dead birth-mother to manipulate and influence him. This is an established trait of Smokey—appearing as the dead to manipulate the living.

Being evil incarnate, Smokey takes the form of Jacob’s brother to taunt and provoke Jacob, constantly reminding him of happier days. That makes you want to run back and watch every previous Jacob-MIB scene. Every line of dialogue now has a deeper meaning. Well done, Lost writers.

One final thought, some are born with more light than others (it could be genetic), and therefore freewill is not absolute. If you are born with very little light, then you will be more inclined to immoral and bad behavior—this is how freewill and ‘magnetic’ destiny both come into play.