The Journey by Hitta

Final Explanation of Lost

The Journey

Within every person, there are core battles that exist. There are so many questions, so many fears, so many anxieties that exist; this is the focal point of Lost. Lost is a metaphysical show; it is meant to ask questions, science was a secondary protocol to the main them... truth. The two most fundamental concepts of the show were represented by the two different sides of the coin; Jacob and the MIB(which were supposed to represent the embodiment of all these questions). Jacob accepted things, he chose to live with what made him and others happy. It took a long journey, but in the end he represented existentialism; a man that thought that humanity was beautiful and everything rested on choice. This was contrary to Man in Black(MIB). He wanted answers. The more he tried to find them; the more they burned his will. He felt as if he never could escape anything. A fundamental embodiment of nihilism. He was the man with no name; as his name didn't matter. The only purpose was to end his pain.

To understand what Jacob and the Man in Black was; one would have to understand what the island was and what the light was that the island was "protecting". The light was simply everything. It was an entirely neutral spark of all creativity; the source of everything. When the Man in Black merged with the "Light", it demonstrated the supreme paradox that haunts all human existence. It showed that nothingness in itself is a creation of the light; that its all apart of the same fabric. The Man in Black became tied to everything; and the only way to rid himself of the pain and the guilt was to destroy everything. When Jack removed the stone, the light left. The Man in Black lost his power. This demonstrated when of my favorite quotes: "There is ness in nothingness". When everything vanished, so would the Man in Black. Not existing in itself is a paradox, pain and suffering are just parts of the human experience. The death of the MIB was kind of like a symbolic of the resolution of the karmic pain, anguish and anxiety that resided in all of the castaways. They had found a point of peace.

One of the most important things and protocols in Lost, was the hatch computer. It is very important this in order to understand everything that took place and the purpose behind everything that the show attempted to demonstrate. The hatch computer was a manipulator of the Light; the thing that bound us to this plane of existence. In simple terms, it was a cog of cycles of destiny. The numbers: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 were its mathematical equation. To understand this, one will have to realize that the island was a stage for the castaways to work through their guilt, their pain, and their suffering. The island belonged to them; it was their special place that they found meaning. This is a very difficult concept for someone that is looking for concrete resolute answers to accept and completely comprehend. Was the island real? It is like asking if you are real. What is real? How does one define real? What matters to someone is the meaning that they take from it. Christian Shepherd said words at the end of Lost that perfectly describe the island; "it was a place that you all created so that you'll could find each other".

The numbers were meant to show that in the cycles of destiny; through all the different incarnations of their existence and all the possible realities; that they were continually meant for each other. 108 in several eastern religions is considered to be the divine number; the number of destiny and resolution; which is why the counter on the computer always started with it. When the number on the computer reached zero, this was intended to symbolize the failure to grasp the big picture of destiny; the end of the cycle and the fail into nothing ness. Which is why when the computer hit zero; everything literally started crushing down towards the light. This meant that everything that everything the light symbolized for us and the castaways was being Lost; a failure to grasp their true purpose. Locke starred at the screen in despair and wondered why he was pressing "the damn button" as if he was going to find some amazing divine answer. When all was lost for Locke and Locke realized he was wrong; another outsidered came in a found new found inspiration. Desmond turned the switch and became the failsafe; the human embodiment of the hatch computer. He became someone that could see the future; someone that was intertwined with the natural order in things(though he couldn't actually alter the natural order of the universe).

The next statement is where I'm probably going to get a lot of disagreement. The alternate reality was simply an alternate reality. The alternate reality was used to show that the things that made their time on the island so special wasn't the island in itself; but the time that they spend with each other. 4,8,15,16,23,42..... these people were simply meant to be together. Remember that what is real and isn't real is an irrelevancy in the metaphysics of Lost, its about the meaning. The scene at the end of Lost, was meant to symbolize that through all the planes of existence; and all the alternate incarnations of themself; they had finally realized their destiny and found their true self. People are going to bring up that the rules of time travel made an alternate reality impossible. The truth is; the rules of time travel were never broken. Ms. Hawking said it herself, no matter what happened the universe always had a way of course correcting itself; which was the entire point of showing the alternate reality. It was meant to show that they were meant to be together no matter what happened. Did the bomb explosion create the new time line? Well this is a very metaphysical question. They didn't all end up in LAX right after the explosion. The thing I think the writers were trying to show is that they created the possibility of the alternate timeline therefore it existed. It was like, they unlocked a new door; something parellel. Desmond was basically interwinned with the mechanisms of their destiny so he was able to break the boundaries between the planes and bring them to a realization point. That their peace was meant to exist on planes of existence.

They were once Lost, but now they are Found.