THE SOUL SOCIETY

When Michael told Hurley that the Whispers were trapped souls who could not "move on," it puts Michael's "life" back on the autopsy table.

In the beach talk between MIB and Jacob, it was Jacob who continually brought people to the Island, to the disgust of MIB. MIB charged that Jacob was the person who stole his body, "his humanity," leaving MIB in the form of a shape shifting smoke monster.

When Michael made his deal with Ben to leave the island, he did so by a series of events which included homicide of two people, Libby and Ana Lucia. When Michael returned to New York, he could not commit suicide, either by ramming his car into a brick wall or attempting to shoot himself at point blank range. Tom Friendly told him that "the island was not through with him" so Michael could not die. At the time, it was an unbelievable statement. How can an "island" stop a human being from committing suicide?

When Michael returns to the island, he is Ben's inside man on Widmore's freighter crew. When Michael takes his box into the engine room, it is a case of explosives. He prepared to activate the bomb but Ghost Libby briefly appeared to him and told him not to do it. She quickly disappeared and Michael shook off the apparent hallucination. He punched in a detonation code, but at the end of a short countdown, rather than detonating, the bomb popped up a flag reading "NOT YET". He was then summoned to the radio room by Minkowski. On the other end of the line was Ben, telling him to sit tight and gather a list of names of the crew.

It is some time later when Michael learns that Keamy had set up a room of C4 explosives with a dead man switch. He tells everyone to leave the room as he attempts to slow down the countdown. Once Michael is alone, a person he never met, ghost Christian appears, telling him he can "go now." The freighter then explodes, apparently killing Michael instantly.

Both Libby and Christian were "dead" when they appeared to Michael on the freighter. Why a figure Michael did not know told him he could move on (commit suicide so to speak) when Libby had already contacted him is open to debate. Libby was a survivor who Michael had killed so her spirit could have sought revenge and had Michael kill himself. Christian was a doctor whose oath was to save men but he allowed Michael to die on the freighter. The ghost appearances and their motivations are quite confusing, especially in the context of the Whispers, souls "trapped" on the island.

Michael did not get his reward of death as his soul is now trapped on the island. (Or so it says.) But does that also infer that Libby and Christian's souls are also trapped on the island? It clearly sounds like the island is a form of purgatory. All the ghost visions or reincarnated people (like Patchy) are trapped soul's on an island purgatory?

Or for that matter, can anyone Jacob brought to the island truly leave? Ben seems resigned to the fact that the island "has it in for" everyone, especially after Ilana blew herself up with the Black Rock dynamite. Ben refers to the island almost as a spoiled, vindictive child (which in some respects mirrors his own life story). Which is quite possible since three unknown mystery children have popped up around wandering Flocke this season.

What power could keep souls in a state of being trapped in one place? And is this the true "power" that Widmore is seeking on his return to the island? The power to manage soul's in the afterlife?

MIB appears to be one of those trapped souls, too. He remembers part of his past "humanity," and shows the ebb and flow of emotions in his Flocke form. But for some reason he has transmuted from a mere ghost form into a shape shifting smoke monster.

The short answer to what the Whispers represent does not answer the bigger question: what is the island?