THE PAST

There is a famous literary quotation:

"The past is never dead," William Faulkner wrote. "It's not even past."

Faulkner meant that what happened previously influences what happens now. In this sense the past is always with us because it lives on in the present.

If your grandfather and father were farmers and you have become something apparently different—a teacher or an accountant —you still remember where you came from and it influences the way you think of yourself in your life. People always wonder how did I get here? How did I come so far?

It is universal that everyone came from somewhere and therefore has a past that still lives inside him or her.

The oldest inhabitant of the Island that we came in contact with was Crazy Mother. Her presence on the island pre-dated any other individual known. Approximately 2000 years ago, Crazy Mother, the Island Guardian,  found Claudia, heavily pregnant and shipwrecked on the island's beach.

When Claudia asked her how she had arrived on the island, Mother replied "the same way you did; by accident." When asked how long she had been there, Mother cut her off and flatly stated "every question you ask will only lead to more questions." Moments later, Claudia went through labor, with Mother assisting her in the delivery. After Claudia had given birth to Jacob and his twin brother, Mother killed Claudia. Eventually, she would tell Jacob that she had done this because Claudia and the other people who were shipwrecked with her were "bad people,"  and she did not want the infants to be raised by them and therefore become "bad."

 But the Island was filled with ancient Egyptian temples, monuments and writings which date back further than the time of Crazy Mother and Claudia. The ancient Egyptian civilization harks back 5,000 years. It's believes and culture was the seed or root stock for most Western societies.

So the Island has "a past" that goes back to the beginning of civilization but influences the present (especially in the underworld religious overtones of Dogen and the Egyptian temple).

Jacob himself created a tapestry that contained Egyptian, Greek and Roman language - - - which means that the island's past was continuous throughout history. In some respects, it is the repository of mankind's achievements and failings.

But how far back does the Island's "past" go?

We do not know the Island's origin story. There was no flashback to the beginning of the island's formation. But we do know the Island has brought human beings to it from the early days of civilized society, taken its technology and culture and re-constructed it on the island, and then cast off the human beings as being "corrupt" or bad. It seems it is a library of human existence but without human beings to maintain it.

If the Island's own past was its present, then its future would be the same as its past. Once Hurley took over the guardianship, the Island would continue on without him or Ben. It would have continued to bring human beings to its shores "by accident," learn of their thoughts, feelings, beliefs and skills and incorporate them into the fabric of the island itself.