BAD ALLEGORY TO HISTORY

LOST may have been an unintentional allegory to history. This is a new observation that I have not seen in print before now.

An allegory is a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.

Jacob has been the ruler of the Island for thousands of years. The island was filled with the symbolic debris of numerous ancient and modern civilizations. It could be said that Jacob actually represents a self-perceived Divine ruler as in the long line of historical leaders such as the Pharoahs, Odysseus. Alexander the Great, Augustus Caesar, Genghis Khan, Napolean, to Hitler. It is the latter that may be the hidden background of the series symbolism.

Jacob was the sole decision maker on the island. He decided who would come to the island, who would go, who would live, who would die. As a totalitarian, his will controlled his subjects. And the inhabitants of the island would learn to follow him like a cult. This parallels early Nazi Germany where highly educated people in tight economic times followed a charismatic leader towards their new destiny.

MIB is the configuration of the SS, who were the men in black during Hitler's reign. The purpose of the SS was to keep the people in line, gather intelligence, and destroy any opponents. MIB, as the smoke monster, had the vicious, cold and destructive behavior of an attacking SS unit. MIB had long worked side by side with Jacob in controlling the island. But as in actual history, many of Hitler's inner circle grew weary of their leader's actions and positions. They plotted to assassinate him. MIB, as Flocke, carried out a similar plan to kill Jacob in order to free itself from the bonds and duties to be Jacob's enforcer.

The island itself mirrors the Nazi Germany infrastructure toward Hitler's delusional principles. The Dharma Stations were scientific research facilities. Germany was pressing forward in all fields of science and the occult before and during World War II. The preparation of the conquest of the world included Hitler trying to find new super weapons and bred a superior Germanic race. The island contained an mysterious but powerful light source which could represent the untamed nuclear bomb technologies developed at the end of the war. The paranoia that Widmore's men would be coming to destroy the island was similar to the planning sessions in Berlin when the Allied Forces landed on Omaha Beach. The fertility issues on the island were symbolic of Hitler's grand plan for the perfect German race. The purge of Jewish populations was like Ben's toxic gas that killed all the Dharma people. The idea was to cleanse the world of allegedly bad genetic materials. But those mass murders was merely a cover-up of personal insecurity and a symbol of absolute rule. 

As in history, Jacob's rule on the island presumably ended when the 815 survivors (who were from Allied Nations) took down MIB and accepted Jacob's unconditional surrender (and his own end). The people who came to the island made numerous sacrifices like the families of the nations who fought in the great wars. Does it take essentially good people to go to war  to take down egotistical mad men?

In the end, a lone American, Hurley, was in charge in dismantling the island infrastructure like the Marshall Plan reorganized and stabilized Europe. Once Hurley completed his tasks, everyone in that world could move on.

Whether the writers were consciously aware of the patterns of this allegory is doubtful. It does contain generalized themes of war and conflict. And history does repeat itself over and over again.