A HERO'S JOURNEY

The Hero’s Journey is a pattern of narrative identified by the American scholar Joseph Campbell that appears in drama, storytelling, myth, religious ritual, and psychological development.  It describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization.

Its stages are:

1.        THE ORDINARY WORLD.  The hero, uneasy, uncomfortable or unaware, is introduced sympathetically so the audience can identify with the situation or dilemma.  The hero is shown against a background of environment, heredity, and personal history.  Some kind of polarity in the hero’s life is pulling in different directions and causing stress.

2.        THE CALL TO ADVENTURE.  Something shakes up the situation, either from external pressures or from something rising up from deep within, so the hero must face the beginnings of change.  

 

3.        REFUSAL OF THE CALL.  The hero feels the fear of the unknown and tries to turn away from the adventure, however briefly.  Alternately, another character may express the uncertainty and danger ahead.

4.        MEETING WITH THE MENTOR.  The hero comes across a seasoned traveler of the worlds who gives him or her training, equipment, or advice that will help on the journey.  Or the hero reaches within to a source of courage and wisdom.

5.        CROSSING THE THRESHOLD.  At the end of Act One, the hero commits to leaving the Ordinary World and entering a new region or condition with unfamiliar rules and values.  

6.        TESTS, ALLIES AND ENEMIES.  The hero is tested and sorts out allegiances in the Special World.

7.        APPROACH.  The hero and newfound allies prepare for the major challenge in the Special world.

8.        THE ORDEAL.  Near the middle of the story, the hero enters a central space in the Special World and confronts death or faces his or her greatest fear.  Out of the moment of death comes a new life. 

9.        THE REWARD.  The hero takes possession of the treasure won by facing death.  There may be celebration, but there is also danger of losing the treasure again.

10.      THE ROAD BACK.  About three-fourths of the way through the story, the hero is driven to complete the adventure, leaving the Special World to be sure the treasure is brought home.  Often a chase scene signals the urgency and danger of the mission.

11.     THE RESURRECTION.  At the climax, the hero is severely tested once more on the threshold of home.  He or she is purified by a last sacrifice, another moment of death and rebirth, but on a higher and more complete level.  By the hero’s action, the polarities that were in conflict at the beginning are finally resolved.

12.       RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR.  The hero returns home or continues the journey, bearing some element of the treasure that has the power to transform the world as the hero has been transformed.

REAL TO UNREAL

I never understood why Charlie's character wanted to die. He could have easily saved himself by getting out of the control room, even after Patchy flooded it by exploding a porthole (which is question for another day).

Charlie had much to live for:

1. He wanted very much to protect Claire and Aaron.
2. He wanted to have a family with Claire and Aaron.
3. He wanted to get his career back on track, since the island gave him a second chance at life.
4. He wanted to be a hero, so people would look upon him not as a "one hit wonder," but a real person.

His relationship with Claire was not that unusual. Claire was the damsel in distress after the crash. Who wants to deal with a pregnant woman in shock? But Charlie did - - - instinctively. But initially Charlie felt he did not have the skills to impress and keep her: Jack was the medical savior protecting her baby, while Locke was the hands on guy who could build her shelter and a crib. All Charlie could give Claire was kindness, something that apparently was lacking in her life.

And Claire did not know how to react to Charlie's affection.  She was put off by his imposition of himself into her island situation. She did not have the same feelings for him. Some would say her hormones were all out of whack, and the added stress of the Others wanting to take her child made her mad. But even as frustrated as Charlie got, he never gave up. When she was kidnapped, he went into the jungle to confront the Others - - -  and he wound up hanged by a tree. Jack had to cut him down - - - which brings us to an island tangent: did Charlie actually "die" in that encounter to be reincarnated as a smoke monster or soul seeking forgiveness of Claire for not being able to protect her like he had promised her?

If Charlie was Charlie 2.0 (soul/smoke monster/reincarnation) that would put a whole different spin on "what" the island was . . . . beyond a metaphysical dimension in time or space but a soul proving ground for redemption.

But after Desmond's purple fail safe moment (which like Charlie's hanging should have killed Desmond, who was found naked in the jungle), Claire seemed to gravitate toward Desmond rather than Charlie. It made Charlie jealous.  Then when Desmond told Charlie he could see future visions, including Claire and Aaron leaving the island on a helicopter, Charlie knew he had to make that happen. But when Desmond told him that he also saw Charlie dying - - - they connected the two visions as being a cause and effect. In order to save Claire, Charlie had to die.

There were no "rules" which made that connection true. Charlie's own weaknesses: his low self-esteem, his jealousy, his rejection, his self-pity, all contributed to his suicidal but heroic stance in the control room. In order to radio for rescue, Charlie had to recognize a musical pattern code to unlock the panel. This always seemed to contrived to be true reality. But it made Charlie the "only" person who could figure it out - - - his own supernatural power. But once he got contact established, he found out that Desmond's vision was wrong: it was not Penny's boat coming to save them. It was Widmore's freighter coming to kill them.

So instead of doing anything possible to bring that news back to the island - - - and to protect Claire from the coming harm - - - Charlie decided not to open the control room door. As Desmond pleaded with him to open it, Charlie drowned in what could be considered a senseless death.

The only thing that Charlie's death did was to cause other people, especially Desmond, pain. Dez's flashes were not reality and not true premonitions. Desmond's own personal motivation to get back to Penny clouded his judgment. It cost Charlie his life. It cost Charlie his chance to make things right with Claire.

After Charlie's death, Claire went insane when Aaron was taken away from her. Some believe that Claire may have been killed during that three year period of darkness - - - since she could see "Christian" a smoke monster, she too could have been recreated into one. She did not ask about Charlie at all when she encountered Kate. She did not miss him. Her sole focus was revenge.

So why did Claire rejoin up with Charlie in the after life? There connection was broken on the island when they were not on the best of terms. The sideways was an afterlife plane of existence, but it has the troublesome unreal aspect in which Aaron and Sun's baby have in common:

Why did the island pregnant women give birth to their children in the afterlife if they had already been born in the real world? 

Logically, an afterlife birth would mean that Claire and Sun never gave birth in their real worlds. That would mean the island was not in fact real. Their motherhoods were illusions. Their relationships and interactions with other people were merely dreams. The sideways world was the ultimate "do-over."

Charlie got his second chance with Claire, to experience the birth of Aaron. Claire got a loving partner in return. Their reconnection seems to be the most real of the final pairings, as we still have issues with how Jack and Kate wound up with each other while Locke never reconnected with Helen.

THE ANTI-HERO

We live in dark times in culture and literature, partly because of the long malaise of a deep recession and less opportunities for young graduates in their career fields. Modern culture has a clear dystopian future vibe.

In many respects, LOST also culled that genre.

An anti-hero is a flawed hero, and therefore, much more interesting then the more traditional heroes.

Anti-heroes can be working on the side of good, but with a serious flaw, or a horrible past, or for reasons that are selfish and not entirely "pure." They can also be working for the side of evil, but with hidden noble intentions, or other underlying complexities. These darker heroes can be jerks, pathetic, hard, jaded, or mean. However, all anti-heroes must have enough heroic qualities, intentions, or strength (physical including attraction or mental) to somehow gain the sympathy of the audience.

The show was filled with many (maybe too many) anti-heroes.

Ben had an immediate and strong fan base. The portrayal of a cold, emotionless psychopath was a brilliant hook to apply real danger to the series characters.

Sawyer was the traditional anti-hero. He was a loner, a criminal, a charmer and a thief. He was so easy going to be likeable and despised at the same time.

Kate was also an anti-hero but wrapped up in the mirage of the girl-next-store image. She was entirely selfish and manipulating the men who crossed her path, usually ending in very bad trauma.

Locke was never a true hero. He was the door mat that other characters used to scuff on on their way to their goals. He was a dreamer who could never connect to his dreams. He was naive, and heroes are wise. He had self-esteem issues while heroes can look beyond their own faults to the common good.

The body snatching by MIB to create an evil Flocke did nothing to restore any honor to the Locke character.  MIB, as an intellectually evil smoke creature, had similar qualities of Ben, but with no thread of heroic intentions. MIB vowed to somehow leave the island, but we don't know why nor did we care. One has to care about their heroes, including the anti-heroes.

Jack should have been the traditional hero. He had the skill set, being a "miracle" surgeon. He had the calm intellect to command order within the group. But once he got out of that traditional role to begin lead missions into the jungle or attack the Others, he fell out of favor with many in the group. The castaways first leaned on Jack for survival, but once rescue was lost and the beach camp settled in Jack's traits were no longer needed by them.

JACK OF ALL TIMES

What is a Jack?

It is a playing card, the third most powerful one in a deck. It is a metal object that one picks up in a game of jacks. And it is the fictional hero in the LOST series.

In the series, Jack suits a card analogy because he had a Heart with Kate; he was a Club trying to get everyone to work together as one; he was a Diamond because he was a valuable person due to his medical skills, and a Spade, a worker who did not mind getting his hands dirty.

But throughout the various time lines of the Jack character, a different pattern emerges.

There were actually several different Jacks:

PRE-FLIGHT 815 JACK

ISLAND JACK

O6 JACK

TIME SKIP JACK

POST-SKIP JACK

DEAD JACK

Just to add a bit of confusion, they may not have all been the same person. We know that because Dead Jack was not "real" Jack but the alleged embodiment of his soul.

Pre-flight Jack was a dutiful son. He was a respected surgeon at an LA hospital. He was a miracle worker. He married Sarah, a patient, but soon jealously ruined his relationship. His marriage failed and then his professional reputation was tarnished trying to cover for his drunk father. Then, there may have been the odd Thailand/drug/runaway period of Tattoo Jack which may be the signal that his "perfect" life was going to get very, very dark.

Island Jack was still a troubled and upset person. He had trouble returning his father's body back to the States. He felt regret. But when the plane crashed and people were injured on the beach, his ER training took over and he began to lead the shocked passengers to safety. As a result, he was cast as the reluctant leader (something his father said he could never be because he could not "let go" and let patients die). On the island, he was challenged, manipulated, captured, beaten, right and wrong.

O6 Jack was not the same man before Flight 815. He put in place the great lie with an illogical construction to tell the world of their rescue which made no sense in protecting his island friends whom he had to believe were dead when the island disappeared. His life turned south very quickly; another failed relationship with Kate. He became addicted to drugs to the point of suicide.  At his lowest point, he felt determined to return to a place, the island, for no apparent reason.

Upon his return, Time Skip Jack turned into a meek follower, a janitor who could care less about changing his situation. He was resigned to his fate at that point. He saw Sawyer change in the three years since the O6 left.  Even though he had his old friends around him, he was distant and cold.

Upon the time skip to normal island time, Post-Skip Jack slugged along as a follower not knowing what to do. He was upset with the fact that he was an unwilling candidate in Jacob's game. He felt pressure to conform to someone else's rules. In order to get Jack out his funk, it appears that the danger, death and destruction elements were ramped up by the island (Jacob and MIB). Near the end, Jack relented an volunteered to be the next island guardian. He went into the cave to save Desmond and to reboot the island. As a result, he helped defeat MIB and allegedly save the world from something bad. But the cost, apparently, was his life.

Dead Jack probably had the best life of all the Jacks, which is quite ironic. Dead Jack had a good marriage with Juliet, which led to a son. Even after his divorce, Juliet and Jack were still good friends and sharing parents (even though Jack's son resented his father's long work hours and lack of interest in his life). Jack was again on top of his career path, head of spinal surgery. And just as Jack reconciles with his son, the Dead Jack story line abruptly ends at the Widmore concert when Kate shows up to bring him to the church where he finds out everyone is dead. It is actually a cruel trick that Dead Jack's idyllic sideways world life was totally fake. But Jack's reaction was equally confusing: he was merely numb by the fact that he was dead. He did not seem happy or content. He only briefly mingled with the island characters before sitting in the first pew, staring off into nothingness.

IT WAS HEAVEN

Hold on to your seat belt and oxygen masks.

All the passengers and crew of Flight 815 died in the plane crash.

But that is alright.

Because everything we saw thereafter was the main characters' version of heaven.

The adventure, the romance, the fights, and more importantly, a way that they each wanted to end their own lives - - - on their own terms, in their own way.

When the TPTB weasel their explanation that the ending was about the big life and death question, but don't answer it, then we must our own profound conclusions.

Even poor Locke, in the bitter end in a seedy hotel room, distraught that he could not accomplish his mission, took his own life (abet, at the hands of crazy Ben) which caused the other O6 members to rethink their views on Locke's words . . .  allowing them to return to the island to save their friends. Locke was told he had to die in order to save the island (and his friends). To die to save something more important than one's self is a heroic gesture. Locke's measly life had no heroic elements. If this was his "second chance" at death, then he went out nearly on his own terms - - - a personal sacrifice to help those trapped on the island.

The same is true with Jack. He really did not have to die in the bamboo grove. But that is how he saw himself being the hero, the way "to fix" the island trap that snared his fellow survivors. This is the way Jack saw himself - - - dying as a leader to save his followers. Something his father told him he did not have the stomach to do in real life.

As goofy as the scene played out, Jin wanted to die with Sun in the sinking submarine. He realized dispute all their troubles, he could not live without her. He would sacrifice himself to stay with her so they could be together, forever, in the after life. And in some respects, Sun wanted the same thing. She left her child to go back to the island to find Jin, not knowing if he was alive or dead.

The main characters used some supernatural time space displacement between this world and the next, to change fate and tragedy into their own means of living their mortal coil - - -  finding a little personal happiness in the midst of disaster (which for most, included their off-island, preflight lives.)

There is not to say there are multiple worlds within a single perceived world. Many astrophysics theorists believe that there are multiple universes slightly out of phase with our current visual one. Some theorists also believe in a causal multiverse, where every person's decision opens a new tangential universe time line.

The plane crash event could have split the main characters human time line into several tangential realities: a spiritual universe and a dream universe. In the end, the universes intersect to form a new, third reality.