FINDING LOST CASTAWAYS

The US Coast Guard Hawaii Pacific released this picture from a rescue that occurred earlier this month.

Three men left on a day boat trip between two Micronesian islands. A large wave hit their boat, overturning the 19-foot craft. They swam a few miles to the nearest land mass, an unihabited island called Fanadik, which is located a few hundred miles north of Papua New Guinea.

When the men did not arrive at their destination by the next day, relatives called the US Coast Guard. A joint Navy-Coast Guard operation to find the men was started. But there are countless tiny islands in Micronesia, and they would not have found them if the men had not used palm leaves to spell out their distress signal on the beach.  A Navy plane spotted the sign early Thursday morning. A boat was dispatched from nearby Pulap, their original destination, to bring the men home.

In LOST, the series, the plane crash survivors did little, if anything to get the attention of potential rescuers. 

In the beginning, there was not big attempt to light signal fires or mark the beaches with HELP signs. The only thing the passengers did was to burn the airplane debris to stop disease and wild boar attacks. It was Bernard, after several Others attacks, who decided it was time to start signal fires on the beach. But it was long after the initial crash, no one helped him.

Michael got fed up with the lack of attention of finding a way off the island to build two rafts. The first one was scuttled by his son, Walt, who did not want to leave the island and his new friends. The second raft was intercepted by the Others and sunk.

When Desmond's fixed sailboat was found, Sayid's group decided to use it to rescue Kate, Jack and Sawyer instead of trying to leave the island. 

When the survivors found native long oar boats, they were only used to get to and from Hydra Island instead of trying to go deep out into the sea lanes for a possible rescue attempt.

The only time they got excited about rescue was when Widmore's freighter's shore party hit the island. Only Ben warned them about what was going to happen to them. But once Penny's boat rescued the O6, instead of trying to get the U.S. Coast Guard or UK/Australian officials to help return to the island, the O6 group decided to lie to the world - - - which doomed rescue for those left behind.

It is one of those odd plot points in the series that the survivors were not aggressive in their desire to escape the island and go back home. One would think that escape and survival would have been of paramount importance to the main characters.

BEACH CAMP

Just above everybody loves the beach. Approximately 70 percent of the world's population lives on or next to a body of water like an ocean. There is something hypnotic about sitting on the sand and watching the waves slowly roll in from the horizon.

In LOST, the beach camp was the center of the survivor's island life. However, we rarely saw it. It was merely snippets of time, events, gatherings or cutaways from larger, grander stories of jungle missions or other locales. So most people have vague memories of the camp. But in some stills, it shows that like in life, it was a messy place.

The first beach camp was abandoned (that is where the airplane wreckage washed ashore). Death and the boars made the campers flee to a new beach location. But for no rational explanation the aircraft debris vanished or washed out to sea.

So the castaways were left with what they could carry on their backs or forage from the jungle palm tree line. The ragamuffin look of the camp site tended to bring a sense of reality to the show. It was not a sporting goods show sales booth.

But since the beach camp was the center of the castaways lives, why did it not factor as the main set for the series?

Part may have been production values. The lighting of a show can be affected by the glare off the water. Also the wind, surf and sand can wreck havoc with electronic equipment.

Part may have been to focus away from large scenes with extras to more personal, up close relationship shots of the main characters.

If LOST would be adapted into a stage play, the beach camp would be the main set. It is the only logical place where every characters; stories would intersect.

WHY GIVE UP?

There was one curious plot point which makes little sense.

The desire to escape the island. It was first and foremost in the survivalists minds after the plane crash. Rescue was the goal.

When Michael built his raft (twice), it was clear that some of the castaways were determined to help themselves get back home. And Michael's raft did work - - - they left the island in search of a rescue boat. But what happened next makes no sense.

The raft was attacked by the Others. Sawyer was shot; Jin and Michael were left for dead in the water.

So the survivalists would learn of their fate. The Others were dangerous. The island was dangerous. There should have been a GREATER urgency to leave the island. Build another raft. Go to the Barracks and steal a boat or submarine.

Instead, the castaways turned into sheep.

Why give up?
Why give up hope?
Why give up the chance to see your loved ones?
Why?

Even when Bernard tried to get the beach organized with signal fires, no one wanted to help him. It was no use. They were resigned to their fate of being island sheep. They were resigned that they would probably be killed off, one by one. That is not living, by anyone's definition. That is slow dying.

And when the castaways found canoes, and Desmond's boat - - - why not make a run for it? Instead, there were lame attempts to "rescue" their friends, for whom they did not know whether they were dead or alive. There was no effort to leave until the freighter arrived, but even then Jack refused rescue for all. Again, that was a curious out-of-character course for a man whose sole mission in life was to "save" other people.

Yes, the freighter was a death trap, but Jack did not know that when he made his call. He was basically playing god at that point: who would live (on the boat) and who would die (on the island).

It should have made those left behind mad. Mad enough to start their own rescue plans. But they did nothing but wait for their fate. It makes no sense.

THE RAFT

The series could have had a major story arc with the raft. It represented what the pilot episode stressed as the focal point of the show: rescue. The idea that four survivors would had the ability to build a raft, let alone sail it, across the Pacific to find rescue would have upped the ante.

It would have given the audience time and episode space to get a better understanding of an early character that was exiled from the series: Walt.

In the confined space of the raft, Walt could have been the center piece of the story. He really did not want to leave the island, because he really had nothing to go back to. His mother was dead. His adopted father abandoned him. Michael, his biological dad, gave him up when he was a child. Walt was totally alone. But, we were told he was "special."

If he was indeed special, why did Ben let him go so easily after Michael's final betrayal? Did Ben's science stations extract Walt's special qualities like draining a battery?

But the raft portion of the series was very short lived; interrupted quickly by a rescue fishing boat, with the quick twist of kidnapping Walt, shooting Sawyer and destroying the raft. It could have been a real cost saver to kill off three main characters.

But they wound up washed on shore into what some consider a filler arc of the show, the Tailies. Besides Bernard, the other 48 tail section passengers were merely red shirts - - - fodder for grisly deaths to come.

It would have been better to run a half season of raft episodes (or cutaways) than the Tailies and their back stories. The show did not need new characters, but better development of the ones we were told were important clues to unraveling the series.

The tension was there for the taking. Sawyer would have gotten on Michael's nerves. Walt would have looked to rebel against his new father's orders; so Walt would have been drawn to Sawyer's rebel attitude. That would have further inflamed the situation. The odd part of the raft was Jin's presence - - - for he would be the silent provider, fisherman. It also could be comic relief if the only English he learned was from Sawyer's verbal jabs.

It also could been an avenue to smooth over the rough edges of the Sawyer character. He could have communicated his rough childhood to Walt, so he could understand the problems he would face.  It could be an older brother moment.

But the real lost opportunity was to focus on Walt. Since he had the ability to communicate (and kill) birds and possibly other animals, he could have been a magical provider of food on the long voyage. Or he could have contacted the Dharma sharks for assistance. Since at this time we had no idea about Jacob and why visitors were brought to the island, Walt's abilities would have been critical clues into the island's purpose.

There could have been several paths this long raft arc could have taken. One, the raft could have met a horrible fate in the open seas. A storm could have crushed the small vessel. The heat could have boiled the men to madness, conflict and death. Two, the raft could have made it to another island, where a) they could have found native people who (i) greeted them warmly or (ii) captured them for cannibal sacrifices; or b) been rescued by a container ship heading towards America. Then their story of survival would have made the O6 story arc pale in comparison. It could also set off a rich man's war to find the island between Sun's father and Widmore. It would have been an expensive America's Cup race to find the island, which could have brought in the mysterious Eloise to manipulate both sides to her own game of betrayal.

So, the raft island escape was a missed opportunity for deep story development and character spotlights.

HURLEY'S WAKING DREAMS

A focal point to the Hurley character were several things that could be interpreted as dreams.

For example, his ability to interact with ghosts. One place that happens in normal people is in dreams.

Ghost dreams:
In general, seeing ghosts in your dream symbolizes aspects of yourself that you fear.
This may involve a painful memory, guilt, or some repressed thoughts. You may be anxious about your ability to achieve something in real life. Or, you may be afraid of death and dying.
If you were frightened by the ghost or it spoke to you, this is a warning that some powerful pressure will be put on you to join in a scheme or activity which is against your principles. Resist the temptation with all your strength, and if necessary get help from a trusted friend or adviser.
If you dreamed of being a ghost, this symbolizes a feeling of disconnection from life and society.
This dream may be a calling for you to move on and abandon your outdated modes of thinking and behavior, and make a positive change in attitude.

Another aspect of the Hurley character was called the "Hurley Bird."  It sounded like it called his name when in danger, near danger or avoiding danger on the island.

Bird dreams:
Birds represent physical and emotional freedom.
They can also represent religious feelings.
Some more meanings: Dreams of black birds represent the “dark side” of the dreamer’s personality.
To dream of bird poop is a lucky omen, foretelling good fortune.
To see bird eggs in your dream symbolizes money.
To see birds hatching in your dream means you will be successful in your goals, but not for a while.
To see a bird nest in your dream represents independence and the need for allies.
To dream of dead or dying birds foretells a period of coming disappointments. You will find yourself worrying over problems that are constantly on your mind.
To dream of aggresive birds (if they were attacking you, or killing people, in your dream) is a warning to be careful with those around you.
Take notice on who you know in your waking life that could remind you of a bird, or who has a name that sounds like a bird’s name – this is the person to watch out for.
To dream of a cooked bird, suggests that you’re feeling guilty about something. You fear that someone will “find you out”, or believe they already have. 

Of course, Flight 815 was a big part of Hurley's life.

Dreams of airplanes are also common, and follow a similar tact as bird dreams.

Airplane dreams:
Escape from the mundane exigencies of the lower world.
Freedom.
The search for higher consciousness.
Travel into the higher realms.

Hurley also was consumed with his personal curse of his lottery winnings.

Wealth dreams:
Wealth for a poor person in a dream means trouble, because wealth can divert a poor person from the straight path. Wealth in a dream also denotes a righteous wife, a successful business, imposing one’s conditions upon his enemy, or subduing the evil of a jealous friend.

These standard dream interpretations mirror the character traits of Hurley in the series. So is it possible to link these dream states to what was the series to conclude that LOST was set inside Hurley's own dreams?

LORD OF THE FLIES

SPOILER ALERT: This post details the William Golding novel, The Lord of the Flies, which was part of the inspiration of the original screenwriter for the series LOST.

There were some clear elements of the novel, The Lord of the Flies, incorporated into Jeffrey Leiber's original LOST script (called Nowhere) and in the original series writer's guide. For those who have forgotten the story from their high school English classes, the story is set on an island where a group children have landed after surviving a plane crash.

In the midst of a raging war, a plane evacuating a group of schoolboys from Britain is shot down over a deserted tropical island. Two of the boys, Ralph and Piggy, discover a conch shell on the beach, and Piggy realizes it could be used as a horn to summon the other boys. Once assembled, the boys set about electing a leader and devising a way to be rescued. They choose Ralph as their leader, and Ralph appoints another boy, Jack, to be in charge of the boys who will hunt food for the entire group.
 

Ralph, Jack, and another boy, Simon, set off on an expedition to explore the island. When they return, Ralph declares that they must light a signal fire to attract the attention of passing ships. The boys succeed in igniting some dead wood by focusing sunlight through the lenses of Piggy’s eyeglasses. However, the boys pay more attention to playing than to monitoring the fire, and the flames quickly engulf the forest. A large swath of dead wood burns out of control, and one of the youngest boys in the group disappears, presumably having burned to death.

At first, the boys enjoy their life without grown-ups and spend much of their time splashing in the water and playing games. Ralph, however, complains that they should be maintaining the signal fire and building huts for shelter. The hunters fail in their attempt to catch a wild pig, but their leader, Jack, becomes increasingly preoccupied with the act of hunting.

When a ship passes by on the horizon one day, Ralph and Piggy notice, to their horror, that the signal fire—which had been the hunters’ responsibility to maintain—has burned out. Furious, Ralph accosts Jack, but the hunter has just returned with his first kill, and all the hunters seem gripped with a strange frenzy, reenacting the chase in a kind of wild dance. Piggy criticizes Jack, who hits Piggy across the face. Ralph blows the conch shell and reprimands the boys in a speech intended to restore order. At the meeting, it quickly becomes clear that some of the boys have started to become afraid.

The littlest boys, known as “littluns,” have been troubled by nightmares from the beginning, and more and more boys now believe that there is some sort of beast or monster lurking on the island. The older boys try to convince the others at the meeting to think rationally, asking where such a monster could possibly hide during the daytime. One of the littluns suggests that it hides in the sea—a proposition that terrifies the entire group.

Not long after the meeting, some military planes engage in a battle high above the island. The boys, asleep below, do not notice the flashing lights and explosions in the clouds. A parachutist drifts to earth on the signal-fire mountain, dead. Sam and Eric, the twins responsible for watching the fire at night, are asleep and do not see the parachutist land. When the twins wake up, they see the enormous silhouette of his parachute and hear the strange flapping noises it makes. Thinking the island beast is at hand, they rush back to the camp in terror and report that the beast has attacked them.

The boys organize a hunting expedition to search for the monster. Jack and Ralph, who are increasingly at odds, travel up the mountain. They see the silhouette of the parachute from a distance and think that it looks like a huge, deformed ape. The group holds a meeting at which Jack and Ralph tell the others of the sighting. Jack says that Ralph is a coward and that he should be removed from office, but the other boys refuse to vote Ralph out of power. Jack angrily runs away down the beach, calling all the hunters to join him. Ralph rallies the remaining boys to build a new signal fire, this time on the beach rather than on the mountain. They obey, but before they have finished the task, most of them have slipped away to join Jack.


Jack declares himself the leader of the new tribe of hunters and organizes a hunt and a violent, ritual slaughter of a sow to solemnize the occasion. The hunters then decapitate the sow and place its head on a sharpened stake in the jungle as an offering to the beast. Later, encountering the bloody, fly-covered head, Simon has a terrible vision, during which it seems to him that the head is speaking. The voice, which he imagines as belonging to the Lord of the Flies, says that Simon will never escape him, for he exists within all men. Simon faints. When he wakes up, he goes to the mountain, where he sees the dead parachutist. Understanding then that the beast does not exist externally but rather within each individual boy, Simon travels to the beach to tell the others what he has seen. But the others are in the midst of a chaotic revelry—even Ralph and Piggy have joined Jack’s feast—and when they see Simon’s shadowy figure emerge from the jungle, they fall upon him and kill him with their bare hands and teeth.

The following morning, Ralph and Piggy discuss what they have done. Jack’s hunters attack them and their few followers and steal Piggy’s glasses in the process. Ralph’s group travels to Jack’s stronghold in an attempt to make Jack see reason, but Jack orders Sam and Eric tied up and fights with Ralph. In the ensuing battle, one boy, Roger, rolls a boulder down the mountain, killing Piggy and shattering the conch shell. Ralph barely manages to escape a torrent of spears.

Ralph hides for the rest of the night and the following day, while the others hunt him like an animal. Jack has the other boys ignite the forest in order to smoke Ralph out of his hiding place. Ralph stays in the forest, where he discovers and destroys the sow’s head, but eventually, he is forced out onto the beach, where he knows the other boys will soon arrive to kill him. Ralph collapses in exhaustion, but when he looks up, he sees a British naval officer standing over him. 

The officer’s ship noticed the fire raging in the jungle. The other boys reach the beach and stop in their tracks at the sight of the officer. Amazed at the spectacle of this group of bloodthirsty, savage children, the officer asks Ralph to explain. Ralph is overwhelmed by the knowledge that he is safe but, thinking about what has happened on the island, he begins to weep. The other boys begin to sob as well. The officer turns his back so that the boys may regain their composure.

Many of the key opening elements of the novel are incorporated in the original ideas of LOST: surviving a plane crash, electing a leader, finding food, building shelter, laziness, malaise, fights over what do to, people doing their own thing instead of group needs, and violence.

There are even key aspects or events tied into the LOST mythology: the island monster that terrifies the castaways; the first boar hunt with Locke taking his victory into trying to become the group leader; the inability to fashion a rescue fire; a parachutist landing on the island (or even Henry Gale the balloonist); the power struggles and lack of trust; the missions into the jungle; the breaking apart of the main group into two camps; and betrayals from within the group.

LOST wavered off the Golding story path. Instead of focusing in on the survivors, the LOST writers continually threw non-group characters into the mix to force the action. Instead of the castaways trying to build a new society, it became more of a mixed-message game of follow-the-leader.

There is a similarity between the novel and show. The boys were too young to realize the morality of their actions. Their primal instincts took over any notion of right or wrong. Likewise, in LOST, the characters did not dwell on any moral or ethical aspects of their decision making or actions. At times, the castaways acted more like naive children than grown adults. In the novel, much of the problems were self-created by the children themselves, while in LOST, much of the problems were created by the writers forcing various tangents into the main story line.

The novel concludes with a much more realistic end to the saga than the LOST finale.

THE CASE FOR KATE

It is hard for many viewers to like Kate. She was in the middle of most things, but never a critical factor in any outcome. She lived a miserable life. And, on the island, she found company with other miserable souls who had personal issues that ground them to a halt. Misery loves company. That is the Kate Austen story.

We saw a feisty young tomboy manipulate her young male friends into criminal activity and trouble. We saw her twist logic to justify what she wanted to do. She learned that her real father was the abusive step dad, Wayne. She decided to make things right in her own mind by taking out an insurance policy and blowing up the house and her biological father. (Never mind the subsequent factual farce of the story line of Kate's legal issues). Even on the run, she got her "boyfriend" to "rob" a bank just to get back a toy airplane from a safety deposit box. Once she got what she wanted, she killed him. Every time she was on the verge of happiness, she panicked and fled (such as her marriage to the Florida police officer, who apparently never Googled her background check before his vows).

So we have the foundation of this character summarized as follows:

1. Extroverted but aggressive child with anti-social tendencies.
2. Lashing out at parents for lack of attention or authoritative structure in her daily life.
3. Ability to use charm, guile and flirtation to get her way with weaker minded men.
4. Inherit ability to think on the run when in trouble.
5. Extremely lucky at times to accomplish her Houdini like escapes from the law.
6. The cold blooded killer instinct to eliminate unwanted things in her life.

Kate was clearly a troubled young woman. In her background, we don't have any strong evidence that she made lasting or close friends. She may have been the center of attention at school, but she was too hot to handle by her classmates. Her mother worked extra jobs to make ends meet so Kate was without maternal moral guidance. She had a free range childhood, mostly out on her own testing the boundaries of community standards.

She did not seem the type to want the spotlight of fame or fortune. She may have found Iowa boring, but even as the O6 media celebrity, she shied away from the cameras to become a suburban mother hermit. So, it was out of character for Kate to turn her moral attitude back to do an 180 degree turn to return to the island (but some remark that this was Kate's way of ending her responsibility for caring for Aaron.) Going back to the island was either a thrill ride escape plan or a death wish.

If the island was a place for redemption, then Kate would have been a leading candidate for change. She was an arsonist, murderer, liar, cheater, bank robber, adulterer, and selfish. The closest characters she gravitated towards on the island were Sawyer, a like minded criminal, and Jack, who had deep seeded personal self-esteem and father issues. In their own ways, both Sawyer and Jack led miserable lives even though they were successful in their professions. Kate was successful in nothing.

On the island, she had an intimate relationship with Sawyer, which may or may not have been a means of lashing out against Jack. Her relationship with Sawyer would sour and cool off. Off the island, she had an intimate relationship with Jack, which may or may not have been a means of lashing back against Sawyer who left her on the helicopter during the rescue. Her relationship with Jack would also turn sour and cool off, even upon the return to the island.

She became even more miserable on her island (1977 flash return) when she found that Sawyer had "moved on" with Juliet in Dharma bliss. With Dharma, Kate was a lowly nobody. She was frustrated that Jack gave in and gave up - - - no more leadership, no more wild plans or adventures, no more excitement. So if Kate wanted to get an island adrenaline rush, Jack was not going to be her partner in crime.

So even if Kate was plotting in her twisted logic mind that returning to the island was a means of punishing Jack and taking back Sawyer into her arms, she terribly miscalculated both her wiles and Sawyer's true feelings. Sawyer was suddenly happy being a normal guy with a normal job with a stable home life. He was stale plain vanilla, which must have startled Kate. When Jack went church mouse janitor on her, she was effectively left to be miserable alone.

If LOST was the examination of the loneliness in human lives, then what is the turning point that make true change happen? At the moment of resolution, with the defeat of Flocke, Kate had a choice on the cliffside - - - stay with wounded Jack or escape the island with Sawyer. She chose the latter under the guise that she "needed" to get Claire home to Aaron (but at that moment she did not know where Claire was or even if she was still alive.) Based on the objective evidence, the decision Kate made was to leave Jack behind and go back with Sawyer (to catch him on the emotional rebound so to speak). It speaks to her devious nature and her self-preservation mode against taking on the burden of responsibility for another person (in this case bleeding Jack). It was selfish of her to leave the island without him, especially if Jack was indeed her "soul mate."

Which is why many viewers were troubled by the fact that Kate wound up with Jack in the end. They had no sideways world connection - - - no relationship - - - no strong emotional bond. Any lingering memory of Kate by Jack would have been her leaving him to die (which could not command either respect or love).

In the Season 5 episode "Follow the Leader," the time skipping O6 are captured by the Eloise led Others. Jack reveals to Kate that he means to reset their lives, having the plane never crash and avoiding all the misery that's happened since. Kate adamantly states that it was not all misery, but does not elaborate. He responds that enough of it was.When Daniel is killed, Jack takes up his plan to reset the island. Jack tells Kate that he wants to erase their past because he can't let her go. That admission seems to go against all the character traits of Jack; how can he still pine for her when he left her knowing her heart was given to someone else?

If we view the entire series merely from the perspective (or eyes) of Kate, we see despite all the tangents, continuity errors, bizarre premises and story line dead ends, Kate winds up happy if not content with Jack. She winds up in the afterlife setting a free person, never captured, never convicted, never jailed, never burdened with raising another's child, never accepting responsibility or accountability for her actions. Everything just falls into place: like a perfect dream.

So that could be the case that the series was really Kate's dream. She got away with everything and still got her reward in the end.

STORY ELEMENTS AS SYMBOLS

If one looks at the core elements of the series as symbols, a theory using those symbols be created to make some sense of the ending.  The main elements of the LOST story were the island, Flight 815, rescue, time travel and death. Let us examine the symbolic meaning of each element.

Island symbolic meaning:

Psychological meaning of an island can be summarized as follows:

You may have a craving for solitude if you dream a desert island. You may be surrounded by too many problems and need to make a little space for yourself.  The sea often symbolizes the unconscious mind so your desire to remain on an island may suggest a wish to cling to the conscious ego instead of venturing into these unexplored parts of yourself.

The sea is also a mother symbol and can, according to Freudian psychology, symbolize your relations with your mother. If the island is engulfed by the sea this can represent the fear of being overwhelmed by too strong a mother-attachment or by unconscious forces that are out of your control.

Mystical or spiritual meaning of an island dream is that to dream about being marooned on an island is an augury of having many friends. Ancient dream oracles saw this as the opposite of separation, over self-dependence and isolation.

Airplane symbolic meaning:

Being an in airplane may show you rising above your troubles. It is a symbol of transcendence and may be a release for material difficulty. The sky is the symbol for expanded consciousness or higher self. An airplane dream expresses your desire for greater awareness or spiritual knowledge. An air journey may indicate a new departure in your life. Freudians believe the airplane is a phallic symbol for virtue. So one with lofty ambitions may want those to progress quickly. A dream of airplane crashing shows that you are over ambitious and have set your sights too high, materially or emotionally, and may have too much doubt to reach your set goals.

Mystics think airplanes indicate that money is on its way. If you are a pilot, you will succeed in a business venture. If the plane crashes, it will fail.

Rescue meaning:

Rescuing someone in the spiritual sense is saving someone who is less fortunate than we are, whether that is through compassion or otherwise. Spiritual rescue is a technique where the souls of the departed are turned towards the Light – direct knowledge – and helped to move on.

From a psychological or emotional perspective, when we have put others in danger, we are required to rescue them in dreams. We are then able to show a degree of nobility and courage that engenders a feel-good factor and allows us to have the capability to reach for the best within ourselves.  Dreams of rescue signifies sudden success in overcoming a previously sticky obstacle.

Time Travel symbolic meaning:

If you wake up with strong emotions then a dream will usually just be noting this new emotion. A dreamer was thinking about the past and it seems certain that his time machine represented their reminiscences as they travelled back in time to their own childhood.

Whispers meaning:

To dream that you hear a whisper, suggests that someone you know is not good.

To dream that you whisper, predicts that you are to act unfairly in the workplace.

To dream of a whisper, indicates that you are being a victim of fraud or conspiracy.

Dreams of death symbolize many different things.

If the dreamer died in a dream, the dreamer awoken quickly grasping for breath. They were shaken up and they needed to take a moment to get their bearings back. They needed to make sure they were still alive and had woken back up into waking reality. The images or feelings lingered through out the day and the dreamer felt a energetic weight containing space within their thoughts.

If a dreamer witnessed or was involved with the death of someone else the dreamer more often then not awoke feeling sad or upset with what just took place. The dream of death feels too real and the dreamer is left, upon waking, wondering if they were actually part of the murder. Witnessing death within in a dream is a slightly different feeling then being the murderer.

Dreams of dying, being dead, witnessing or killing someone else are intense dreams that are often sending an important message to you about you. It more often then not is referring to one of the following; an aspect you that is dying or needs to go, change needs to take place in some aspect in your life, jealousy or envy you may feel towards another person, or fears you may have surrounding death. Every once in a while a dreamer may have a premonition of death (either a loved one, someone they know, or their animal) but never take this as the first sign of a death dream (unless you have that knowing feeling surrounding the death dream).

If the death is you it may represent the death of an old way of thinking (or acting); or the death of an aspect of your Self that needed to die in order for you to move forward. It is suggested that rather then fearing the death that took place in your dream, embrace what was and let go of it. If you are having a hard time accepting the face that this aspect of you has died, create a special ceremony and honor what was. Light a candle and burn a piece of paper in which you have written this old way or aspect, let the paper light on fire until it no longer exists, say a blessings or prayer to what was. By letting go in waking life, as your unconscious was letting go in dream time, you are freeing up energy and space to invite in and embrace what is new.

Correlation to LOST.

When reading the above symbolic definitions of the core symbols of the show, we find key words used during the program. In the end, we were told that the main characters had to be awakened in order to move on. In the symbolism of dreams of death, that is what happens to a person. If the dreamer died in a dream, the dreamer awoken quickly grasping for breath. They were shaken up and they needed to take a moment to get their bearings back. It is suggested that rather then fearing the death that took place in your dream, embrace what was and let go of it in both waking and unconscious time in order to embrace something new. In the end, that "something new" was moving on in the after life.

The island both houses the fears of an individual clinging to stubborn conscious ego beliefs and the dream of having many friends to share the unexplored parts of oneself.

Flight 815 represented transcendence and a release for material difficulty. The sky is the symbol for expanded consciousness or higher self, a  desire for greater awareness or spiritual knowledge.

Time travel represented the characters flashing back to their childhoods, and gather those memories as the island events mirrored their faults during their lifetimes.

The whispers and mental issues doing their island time could show that their conscious defense mechanisms was trying to tell their subconscious dream state that the things around them were unreal, no good, a conspiracy of frauds in order for them to change - - - something the characters deep down did not want to do.

Finally, when one puts others in danger, it is important to summon the courage to rescue them. But that same courage is also important if the person in danger is one's self. Rescue allows a person to have the capability to reach for the best within themselves in order to conquer what is holding them back and to move on.

The island adventure was a subconscious attempt of lost souls to get rid characters of their regrets accumulated their lifetimes in order for them to accept their deaths, awaken in purgatory, and move on with those who helped them along in their dream journey to personal enlightenment. Whether the souls in purgatory dreamed their island time or were diverted to another spiritual world is immaterial. The whole series could be seen as a large subconscious dream created by spirits who needed to come to terms with deep open issues in their past lives.

WHAT LIFE?

When the badly damaged Ajira plane rambled off the island and into the sky, it added another mystery as to why the passengers on that rescue flight would wind up with dying Jack in the sideways church.

The sideways world we were shown lasted approximately two weeks from the landing of Flight 815 in LA. The concert, Desmond's round-up of characters, and the church reunion occurred in the last two days. Jack died on the island apparently on the last day of the sideways world events. But those on the Ajira plane left the island (seen alive) and did not die (to our knowledge) until some time after Jack, but they were all "dead" in the church to meet awakened Jack.

It is hard to grasp the non-linear time step from island to sideways world. When Christian says the sideways realm has no past, present or future but just "now," it is not an answer with any factual basis. How can every person in the church have a different "now" but be brought together to go to the next stage of the after life?

We believe that Hurley and Ben stayed on the island for some time, presumably to shut it down. However, we know that Rose and Bernard were content to stay in their island shanty for the rest of their lives. Considering that Rose's cancer was cured by the island, this couple probably had at least another decade or more on the island. So we have people living years on the island but wind up dead in the SW church in less than a day.

Or do we?

If we look at the final chronology of events, Jack is "awakened" in the sideways world just before he "dies" on the island. From lostpedia:

Jack greets Desmond and Penny, shaking Desmond's hand. He hugs Boone. On the Island, he stumbles through the bamboo forest, passing the white tennis shoe that once belonged to his father's corpse, now worn and dirty after 3 years exposed to the weather. At the church, he hugs Hurley. Claire, Charlie, Sun, Shannon and Sayid all gather around Aaron. Jack greets Sawyer before noticing Kate, and she holds his hand as they sit down in the pews. On the Island, Jack comes to the spot where he woke up from the crash and collapses to the ground, still clutching at his wound. At the church, everyone else sits down. Christian puts his hand on Jack's shoulder as he passes by. On the Island, Jack is laying on his back on the ground when he hears a dog bark - it's Vincent. Vincent greets him and then lays beside him. At the church, Christian walks down the aisle and opens the doors, leaving and letting a bright white light fill the room. Everyone gazes at their surroundings, Jack and Kate share a glance. On the Island, a dying Jack witnesses the Ajira plane fly over head. He smiles, knowing he isn't going to die for nothing. At the church, Jack is swallowed by the white light. On the Island, Jack's eye closes. He is gone. The end.

It is revealed to Jack that everyone is dead by Christian BEFORE Jack dies on the island. Jack is told that everyone in the church has been waiting for him, that "they are all dead too," BEFORE they leave the island on Ajira plane.

Here is one of LOST's greatest paradox: you cannot be alive when you are dead or dead when you are alive.

This paradox may have been glossed over by most viewers because of the emotional bent of the concluding scenes and the sparse script devoid of explanation.

So how could anyone on the Ajira flight have a life post-island? Did the plane crash into the snow globe the moment Jack's eyes closed for the last time?

And if the passengers on Ajira flight reached the mainland safely, that would mean that each had a life expectancy of 30 to 50 years. During that time frame, would they have not "moved on" to meet new people, have new relationships - - have a different life than those months on the island?

Of course they would have had to change. Kate would have reunited Claire with her mother and Aaron. They would have returned to Australia leaving Kate alone in her suburban home. Is that a life for her? Or would she have re-connected with her husband in Florida? Wouldn't Sawyer reconnect with his daughter? Or partner up with Miles to con people with ghost story scams? As a result of their final rescue, none of the passengers on Ajira had any reason to be in the sideways church except for nostalgia. For if there lives were so incomplete, terrible, lonely and worthless in the real world, then they mentally checked out into the fantasy land of the sideways world earlier and quicker than anyone watching could have imagined.

Of course, there is another explanation. As Jacob opined, none of the main characters had any life to go back to; that is why they were his candidates. One could take that speech to really mean that the candidates were lost souls, already taken away from their mortal plain, to serve a higher purpose in the first level of eternity.

Which gets us back to the problem with Jack's life actually ending in the bamboo field on the island after the fight with Flocke. If Jack was the new island guardian, and he survived the light cave radiation, he would have been immortal like Jacob. So Jack's island "life" may be a transitory illusion.

REBOOT: EPISODES 21-24

LOST REBOOT 
Recap: Episodes 21-24 (Days  42-44)

After burying Boone, tempers flare as the castaways' suspicions of each other grow -- and Shannon vows revenge. Locke shows up at Boone’s funeral, and is blamed for his death by Jack and Shannon. Locke takes Sayid to the light plane crash. Later, Shannon tries to kill Locke, but Sayid intervenes and the bullet grazes Locke’s skull. 

With the second raft complete, Sawyer and Kate fight over a seat on the raft. After Michael is poisoned, Sawyer tells Kate’s secret to sabotage her escape plans.  The mysterious Hatch is shown to a few of the survivors, and Walt gives Locke a warning not to open it.

The French woman shocks the survivors by showing up with a dire warning about "the Others." Rousseau reluctantly leads a party to the Black Rock to get dynamite to blow open the Hatch, which Jack believes holds equipment or could be a shelter. Sayid thinks otherwise.  The second raft  leaves the island with Jin, Sawyer, Michael and Walt.

As the castaways brace themselves for an attack, Claire’s baby is kidnapped by Rousseau, who in Claire’s mental flashback of the scratches on her arm, knows Rousseau (not Ethan?) attacked her before causing her amnesia.  Charlie and Sayid  try to find Aaron on a dangerous chase into the jungle. While the threat of the Others bears down on the castaways, the raft crew continues their flight from the island - and almost lose hope when the rudder falls off the raft; but Sawyer swims to save it before it sinks.

Science:

Dynamite:

Dynamite is an explosive based on nitroglycerin with an earth like absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued. Dynamite was invented by Alfred Nobel in 1867.
Dynamite is usually sold in the form of sticks. The maximum shelf life of nitroglycerin-based dynamite is recommended as one year from the date of manufacture under good storage conditions. Nitroglycerin by itself is a very strong explosive, and in its pure form it is extremely shock-sensitive (that is, physical shock can cause it to explode), and degrades over time to even more unstable forms. This makes it highly dangerous to transport or use in its pure form. Absorbed into diatomaceous earth or more commonly sawdust, nitroglycerin is less shock-sensitive. Over time, the dynamite will "weep" or "sweat" its nitroglycerin, which can then pool in the bottom of the box or storage area. (For that reason, explosive manuals recommend the repeated turning over boxes of dynamite in storage.) Crystals will form on the outside of the sticks causing them to be even more shock, friction or temperature sensitive. This creates a very dangerous situation. While the actual possibility of explosion without a blasting cap is minimal, old dynamite is still dangerous.

Improbabilities:

The Black Rock ship found deep in the jungle.

Dynamite in Black Rock still good after more than 100 years in a tropical climate.


Mysteries:

The Black Rock was a fully-rigged 19th century British trading ship that was found shipwrecked deep inside the Island and overgrown by the jungle. The ship carried a cargo of slaves, dynamite, and other equipment intended for mining. In the midst of a large storm at sea, a massive wave swept the vessel inland, causing it to crash violently into the Taweret statue, thus toppling the structure, leaving only the foot of the statue intact. This wave carried the ship far into the interior of the Island where it finally came to rest in an area known as the Dark Territory. The Black Rock brought the third oldest inhabitant, Richard Alpert, to the Island. Richard survived because the smoke monster, who killed all the other crew, used his mind to show him his long lost wife.

The Hatch

The Hatch was a large steel entrance to DHARMA Station 3, called The Swan. The Swan was an underground facility built during the late 1970's. It was located somewhere in the southwest region of the Island, about a mile inland from the survivor’s camp.

The DHARMA Initiative had originally designed the station to be a laboratory to study and manipulate the "unique electromagnetic fluctuations emanating from this sector of the Island," as described by Dr. Change in the Swan orientation video. However, after the “Incident,” a 1977 drilling accident at the Swan construction site that unleashed a large amount of electromagnetic energy,  they enacted a special protocol to prevent a potential global catastrophe. Two individuals manning the station took shifts entering The Numbers in a computer console every 108 minutes, apparently to release any EM build up at the site. On November 27, 2004, the Swan exploded and imploded on activation of the fail safe key by Desmond, a previous castaway.

The Others
The Others, referred to by DHARMA as the Hostiles or the Natives, and also by the tail section survivors of Flight 815 as “Them,” are a group of people living on the Island who predate visitors and  who were followers of Jacob. Jacob never showed himself to his people, but used Richard Alpert as his intermediary. The Others  took orders from a succession of leaders including Eloise Hawking, Charles Widmore, Benjamin Linus and briefly John Locke.

The background Others.
Jacob and his brother, MIB were born on the Island. Their real mother was killed by a Crazy Woman, who adopted them. Crazy Mother was the Island guardian for the Life Force. After her death at the hands of MIB, and Jacob throwing MIB into the light cave (and roaring out as a smoke monster), Jacob assumed the guardian role for the Island and its secrets. But Jacob had long been bringing people to the Island to prove his  brother (MIB) wrong about his view of human nature. According to Jacob, it is the Man in Black's belief that all people are inherently corruptible, whereas Jacob wished to show him that people could know the difference between right and wrong without his interference. For some time, the people Jacob brought to the Island were simply killed by the Man in Black or each other, without Jacob stepping in. That rule changed in 1867 when Richard arrived to the Island on the Black Rock and, in exchange for the gift of immortality, he agreed to act as an intermediary between Jacob and the people he would bring to the Island. This was essentially the beginning of the Others.

Themes:

You can’t trust secrets to anyone on the Island. When Kate tries to get herself on the raft, Sawyer uses her secret (a convict) to turn the camp against her when it is found that Michael was poisoned by someone. The survivors begin to manipulate each other to get what they want; which is what the Others will do to them.

Atonement. Reparation for a wrong, injury or a sin. In early 15th century medieval Latin, it was meant to mean “unity” as unification with God. The Island and its tests of the survivors has been equated to Hell. Jin recognizes that he is being punished for his past deeds; that he needs to make amends by leaving the island to save his wife.


Hope.  The raft is the last hope for rescue. That is why everyone in camp pitches in to get it launched before the monsoon season. Locke also answers Jack's question of what is inside the Hatch is "hope."

Clues:

“Special” people prior to the Island. Locke was called “special” by his mother. Walt was called “special” by his stepfather. Hurley was once called special by his mother, who was trying to boost his confidence to be more social. Locke, Walt and Hurley all slowly appear to have a special connection with the Island, able to sense strange things or make things happen.


Discussion:

“ Genius is eternal patience. ”
— Michelangelo

Jin tells Sun that he has to leave the island in order to save her. He believes that they are on the island to be punished. He tells Sun: “No, don't you understand, Sun. I'm in this place because I'm being punished. I made you suffer. You don't deserve any of this.”

Later, in the caves, after Aaron is kidnapped and Shannon is still despondent over Boone’s death:

SUN: [to Shannon] He died bravely.
SHANNON: What?
SUN: Your brother.
SHANNON: Yeah. Thanks.
SUN: Do you think all this -- all we've been through -- do you think we're being punished?
SHANNON: Punished for what?
SUN: Things we did before -- the secrets we kept, the lies we told.
SHANNON: Who do you think is punishing us?
SUN: Fate.
CLAIRE: No one's punishing us. There's no such thing as fate.

Fate is defined as the development of events beyond a person’s control because of the determination of a supernatural power.

Here is the basic fan viewpoint of the series. Were the characters dead and trapped in Hell (the Island) looking for redemption of their souls, or were they trapped, alive, in a supernatural place, being toyed with like the Greek gods did with their human subjects?

After Boone’s death, Walt's opinions of his friend John changed and he stopped talking to him. Instead, he focused his attentions on his father and building the raft. However, when Michael fell ill just before the raft was supposed to be launched, Jack suspected foul play. Walt, however, wanted Locke to know that he didn't poison Michael (thinking Locke may suspect it after he burned the first raft). When Locke grabbed his arm, Walt ominously told him to not "open that thing” - despite having no previous knowledge of the discovery of the hatch. After Michael recovered from his poisoning, Walt finally told him that he burned the raft. Michael asked if he wanted to stay on the Island but a changed Walt said that they "need to go.”

Did Walt’s  “special” insight foreshadowed the future (time travel consciousness)? Or did his “touch” of Locke give him knowledge of the Island, the Hatch and future events?

The day  that the raft was intended the launch, Walt, having woken first and gone into the woods to relieve himself, spotted Rousseau  arriving in the camp, and bringing with her a dire warning of the Others  imminent attack on the camp and recalled that the day her own child was kidnapped, she saw a pillar of black smoke. (a fire or the smoke monster?)  Despite much skepticism about Rousseau's warning, it was Walt who noticed a pillar of smoke in the distance, implying some truth in the French woman's warning.

We get the short story of Leslie Arzt, the high school science teacher who is smarter than “the cool group” of castaways. He forces himself into the dynamite expedition, but chickens out at the dark territory. But he is flushed back to the group as he is being chased by the mechanical sounding smoke monster. During that attack, Rousseau takes part of the team under the banyan roots (where some cultures believe protects one against evil spirits). Rousseau tells them that the monster is a “security system” that protects the Island.  Meanwhile, Locke tells Hurley to stand still as the monster approaches/chases the group. It is the opposite of human behavior to stand still in the midst of danger (further evidence that Locke may not be human at all). Arzt returns muddy and shaken. Then he takes over the removal of the dynamite. In a script formula of knowledge plus arrogance equals disaster, Arzt blows himself up. Instead of taking that as a sign that the dynamite won’t work - - - Locke and Jack pack up 6 sticks and head back to the Hatch.

After the raft launch, Charlie tells Claire his picture of their rescue, by helicopter. This is the premonition that Desmond would have latter in the show, when he gets Charlie to go on the underwater mission to his demise. Desmond’s vision was not the future but a hope Charlie put in his mind. It may show that the Island pieces together conscious memories in order to test individual souls, since we will learn that Jacob and MIB have been playing a game throughout their time of determining whether humans brought to the island are corrupt.

Magical/Supernatural/Elements:

Suspension of normal chemical properties and time (dynamite inert in tropical conditions after 100 years).

The Others and Whispers. We will know that the whispers are trapped dead souls on the island. Rousseau says that the whispers are the Others, which infers that the Others, as a group may be trapped spirits taking human form.

A bird comes flying through the jungle during the trek to the Black Rock, calling out the name “Hurley” as its screeching call. Some believe that it may have been a Dharma experiment; others believe it may have been a phoenix, sent to warn Hurley about danger. In some cultures, people have the concept spirit animals to guide them on the right path.

Last lines in episodes:

EP 21:
SAYID: John, no more lies.

EP 22:
KATE: Yeah, me too.

EP 23:
WALT: We did it!
[More waving and whooping. Jin and Sun share a long goodbye look. Long shot of the boat moving out toward sea.]
[Shot of the pillar of black smoke.]
EP 24:
HURLEY: Whoever named this place Dark Territory? Genius.

New Ideas/Tests of Theories:

What could be the darkest territory? Hell. It is a concept that TPTB attempted to quash in Season 1 fan posts, saying the show was not about purgatory. But in The End, the sideways world turned out to be a purgatory waiting room and the unanswered questions left viewers feeling a bit puzzled and taken for a ride.

There is nothing wrong with a show about human souls trying to find redemption and hope in Hell’s test of character and moral values. Dante’s Inferno is classic literature on the subject matter.

There may be many layers of this “fate” or punishment. When Sawyer tells Jack about his encounter with Christian at the Sydney bar, one could say that acknowledgement of Christian that his son was right, he was wrong and that he could not even pick up the telephone to tell Jack - - -  his personal hell.

And we can see characters being moved into the Island realm to pay penance for their past sins, like Sayid.  He was in Sydney trying to find Nadia, he claimed girlfriend that he tortured in Iraq (but they were only childhood acquaintances - - - now as an adult, Sayid turns obsessive stalker to find her), but is sidetracked into working for the CIA to betray his college friend in a terrorist cell.  When his friend commits suicide over Sayid selling out his principles for a girl he wants, Sayid changes his plane ticket to the next day (Flight 815) and the fate of the Island punishment.

Jin is the first to openly say that the Island is a place of punishment. He tells Sun just before he leaves on the raft.  As a result that Jin realizes that the place is Hell, and he must find a way out, he basically takes himself out of the game of candidates. That is why in the End, Jin is not a factor to replace Jacob.


Through the first season of LOST, references to Hell in the language used by the writers is clear. It is not a premise that many fans wanted to believe, but in the overall supernatural elements and dead end story arcs, it is still the most plausible answer to all the mysteries.

The idea that the whispers are dead souls trapped on the Island and the Others are also trapped on the island brings to mind the fact that MIB used to kill new arrivals, steal their memories, then create “humanoid” representations to haunt any survivors. Can the Others just be ghosts of people brought to the island? Avatars of Jacobs and/or MIB? If Jacob and MIB are supernatural beings, these avatars could be like children playing toy soldiers in a sandbox. It would also explain later on how Michael, “Patchy,” could be killed multiple times but not die. It is a show paradox: what is real is not real, and what is not real is real.