Sacrifice

Walking into and through the woods toward the clearing. We all die alone. We all die together.

Reflective Vignettes on "Lost"

With Jack and Locke, the first became last and the last became first.

Jack, the last, was the man of science converted to a man of faith, but the science was not lost in, and was even responsible for, the conversion. The evidence of the failure and humiliation of his willful life subjected to his scientific eye revealed to him the need to let go of his pride (because he had a choice even in this: he could have stubbornly maintained that the island had no importance in his life and clung to his decision to lead the Oceanic 6 off the island and back into the world) and submit to and accept and even willingly choose his purpose on the island.



On the other hand, Locke, the first and man of faith, was corrupted by the darkness and killed because of his blind faith and willingness to believe and follow any mystical presence on the island in search of his purpose in relation to the island. Faith is a hard-won thing, and his healing on and by the island - which was a sure sign that he was the first choice of Jacob and the island to become its protector - was too obvious and easy for him to believe in. In response to this wondrous occurrence, he unconsciously chose (from the same mind that was responsible for his pathetic and misguided attempt to go on a walkabout - a mind that was not strengthened through the rigors of having to earn back the use of his legs, if you will) to become naive and thus susceptible to manipulation from both sides, light and dark. Upon rendering himself an ignorant servant of a Fate that does not suffer fools, Locke, in a bitter twist of fateful irony (using the Smoke Monster/Man in Black as its, Fate's, instrument), was turned into his direct opposite: a cynical and violent being who sought to destroy the very Source of his healing.



Locke became the last because he was overeager to be first, and in his desire he devolved into a petty man who squabbled with Jack over leadership in the hatch and suffered the petty doubts seeded by Ben's petty games in his heart. All this despite the miracle of his regained ability to walk. The island gave him an ultimate sign of kinship and of being chosen and special, but because he did not have to fight for this miracle and thus for his faith, his faith was false and quickly dissipated. (See the Season 1 Charlie episode entitled "The Moth" for more on this topic.)



Meanwhile, Jack became first because his faith had to be earned and there was an internal struggle between light and dark over its attainment. He was the last to believe in the island. Once he understood, based on the evidence of his own failings in life, what his purpose was and what he was there to do, no one and nothing could deter or distract him from his destiny, even if he wasn't sure what that destiny entailed.

And therein lies the evidence of his faith.