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.
3 comments:
Excellent words and insights here, Paul. I think you are on to something here, most definitely. You've managed in this concise post to peel back a layer to the show's main characters that I think was only scratched or nicked a little bit (if at all) in the discussions I've read.
I definitely plan to write another comment here with more of my thoughts on the show soon enough. I just wanted to check in with you and let you know that I have read your post and appreciate your deeper thoughts on the show, and an interpretive angle that many people would have never gleaned from the show, even though now that you say it, was right there all along.
-Dustin
Thank you for the comments, Dustin. Like you, I intend to add more to this as I continue to contemplate the show as a whole, and some more once the final season DVD comes out and I can go back and watch all seasons together as more of a unified whole.
Also, I really look forward to hearing your take on the show, so when you do post it, please let me know where. I think I have lost touch with where you blog, or your new location in the past required me to login just to read your posts. Whereever it is, I will make sure I can access it.
Paul
I agree about wanting to watch it more seamlessly all the way through again. I, too, hope to do so with Josalyn. We are going to give it a year or so and then do it, I think.
When I mentioned writing another post about what you've written here and some of my own thoughts, I meant that I would be posting on here (your blog, this post--or a subsequent one).
You didn't lose track of any blog of mine. As a matter of fact, I took it down. The last incarnation was on Wordpress.com (before that on this here Google Blogger). You can actually remove that link to WilderDaze in your Blogroll section of your blog. I'm no longer posting to a personal blog. It turned out to be a sour experience with that other blog I had whenever I went through personal changes and divorce. Plus I was spending too much time with the whole thing, trying to make it look too perfect and include everything and link everything to it instead of just giving thought to actually writing. Like you do. I was perpetually distracted from just writing something on there because I over-thought everything.
If I ever do decide return to writing some things about myself or my days, or even better, posting some pictures and descriptions of my little family and our goings on, I will definitely let you know. If I did, I would probably just go back to using this Google Blogger since it is linked seamlessly already to my Google account and Google Picasa (where I store and edit photos). Or perhaps I'll use a beautiful newer player in the blogging field: Tumblr. Slick designs there! Oh no...see, I'm already getting hung up on aesthetics and presentation instead of the more important actual substantive content. Honestly, the Blogger designs are great, too, and all serve the purpose.
Anyhow, I do like the idea of a photo blog about our family for the benefit of other family members only, basically. Sort of like you were talking about in your last email. We miss each other. We miss seeing each other. And it would be a small visual and narrative way of relating some things that we felt were fun or important to share with the rest of you so you can keep "knowing" us, so to speak. But the only reason I really hesitate is that I just don't want something like that to become a job/chore/expectation to keep updated regularly. It's just unrealistic with the demands and rhythms of daily life (especially with a toddler). And then you spend more time in front of a screen/machine trying to document things that have already occurred in life than just living it, doing it, and enjoying it and letting that be that.
Well, I think you got more than you bargained for on this post. It has turned out to be more of an internal discussion about the merits of blogging than about LOST. I shall return to this grand subject on my next comment here! mmmmm-hoohoooo-wwwwaaaaa!!!
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