I haven't posted much on Lost lately for a few reasons. I TiVo it and sometimes don't get around to watching it till the week after it is shown. Plus, I think the plot is still a little too labyrinthine to wrap up neatly. Most of the theories I read seem to me to be more "pieces of the puzzle" than paradigms.
But I did want to comment on one thing in tonight's show, the first one I have watched on the same day shown in a while. Others probably caught this, but in case you didn't, there is one parallel between one piece of dialog tonight and the story of the man born blind in John 9.
The dialog was between Locke and Ben, when they were in Ben's house and Locke told Ben he didn't deserve to be on the island, and he called him a hypocrite and a Pharisee. Locke said that Ben didn't deserve to be on the island. I forget the details right now but it came out that Ben is interested in Locke because Locke has been healed by the island of a back injury. Ben, on the other hand, had this disease of the back and was not healing very quickly after Jack's surgery. At one point Ben mentioned that he had been on this island his whole life, suggesting that he was entitled to the healing.
In John 9, a man born blind is healed a la Locke, and he is questioned by the Pharisees. John 9:24ff says this:
24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.
So, John is the man born blind and Ben is the one who interrogates him. Ben the Pharisee wants to know how John, the man born blind was healed. John, the man born blind knows he was healed by the island, but he doesn't know how. Ben the Pharisee appeals to his lifelong residence on the island, i.e. his status as a disciple of Moses, and he knows that John was healed but doesn't understand. Ben sees himself as the rightful heir of the healing and can't understand how the island has bypassed him for John, a sinner from birth - i.e. an outsider to the island.
I offer that as one more piece of the puzzle. There was a bunch more stuff in this episode - some good psycho-drama regarding Locke and his fear of his father, as well as at the beginning when the prisoner in effect told Kate, John and Sayid that they were not on the list, i.e. not members of the elect. Yet, it appears that John is a member of the elect.
This does fit in with all of those theories about the island having some kind of redemptive purpose. Maybe the island is akin to the Kingdom of God. It's a place where its lifelong residents - the others, or Pharisees, live with the sense that they are the heirs of the kingdom. But now, God, or the island is doing a new thing with a new people. I realize there is a lot in the show that doesn't fit that model and I also realize there are plenty of other paradigms for looking at it, but it's one more thought to consider.
Related Tags: Television, Lost, Religion
Brilliant! Hadn't thought of it that way. Thought the episode a couple of weeks ago with Sayid was especially beautiful in its depiction of redemption.
Posted by: Rocks in my Dryer | March 22, 2007 at 09:28 AM
Interesting thought. Too often I get upset with the show, though I find it difficult to stop watching. I don't like that it has rather shallow psychology--nearly every problem the people face goes back to some experience with a father or mother. I don't like that it creates unexpected events for no other purpose than to have unexpected events. Whatever one's theory is on the show is probably right, since the writers seem to pull from every available dramatic technique and religious philosophy.
There indeed is no way they can wrap it all up.
Posted by: Jeremy | March 22, 2007 at 11:06 AM
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Not to disparage your observations, but I don't even think the producers of Lost have figured out where they want to go with this program. They are Lost and we the audience are co-dependent enablers! lol
Lyn from Thought Renewal
Posted by: Lyn | March 23, 2007 at 03:09 PM