On Lost, the Hero’s Quest, the Tree of Life, and the Dualities of Life
More and more I am thinking of the LOST island as some type of world navel or axis mundi. The Losties are, each of them, on a heroic quest of the type that Joseph Campbell outlines in hisThe Hero with a Thousand Faces. Indeed, each of the passengers is himself or herself a “hero” on his or her own individual quest. They each even have various amulets along the way – (Hurley has Charlie’s guitar case; Locke has his knives; Jack has his tattoo). Here is a chart showing how Jack follows the hero’s quest paradigm:
The Hero’s Journey from Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces as played out in Star Wars and, perhaps, Lost:
Campbell’s Hero | Star Wars
(Luke)
| Lost
(Jack)
|
SEPARATION | SEPARATION | SEPARATION |
| R2D2’s holograph of Princess Leia: classic princess in distress | Jack sees Christian Shephard’s ghost; Rose tells him he is “good” |
| Parental blocking figure, Uncle Owen, reminds Luke of familial responsibilities. | Drunken Christian Sheppard tells young Jack not to be a hero. |
| Luke returns to find family farm burned out by imperial stormtroopers; now has no reason to stay | Jack operates on the pilot and the marshal; Rose tells Jack that he is good; |
Guide/ Talisman
| Obi Wan Kenobi — Merlin figure – is guide; talisman is father’s light saber | Mentor: Locke?? Later, Ben??
Talismans: Virgin Marys; the numbers; Jack’s tattoo from Achara
|
| R2D2 & 3CPO, the loyal servants; Han Solo, the older brother/lone rebel with his own Other companion, Chewbacca: Tonto, Sancho Panza, Jim to Hans’ Huck | Messenger: Hurley,
Trickster: Locke?? Then Ben??
Lone rebel: Sawyer
Shape shifter: Achara; Juliet?
|
| Luk’e leaving of his home planet Tantooine | Plane trip to the island |
| The bar with its chaotic assembly of aliens serves as a passage to the dangerous world Luke is about to enter. Obi Wan and Han each slay an alien, and Obi Wan also distracts imperial storm troopers so that the way is clear for Luke to leave | Desmond in the hatch; Smoke Monster as “guard” of the temple |
| The Imperial Falcoln is drawn into the Death Star by tractor beam. | Going down the hatch |
INITIATION | INITIATION | INITIATION |
| Luke’s efforts to save Leia | Polar bear; others; freighter |
| Luke v.s Han | Jack v.s. Sawyer |
| Finds Leia | Jack and Kate / Juliet, etc. |
| Fall into trash compacter | Trip on the raft |
| Serpent in trash compacter; real battle with Vader is displaced onto Obi Wan | Polar Bear…Smoke monster |
| Death of Obi Wan | Jack trapped in the cave-in; Jack’s shoulder gets dislocated; Jack attempts suicide |
| Jack and Kate / Sawyer & Juliet | |
| Return of Obi Wan as internalized voice; Luke and Darth, who removes helmet | Jack and Christian / Miles and Chang |
| Luke becomes a hero rescuing Leia — Tarzan leap; targetting enemy fighters | Jack operates on Ben and hatches a plan to get the group free from the Others.. |
| Saves Leia and R2D2 with plans of Death Star | The numbers?? |
RETURN | RETURN | RETURN |
| Han refuses to go back to Death Star | .Kate refuses to go back to the island |
| Flight through Death Star | Helicopter ride |
| Han comes back to protect Luke from fighters | Sawyer jumps to save others on the copter |
| Falcon escapes exploding Death Star | .Back to the Island |
| Recognition of Han and Luke by assembled rebel troops | .Master of science and reason? |
| "A New Hope" | Christian Shephard: Not leaving. No. Moving on. |
As to Jacob and the “man in black,” I think that they simply represent the duality/dichotomy of life. At first I thought that one represented “good” while the other represented “evil,” but such a conclusion is really all too simplistic. They are perhaps even more organic than that: perhaps one is “life” while the other is “death.” Even so, representing two such opposite forces, they are in essence opposite sides of the same coin – like the Roman god Janus. As such, one cannot destroy the other. Ultimately – it is their essential dichotomy which perhaps leads to the existence of all of life’s other dichotomies: good/evil; love/hate; faith/reason; trust/hopelessness; lost/found.
Perhaps the ultimate “message” in this show is not that there is some secret alchemy to life – rather, that each of us faces a hero’s quest in life which is ultimately one of self-discovery or even of redemption. We have in each of us an inherent capacity for life’s various dichotomies that we must recognize or remain perpetually lost. We’ve slowly seen this message unravel through the development of the characters themselves. In this season’s premier, for instance, we see the characters still on the island but almost at the end of their journey: Jack has had his cold sureness steadily whittled away; Kate, no longer running from every situation that confronts her, has opened up and is more giving of herself; Sawyer, no longer the con-man, actually seems to care about people as something other than opportunities for a scam.
Link to Joseph Campbell’s thoughts on “The tree of life”and his discussion on dualities. Begin at “The world navel, then is ubiquitous…”