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
·  Call to Adventure	R2D2’s holograph of Princess Leia: classic princess in distress	Jack sees Christian Shephard’s ghost; Rose tells him he is “good”
Refusal of Call	Parental blocking figure, Uncle Owen, reminds Luke of familial responsibilities.	Drunken Christian Sheppard tells young Jack not to be a hero.
Answering Call	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;
·  Supernatural Aid: 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
Companions	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?
·  Crossing the Threshold	Luk’e leaving of his home planet Tantooine	Plane trip to the island
Threshold Guardians	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
·  Entering the Belly of the Whale	The Imperial Falcoln is drawn into the Death Star by tractor beam.	Going down the hatch

INITIATION	INITIATION	INITIATION
·  Road of Trials	Luke’s efforts to save Leia	Polar bear; others; freighter
Brother-Battle	Luke v.s Han	Jack v.s. Sawyer
·  Meeting with Goddess	Finds Leia	Jack and Kate / Juliet, etc.
·  Abduction/ Night Sea Journey	Fall into trash compacter	Trip on the raft
·  Dragon Battle	Serpent in trash compacter; real battle with Vader is displaced onto Obi Wan	Polar Bear…Smoke monster
Ritual Death/ Dismemberment:Sparagmos	Death of Obi Wan	Jack trapped in the cave-in; Jack’s shoulder gets dislocated; Jack attempts suicide
·  Sacred Marriage		Jack and Kate / Sawyer & Juliet
·  Atonement to/Recognition by the Father	Return of Obi Wan as internalized voice; Luke and Darth, who removes helmet	Jack and Christian / Miles and Chang
·  Apotheosis	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..
·  Ultimate Boon/ Magic Elixir	Saves Leia and R2D2 with plans of Death Star	The numbers??

RETURN	RETURN	RETURN
·  Refusal of Return	Han refuses to go back to Death Star	.Kate refuses to go back to the island
·  Magic Flight/ Pursuit	Flight through Death Star	Helicopter ride
Rescue from Without	Han comes back to protect Luke from fighters	Sawyer jumps to save others on the copter
Crossing Return Threshold	Falcon escapes exploding Death Star	.Back to the Island
·  Master of Two Worlds	Recognition of Han and Luke by assembled rebel troops	.Master of science and reason?
·  Freedom to Live	"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…”