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Going Crazy / What is "Real"? / The Paranormal
Throughout the story, all the main castaways have perceived unusual things that they questioned whether or not they were "real," usually leading them to question their sanity. This story seems to ask us to examine subjective perceptions of reality. See also, Prophetic Dreams.
From "White Rabbit":
Jack: "I think I'm going crazy." (Jack has seen an image of his dead father, and has heard whispers in the jungle)
Locke: "No. You're not going crazy. Crazy people don't know they're going crazy. They think they're getting saner."
From "Solitary":
Danielle: "No, but I hear them. Out there, in the jungle. They whisper. You think I'm insane."
Sayid: "I think you've been alone for too long."
Sayid later hears the whispers himself and also thinks he is going crazy, as do Jack, Sawyer, Kate, and many of the other islanders.
From "Raised by Another":
Charlie: "Right. So, to prove your sanity you go tromping through the jungle alone. Well done."
Claire: "I'm not crazy, Charlie."
From "The Numbers":
Charlie: "Jack and Sayid could be hurt, if not blown to bits, all because you're acting like some bloody nutter."
Hurley: "I am not crazy." (we learn that he was once commited to SRMHI)
Hurley to Lenny in flashback: "When I tell people I think I'm the cause [of bad luck] they, they, they look at me like I'm nuts. They don't believe me."
Hurley eventually goes off to find Danielle to ask her about the numbers, and when she agrees that they might well be cursed, Hurley gives her a hug, because she is the first one to validate that idea.
From "Deus ex Machina":
Locke: "I know it sounds crazy. 4 weeks ago, I wouldn't have believed it myself." (refering to his cured paralysis, a story he now relates to Boone)
In an earlier flashback, Locke learns from the P.I. that his mother suffers from Schizophrenia. She believes that he was immaculately conceived.
From "Exodus":
Charlie: "That's insane. She's insane." (refering to Danielle and the idea that she may be setting up a trade of Alex for Aaron with the OTHERS)
From "Man of Science, Man of Faith":
Locke to Kate: "Jack thinks I'm crazy, doesn't he?... Then I guess we're both crazy. Wonder what Jack thinks he saw?" (speaking of the Smoke that nearly pulled him into the ground)
From "Orientation":
Jack to Locke: "Don't tell me you believe this. This is crazy. You think that makes sense -- pushing a button? You're going to take his word for it?"
Jack: "You understand that what he's saying -- it's insane. It's impossible."
Locke: "Why is it insane?"
Jack: "Because the last time I saw a computer that was going to save the world, it didn't look like that." (Desmond does look half crazed before he runs from the hatch)
From "What Kate Did":
Kate: "Please, this place is crazy -- it's just -- I can't -- it's driving me nuts." (to Jack, after seeing the horse on the island)
Kate: "I'm going crazy. Do you believe in ghosts, Sayid?" (later to Sayid)
Sayid: "I saw Walt in the jungle just before Shannon was shot. Does that make me crazy?"
From "One of Them":
FakeHenry: "I have no idea what she's talking about. She's crazy." (refering to Danielle, who has trapped him in a net)
From "Dave":
Sawyer: "What the hell's the matter with you? You're crazy!"
Hurley: "I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy." (we learn that he has been seeing Dave on the island, and that his previous psychosis left him sensitive about being called "crazy")
From "?":
Charlotte: "And I know you probably think I'm crazy, but I have a message for you and I promised to deliver it." (refering to Eko's now deceased brother Yemi, who she saw in a vision while in "the in between place")
From "Live Together, Die Alone":
Desmond: "Well, if you don't want me to go crazy, next time let me go out." (after Kelvin shows him the place Radzinsky supposedly commited suicide because he was going crazy from confinement in the Swan station)
Possible hallucinations or bizarre, unexplained imagery/sounds/events that MAY be considered paranormal (or may have a logical explanation not yet given) on the island include (but are not limited to):
Smokie / The Monster
Whispers
Polar bears
Prophecies/clairvoyants (see also, Prophetic Dreams)
The ongoing "curse" of the numbers
Jack's father
Sawyer's boar (targeting just him)
Charlie's religious imagery
Boone's vision of Shannon dead
Kate's horse
Walt after kidnapping
Hurley seeing Dave
Several of the books seen on the show reference possible descents into madness or surrealistic versions of reality: The Turn of the Screw, The Third Policeman, An Occurence at Owl Creek and Lancelot.
Item Last Updated: April 22, 2006, 03:23:50 AM by Pandora
