Themes
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Guilt, Temptation & Redemption
One of the major themes in LOST is that of redemption. Many, if not all, of the characters have things in their past that they carry a lot of guilt over. The island seems to present opportunities for the individuals to make choices allowing redemption from their past deeds and sins. See also Free Will ("Don't tell me what I can't do") & Choices and Christianity.
Possible examples of characters grappling with redemption:
Jack is in some ways still paying for "the sins of the father," by trying to reconcile himself with his past and find his own path. Will he be able to open himself up to belief in things that are not grounded, or human connections again?
Sawyer is given the opportunity to let his hate and desire for revenge go, as he hears whispers of "It'll come back around" in the jungle. He sets the boar free, but he kills the frog, so the vindictiveness is still in him. Which pattern will he continue? He even sings "The Redemption Song" on the raft.
Charlie is fighting heroin addiction (Locke tells him "The island will give you what you ask for, if you give something in return."). This is especially hard as the island tempts him further with a gift of heroin that falls from the skies.
Locke is given a chance at a new life where he can walk and have physical freedom. Will he throw it away through the same kind of obsession and prediliction for poor choices as he had in the past?
Kate is given a chance at a new life where she doesn't have to keep running. Will she do something positive on the island with it, or will she continue telling lies and keeping secrets?
Mr. Eko was living a life of sin as a drug lord, now considers himself a priest to honor Yemi. He pays pennance at having killed 2 Others by being silent for 40 days, carves out the Books of the Bible and scripture on his Jesus Stick, and even "confesses" to The Prisoner "Henry." He is able to face down The Monster without fear in his heart. He then builds a church with Charlie.
Claire and Aaron are baptized. Claire has felt guilt for some time over her previous decision to give up Aaron, but now settles in to a life of motherhood and devotion to her child.
Shannon previously lived the life of a selfish gold-digger, who only knew how to use people and not to really share love or contribute meaningfully to someone else's life. She tried to find this connection with Sayid, and then to try and 'save' what she thought was Walt in the jungle. Did she find redemption before she was killed?
Ana-Lucia was haunted by her act of revenge, where she killed the man who shot her. She says she "feels dead," and wants Sayid to shoot her when they meet after Shannon's death. On the island, she finds herself most useful when the Others are a prominant threat to the tail section group early on, but does not know how to fit into the more peaceful and "civilized" group that has formed since the combination with the middle section. Will she find her place in this society, and will her violent side again be sparked?
Sayid feels enormously guilty for having 'sold out' Essam for a chance to find Nadia again. He also feels the guilt of the hundreds he has tortured in the past, so much so, that he thinks Ana-Lucia is 'meant' to kill him. He finds himself still sliding back into his old ways of torture when he wants information; first from Sawyer, but with guilt... but then later, from The Prisoner "Henry," he can inflict pain without guilt, because he thinks he is an Other.
Jin's been given a second chance with Sun, after neglecting their marriage and living a corrupt life. He finds himself settling into the simpler life of a fisherman, something he's very good at, despite having rejected his fisherman father and village background years ago. Sun, likewise, is given a second chance to not keep secrets from Jin anymore. Will the two of them be able to mend their relationship again?
Hurley has struggled with not only in what he believes is the curse of The Numbers, but also his guilt and eating disorder. He stashes food in the jungle, but at Libby's urging, makes a concerted effort to end this habit. Like Charlie, he is then confronted with more temptation that falls from the sky, this time in the form of the food drop.
Michael appears to be a man who commited murder secretly, and may be beyond the point of redemption. When he asks Eko a question about hell, Eko seems to have an idea of Michael's crime, and tells him the following story: "For a brief time I served in a small parish in England. Every Sunday after Mass, I would see a young boy waiting in the back of the church. And then one day, the boy confessed to me that he had beaten his dog to death with a shovel. He said that the dog had bitten his baby sister on the cheek; and he needed to protect her. And he wanted to know whether he would go to hell for this. I told him that God would understand -- that he would be forgiven, as long as he was sorry. But the boy did not care about forgiveness. He was only afraid that if he did go to hell -- that dog would be there waiting for him."
Desmond has felt enormous guilt for something he did which resulted in his prison sentence, and which Mr. Widmore claims is the result of him being a coward. He cannot face Penelope, and says that he has to win back his honor by taking part in the boat race that Widmore is sponsoring. He is sidetracked on the island for many years, and realizes once the second EMP threatens to destroy them all, that he may be able to redeem himself by using the failsafe key (risking his life to save the rest).
Item Last Updated: April 24, 2006, 08:22:44 PM by Pandora
