Claire Lives!
Lately, I've been reading comments on the Lost blogs involving the life (or death) of Claire. Claire's life has been in question since episode four of this current season, when we learned that Kate was raising Claire's son, Aaron. That revelation set forum discussion boards blazing. Claire is one of the most popular characters on this show, and the idea of her death made everyone double check The Smoking Gun website to make sure she wasn't recently arrested on a DUI charge.
The current theory is that Claire is a member of the walking dead. In episode 4.09, "The Shape of Things to Come," Claire is inside her house when one of Keamy's men fires a rocket and blows it to smithereens. When Sawyer finds her, she appears to be unscathed by the blast, and momentarily confuses Sawyer with Charlie. Then, adding to the theory, we saw in the most recent episode, "Something Nice Back Home," Claire woke from sleep to see the ghost of her dead father, Christian Shephard, holding Aaron. She left the campsite with him and abandoned Aaron under a tree in the jungle where Sawyer recovered him. Another piece of evidence also came from the mouth of Hurley, who, in the future, insists to Jack that all of the Oceanic Six are dead. If Hurley's right, and they are all dead, what about those left on the island?
I'm not so sure I can buy into Claire being dead. Going all the way back to the first season, Claire's visit to a psychic revealed that only she should raise Aaron, otherwise bad things would happen. This prognostication caused Claire to give up on adoption procedures for the then unborn Aaron. When the psychic gave Claire the Oceanic 815 tickets to Los Angeles with directions to give the child to a childless couple waiting there, Claire was confused. Was she supposed to give Aaron up or raise him alone? When Claire shared this story with Charlie, he felt perhaps the psychic knew that the plane would crash and made sure Claire was on it so she would be forced to raise Aaron by herself.
Now that time travel is a part of the Lost universe, I have no trouble believing the psychic was acting to ensure Claire raised Aaron. Because of the "hot spots" we learned exist in Australia, it is not a stretch to think he was able to somehow foresee events, much like Desmond (whether that means the psychic is on the island, or is able to gather information in the future remains to be seen).
If the psychic was telling the truth, Claire's survival is essential to the resolution of this story. Since Kate eventually takes Aaron to raise as her own, we know bad things are bound to happen, events that will perhaps force the Oceanic Six to return to the island. In order to resolve the catastrophic events awaiting either the survivors or the island itself, Aaron will need to be returned to his mother. The restoration of this relationship is one of the keys to the entire Lost story.
One of Lost's grandest themes is that of divided families. The Shepherds are a fractured group, both in terms of relationships and the family tree. Sun and Jin have been a divided couple. Kate has been separated from her mother. Sawyer's family was divided by a con man. Hurley's father abandoned him. Ben's mother died and his father blamed him for her death. Locke's dad used him to con him out of a kidney. Michael and Walt were separated by the Others. Now they are separated emotionally. Broken families have defined this show. Now Claire and Aaron are broken, too. Restoring their relationship will bring healing to everyone, because, whether intended or not, Claire has not raised Aaron alone. He is a product of a community who have poured their love into him. In season one, Aaron symbolized hope. Hope will be restored when he reunites with his mother.
So, the question is: is Claire dead? If she is, all hell breaks loose.
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I agree that Claire is still alive. In Something Nice Back Home there were two comments that indicated to me that she must not be dead. The first was when Hurley relayed Charlie's message to Jack that he was not supposed to raise him. The second was when Jack sent Kate into hysterics when he told her she wasn't even related to Aaron.
Why would Charlie have a problem with Jack raising Aaron, assuming that is who he meant by "he." Charlie is dead or undead and either way incapable of raising Aaron. So it wasn't like he was saying it so that he could raise Aaron himself. It has to mean that Claire is supposed to raise Aaron, which also can't happen if she is dead.
I don't think that Jack would have made the comment to Kate about her not being related, if Claire was dead. I think they would all just be dealing with the fact that Aaron was an orphan who had to be cared for, better for him to be raised by someone Claire knew.
If I had to hazard a guess I would say that they bring Aaron back to the beach before anyone can find Claire, and they decide to put him on the helicopter, as they will Sun, in a women and children go first kind of way.
I agree. I don't think Claire is dead either. Sure, we saw Kate raising Aaron; the natural instinct is to assume she's died, but if we've learnt anything from Lost it should be that things are not as they seem and the writers are great at dropping red herrings.
Claire is one of the most popular characters? Really? I think there could be some debate about that. I mean like Claire, she's cute and all, but I can't say I would miss her if she died nor do I think she as essential to the story as you suggest, however your theory is certainly an interesting one and I definitely buy into Aaron being a prominent figure in the future. Also, just to point out, the psychic is a self-admitted fraud (see the ep. "?")
what if the psychic only said that to claire because AARON NEEDS TO BE ON THE ISLAND? what if, for example, the "nice couple" in LA were ben's people? if aaron is the key to everything, then claire can be killed. the island wants aaron back, which is why charlie leaves hugo the message. and explains why kate refuses (in TTLG) to entertain jack's plan to go back.
everyone on the show deals in half-truths. the psychic is no different. it isn't fact that claire needs to raise aaron. but i think it is fact that the island needs aaron. for what reason, i have no idea--but i seem to remember team darlton saying that aaron was a big part of it all.
I really dont understand why you guys are pushing this whole 'walking dead' thing.. While you are correct in saying that people who are dead are appearing in places alive, we do not know for a fact that these are actually the same people or if it is just the smoke monster taking someone's shape. Which was inferred as a possibility in the episode where the smoke monster killed Eko.
Its just the smoke monster or some method the island uses communicating the needs of the island to the people using people from that person's past. We saw in Eko's episode with smokie that it has the ability to see into someone's memories.
I really dont think Claire or Locke are dead at all. I just think that the island/smokie uses people from that person's past in order to make them open to suggestion. If this ever gets cemented as fact, the only confusing thing to me is when Hurley's hallucination Dave was trying to get Hurley to kill himself.
I do think Claire is dead. The primary reason I believe it is that I can't conceive of any circumstance in which a living Claire would abandon Aaron in the jungle.
Also, ChangedTheRules:
I have always thought that Malkin lied to Eko when he said he was a fraud simply to put an end to Eko's investigation of his daughter's "coming back to life" and the accompanying spotlight it would have put on him and his family. And I don't believe that we have seen the last of Malkin.
If the smoke monster is travelling to Los Angeles, its the worst kind of Deux ex Machina imaginable.
With all the intrigue and manipulation going on, i think its a mistake to firmly plant your flag on an (acknowledged) fraud of a psychic as a touchstone of truth. We just don't know why ANY of these people were manipulated onto the island, nor who is pulling the strings, nor if someone else is pulling the other way for their own ends.
What if the "nice couple" were Danny and Colleen Pickett?
I'm glad you are all considering this theory, only because I think it is important to the overall scope of the show. I have a couple responses to some of your ideas. 1) It was said that Claire wouldn't abandon Aaron under any circumstances. I think if she were coerced by force, she might have had no choice. 2) The comment about the "walking dead" was well put--I agree. To have "zombies" walking around, like in "The Sixth Sense" would be a poor plot device. Besides, the rules would be inconsistent then. Why would only Jack and Claire be able to see Christian, or Kate the horse, or Eko Yemi, but no one else (Hurley aside, assuming you believe Hurley actually saw Christian in Jacob's cabin)? Locke can be seen by everyone, as can Claire, so it would be an odd change of the rules, even though Ben made it clear that rules can be changed. 3) The psychic, Malkin, may have professed being a fraud, but that doesn't necessarily rule out an insight. He is also a liar, too, as seen in his handling of Claire's situation. Thanks, everyone, for responding to this post.
I'm with you as well, Ambivalentman...
Like I've been saying elsewhere, her surviving that blast is hardly less far-fetched than Sawyer surviving the barrage he was under to get to her house, or Michael's perfectly functional revolver just up and failing to fire.
So, no. Claire's not dead...yet, anyway. *evil grin*
But did anyone notice what Miles said to Claire when she woke up from the explosion? Sawyer asked Claire how she was and she said, "i'll live" and Miles says under his breath, "don't be so sure" or something like that. He's a psychic too. Maybe she is dead but no one knows yet. I mean this is one crazy island anything is possible.
Just like ChangedTheRules said, why are people putting so much stake in the psychic when he claimed to Mr. Eko that he is a fraud?
Could anyone explain to me this?
Even Darlton hinted that Aaron being raised by another is not a spiritual threat if the psychic is a fraud, and Mr. Malkin is a fraud. (But Damon did note he would not trust Kate to raise Aaron).
To put in other words, it sounds as though Mr. Malkin's prophetic words can't true at the same time he's a fraud.
*Ambivalentman-
I get what you're saying. As a person who believes that Claire is dead and is starting to believe that most of the Losties are also, I want to clarify this theory a bit. The theory is that Claire died, but she is still able to walk around in her body because the island keeps the body working somehow. She would be able to open doors and make sound... Christian would be corporeal also so he would be able to hold Aaron. We're not saying that they are ghosts or zombies... something different. They died, but the island lets them still live.
Only they can't leave the island. That's why Aaron would live with Kate. She'd want her baby to have a "normal" life off the island.
And yes, I agree with you that the psychic was for real when he said that Claire must raise the child. I just think that means that Kate will have to bring Aaron back to the island so that Claire can do that. I think that "bad things" will start to happen to and around Kate because of Aaron so eventually she'll have to take him back to the island.
the "theory" (I honestly cannot stand how most of you use the word) that Claire is dead is kind of really stupid. It makes little sense to add this cheap trick to the story, not does it make sense when you consider the premise of LOST-- a bunch of people mysteriously survive a plane crash which would have killed everyone in normal circumstances. Life and death is maintained by narrative contrivance and real world conditions.
*dm, saying it's a "cheap trick" is your opinion. To others, it may Answer the question about how people mysteriously survived a plane crash. The answer would be: they didn't. At least not all of them.
And as much as you are concerned about being "tricked" please keep in mind that it wouldn't change Anything that we've seen before. This isn't "oh that's why they never touched anything" or anything Shyamalan-ish like that.
It only stops certain people from ever being able to leave.
There is too much emphasis on a happy ending. The end of LOST does not guarantee the resolution of the 815 survivors personal emotional well-being. The island is most likely not the invisible hand of Dr. Phil. The foretelling of the importance of Aaron being raised by Claire does not exclude the possibility of Claire dieing and something horrible happening because of that.
I disagree with your premise that Claire is one of the most popular characters on the show.
I wonder if in the end the people who stay and go has something to do with "constants".
For example maybe Charles and Ben are each other's constant. What if Aaron and Claire are each other's constant? Kate and Sawyer? This is why one must stay on the island and one can go. Just a thought.
Another interesting idea is island inhabitants whose fathers have died on the island or their "body"(Claire's father) is on the island are "immortal". For example, Locke getting shot, Claire getting blown up, Ben getting beat constantly.
Any thoughts?
"the invisible hand of Dr. Phil" that just made my day!!!