Lost Theories - 4.10 - W. Axel Foley decipers Why We See Dead People

Why We See Dead People

    The most intriguing mythological element brought to bear in Something Nice Back Home is the preponderance of dead people in the episode. We have seen this before, from Jack's dad to Ecko's brother, Ben's mom, Libby and Charlie.

    Concurrent with this theme of the dead returning is the ever present angle of the show;  faith vs. science. This article will examine the issue of dead people from the perspective of the apparitions being either faith based or science based.

    The faith camp has character motivation and religious references as its major support. The science base has Faraday's experiment and the Orchid video. We will also examine the middle ground where faith meets science and the two become Smokey, Jacob and the Whispers. Let us discuss each of these hypothesis with one caveat.



The Miles Exception

    Though it may prove to be essential, in an effort to shorten a long post, I believe Miles' contact with Naomi, Danielle, Karl and Christian has its own classification that deals directly with Miles individually so I will leave that for another discussion.

Faith

    There is no doubt that each of the dead people represent a past mistake by those who see them. Jack failed to be the bigger man than his dad and instead ratted him out. Claire never really had a relationship with Christian, nor gave him the chance when he sought one. Hurley feels like he allowed Charlie to sacrifice himself. Ecko was a gangster and his brother a Priest. Ben was told he killed his mother. All of those who see the dead have a profound need to rectify their relationships with these people. But, this theory is more character motivation then mythology, and that is not a plausible explanation for the sheer amount and interactions that the dead and those who see them have experienced on Lost.

    The faith based notion that we are dealing with something akin to a religious experience, that these dead people are ghosts or angels sent by God, or that the Losties are in Purgatory could possibly be supported by the myriad of religious references throughout the show. However, I believe the writers treat the Bible like a physics book, the Watchmen or a Stephen King novel. They are all a source for the show as the Buddha Dharma is to the Dharma Initiative, Islam to Sayid, Hawking to the Orchid, or the Island to Locke.

    The theory of faith alone only lends credence to the emotional depths the writers reach with the characters but it does not explain why Hurley saw Christian in the cabin, nor the sheer amount of dead people that come back to speak to the living on Lost.

Science

    One of the strongest theories dealing with the science of the show is that the dead people are somehow caught between worlds, times or dimensions. We know the island is on a different time plane then the outside world, but we are still not privy to the true significance of this.

    If the island is in the future and Charlie dies, is he dead in the outside world, which exists in the past? Is this not a paradox? Perhaps the course correction is to allow this person to exist in the past through a constant. Jack is Christian's, Hurley's is Charlie, (This also ties in with the theory that Jacob is trapped somehow and that's why he needs Locke's help). This too is plausible, but it doesn't explain the way the dead seem to have a connection to the Island and its journey, nor their ability to predict the future. And it doesn't explain many of the  dead who have appeared on-Island.

    Another interesting theory in the science camp derives from Hurley saying to Jack that the Oceanic 6 are all dead. If the purple sky caused the time breach, then perhaps the O6 are now existing in a world where Flight 815 really did crash. If ErasedSlate's recent post here on DocArzt regarding teleportation and the Orchid is taken into account, it becomes possible that the O6 are copies of themselves and in the wrong dimension or time. Could then the O6 be experiencing the "sickness" in reverse? Bringing someone else to them instead of traveling themselves? Ben's explanation to Sayid of how he got to Iraq could lead us to believe the Losties did not get back to L.A. through the Orchid. But it is possible they just think its been destroyed or are ignorant of a copy.

    The science theories are fun, and a likely scenario, but omit character motivation and still do not explain Hurley's vision of Christian or Taller Ghost Walt.
 
The Others Camp

    We now arrive at Smokey, Jacob and the Whispers. This theory is that the dead people are manifestations of the Island, Jacob or both, through Smokey or some other means(either island or off-island). The dead people appear in order to influence people into doing the Island's bidding and/or course correction. Taller Ghost Walt is a major support of this theory, since Walt seems to be alive when Locke sees him.

    It is also theorized that the Whispers are further manifestations of The Island or Jacob that use the voices of the dead to echo the subconscious of those around. This is plausible as well, explaining Hurley's vision of Christian as a cross breed of the Whispers and/or Jacob/The Island/Smokey. But the Whispers are so erratic and do not seem to coincide with  the character's arc.

    All the dead people being manifestations of The Island is a very solid theory, but under scrutiny it just doesn't add up. Just as the people seeing them seem to be seeing them for different reasons, the dead people do not all behave the same, as Charlie speaks plainly to Hurley, but Christian seems zombie like.
   
Conclusion

    Science and faith are often separated in our culture and made into oppositions, a clear example being the argument over evolution. The truth is that the very basis for science is faith. Be it faith in experimentation and learning or faith in oneself. There does not need to be a duality, only an understanding of where the conflict lies. I have always believed that one of the Lost "rules" is, as Arthur C. Clarke once said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". With a little learning, faith can become fact.

     Like the secret room in the secret room at Ben's house, any Dharma science creation has its foundation in the history of the mysterious powers of the Island. The existential struggle of the characters are tied inexplicably to their experiences on and off the Island as well. If the aim of Dharma was, as stated, to unify humanity, then I can only assume the Island too seeks a balance of science and faith.
 
    And so I can only conclude that the explanation for the dead people may in fact be different for each person who sees or are haunted by them, depending on a commitment to their faith and the circumstances of their exposure to Dharma science.
 
    Lost always takes into account the infinity of human motivation, action and consequence and this results in a show where the theories never stop. Often times they pile on top of each other. Could each of the remaining Oceanic 6 have their own dead person to beckon them back to the island? Did Claire actually die when her house blew up?

    With the Orchid hopefully looming on this season's horizon, we may even learn that off-island Jack has a 15 tattooed on him somewhere. Either way, the mystery continues. When Christian first appeared so long ago we only had questions, now we have some concrete theories, soon enough we will have our answers.

    But I wouldn't bet on it.

 


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