The metaphor of the box
+11 19 Votes
Rate it:
By jax
- The metaphor of the box
- Created: Mar 20, 2008
- Last updated: Aug 14, 2008
- After episode: 3.22: Through The Looking Glass
- Status: Current
- Flag this theory:
A recent theory here http://lost-theories.com/theories/2008/mar/20/plane-and-hatch-sorry-if-poste/ by helloladies_itshurleytime got me thinking about the box thing, and what it means. I am aware I could have commented on that thread, but I think this is a slightly different take on it.
I think its obvious he didn’t mean an actual physically real box, its a metaphor….but for what?
I think when Lockes dad (I forget the name) said one minute he was in an accident, in an ambulance with a guy smiling down at him, and the next thing he woke up there….hence he thinks he is In hell…is a big clue. It could be that he was taken to hospital and he was somehow transported by someone working for Ben to suit his needs in conditioning locke…which was my initial thought. Or…it could be that he did infact die in the ambulance and was taken from there….OR….he could have been transported to the island via the metaphorical box and Lockes desire for a final showdown…for answers he never got.
Let me backtrack a moment to explain what I mean…
Christian Shephard was not in the coffin, and Jack saw him walking around alive. I think Jack wanted him to be alive so much, to settle their differences and make amends for a death which Jack believes he caused (by snitching him up for drinking on the job) and what do ya know…once on the island it appears Christian Shepphard is no longer dead.
Rose didnt want to have cancer, Locke wanted to walk, Sun wanted a baby, Eko wanted to make peace with his brother, and so on and so on. It also seems to me that the losties are constantly faced with the same choices they had made before….bad choices….and anyone who has made a bad choice knows how it feels to want to go back and have the same choice again, to make a different choice this time.
Every lostie has gotten what they wanted in some way, and this is what I think the box means. The island has the power to give you what you want….to give a man with a tumour on his spine a surgeon…. “a spinal surgeon fell out of the sky” (Bens words). To give those that want healing healing, to give those that want reconciliation that chance, to give anyone what they want whether they know they want it or not.
Perhaps the real physical body of Lockes dad is in a graveyard somewhere, or recovering in hospital, and has no idea he has been killed on a remote island by a boy whos parents he killed, perhaps what we see of him on the island is purely a manifestation brought about by Lockes will. Lets not forget that Sawyer had been looking for him for years so add his will to that. Perhaps once off the island Rose will get sick again, Locke will be back in his wheelchair, Eko’s brother will turn up in a crashed plane off the coast of Nigeria somewhere, and Christian Shephards body has simply been carried off and eaten by bears.
So to sum up….the island does give people exactly what they want, even if that desire is purely subconscious. And this is the box.
Good post I feel that way too. Desmond was given the chance to go back and marry Penny, but decided that pushing the button was more important. I actually have a post under the name Balone about Desmond and the Island but some children moved it to trollish.
Great post, I am actually in a toss up much like yours. I want to believe that the island manifests people or things in your past life that you seek redemption for and produces it through a “box” (metaphorically) but it is hard for me. Dunno why. I guess I am looking for the logical and scientific answer but you really cant explain (scientifically) a crippled man being able to walk, cancer going away for a woman who was going to die from it, a sterile man all of a sudden being able to bear children, etc. What you say makes sense though. Good insight. +1
good theory!! it sounds right on target with what Ben was trying to convey to Locke. i also think that part of the mythology is that these “gifts” from the Island come with a “price” or at a cost of some type to the person.
Jax, You absolutely got it 100% right. +1 Very good!
The box is only a metaphor Ben used in terms to describe it to Locke. This has confused many people. Thanks for clearing that up!
If we look at “the island” in terms of it being a unique place because of its electromagnetism, and how that allows a connection between “the other planes of existence”, it is easier to understand how the subconscious mind is able to attract certain experiences and happenings. (sorry for that run-on sentence)
One thought and example which comes to mind is “what you fear, you draw near”.
Well said….that is close to what I was trying to express and you noted something that I didn’t realize. I expressed that it was Eko’s connection to the island that manifested the plane, thinking that Eko had a special connection to the island (like Ben telling Locke that he had a connection and that it made him very important; this happened when he showed Locke his Dad; he also said the “I didn’t bring him here; you did”.) But you right, everyone can be said to have brought something….like when Hurley destroyed all the food and a new shipment fell out of the sky. the island’s “box” is manifesting there conscious/subconsious desires. To what end? Who knows.
Really well thought out. Even Kate’s confrontation with her father, even though he appears in the form of a horse, conforms to this theory, as does Hurley’s experience with Dave. +1
Thanks for all the comments :)
Yes I think you can pretty much take any of them and their experiences on the island and apply this theory to them.
ubergonzo…you reminded me of something else….in the episode “Dave” (gotta be one of my faves lol) Dave tries to convince Hurley that everything happening is an illusion, that its what HE WANTS to happen ie a hot chikc liking him, winning the lottery, etc etc. Now I dont think for one second it is all just an illusion created by Hurley, but perhaps the clue there was simply that he is getting what he wants!
good post Jaz. totally agree with it.
@ubergonzo:
how do you know the horse is actually her father?
What about the fact that Hurley ALSO say Christian Shephard in Jacob’s cabin? Great ideas. +1
this is a great post and does make sense but i just dont like the idea of, for example, Ekos brothers plane not actually being there. How does that make sense i mean the one guy on the plane was thrown from it and had a gun on him that was used. How does that get dreamed up? I do agree with you that the island does have its way of bringing back past issues to help the losties cope with them like when the boar was actually the guy sawyer had killed before he got to the island and sawyer let the boar go. all in all your right in a sense i just dont like the idea of things appearing and people interacting with them and they arent actually real, you know what i mean?
i appreciate the effort, but I just don’t agree with this theory. It’s way to fantasy island for me
Brilliant!!!!!!!!!
I’m of the opinion that there really is a physical box, and that it’s at the Orchid Station, also known as “The Temple”.
The idea that things are happening because “The Island” makes it happen is a bit of a deception, as much of a deception as any psychic reading is sure to be. It’s really people exploiting what Dharma left behind at the Orchid. They have files on everyone on the Island, and are able to figure out what ails them and then, like little gods, make it so by using the Box.
In this sense, when they are able to use the Box to make good things happen for people, the Others are indeed “The Good Guys”, as Ben so often claims they are. But they don’t always get it right, and sometimes their own egos get in the way - just as the egos of ancient Greek gods got in their way. In any case, Ben has pointed out to various characters whether or not they are worthy of becoming one of the select few - the group that has the power to make good things (or bad things) happen for people.
It’s sort of like some cosmic interactive dinner theatre.
To take the last post (Veefre’s) a step further, this could explain the four-toed statue. Imagine if you will, a flashback to some ancient explorer who discovered the Island.
He discovers the powers of the Island, and learns to control the power. He is worshipped as a god by either natives or later explorers who stumble upon him. He holds the power to grant them their desires, or to destroy them.
They erect a temple and a statue to honor him. Myths form around him.
This is the sort of power which a megalomaniac such as Whidmore would be willing to do anything to possess.