In the Season 5 finale, we meet Jacob for the first time and he goes around to 5 of the Oceanic 6 survivors and Locke. He touches them at various points in their lives. I think the biggest clue as to how the series will end lies in his literary pick as Locke fell out the window. Jacob was reading Flannery O’Connor’s “Everything that Rises Must Converge.”
I have not read this collection of short stories but when I saw it, I knew it had to be something important. I did some research and discovered that O’Connor selected the title based on a phrase from the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
Teilhard developed a theory called the Law of Complexity/Consciousness which essentially states that the universe is constantly developing toward higher levels of material complexity and consciousness. Teilhard’s idea of the Omega Point is that this is the supreme point of Consciousness and what the universe is drawn to and aspires to attain.
It should be noted that Teilhard was a Jesuit priest who also trained as a paleontologist and geologist. His scientific pursuits came in conflict with the Catholic Church. To me, this falls in line with the Science v Faith/Religion theme in Lost.
So how will this work into the ending of Lost? The Science v Faith theme has been especially important to Lost with examples as blatant as the episode Man of Science, Man of Faith. I believe Lost will incorporate the Teilhard’s Law of Complexity/Consciousness and the Omega Point to allow the numerous dichotomies (Science v Faith, Fate v Free Will, Life v Death) to converge.
I think that Jacob and the Man In Black (MIB) are the physical embodiments of Free Will and Fate, respectively. Is Jacob also Life and Science and MIB Faith and Death? I’m not sure but it does appear that they are playing a cosmic game (see Locke’s backgammon explanation to Walt) which influences the lives of certain people and brings them to the island for some purpose. Jacob would say that purpose is progress while MIB doesn’t believe people change at all.
In the opening scene in The Incident, I did notice Jacob weaving a tapestry and I wonder if this was a metaphor for weaving lives together. He touched certain survivors of Oceanic 815 but it was their own free will that placed them on that plane.
In any case, I think the dichotomies will have to be resolved and Teilhard’s Law of Complexity/Consciousness seems a likely way to do that. I think Science and Faith, Fate and Free Will, Life and Death must coexist in a balanced way.
In the end, I think there will be some type of awakening or enlightenment that will allow the Losties to resolve their conflicts and choose their eternal fate.
Send me your thoughts, please!
