Cain and Abel on Lost

 

    Religion is a common theme on LOST.  Though we may not know whom this "Jacob" is, we can all agree by now that he is some god-like figure who the others worship or answer to.  The number 108 is a sacred number to the Buddhist religion.  Mr. Echo (boy, I miss him), was known to recite passages from the Bible, especially Psalm 23.  The island itself is worshipped by some characters, almost as if it were a Garden of Eden.  We already have reference to an "Adam and Eve" on the island, referring to two skeletons found by Jack and Kate.  One of the big questions of the show (among many others) is "who are they?"  Let's leave that one for a while and think ahead.  If the island is a religious allegory and if there is an "Adam and Eve" on the show, could there by a Cain and Abel?  Is there a brother who commits fratricide somewhere on this mythical island?

    The most recent of many murders on the show was one of the most impressive and surprising scenes of the season.  In "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham," the most recent episode of LOST, Locke attempts to commit suicide by hanging after failing to get the Oceanic 6 back to the island.  Interrupted by Ben, Locke decides not to off himself, but is suddenly killed by Ben with the same suicidal wire after Locke expresses his instructions to see Eloise Hawking.  The look on Michael Emerson's face was like something we've never seen.  Ben was concerned.  For the first time in a long time, we saw something that might have actually been against Ben's overall plan.  It's frightening to think that the man "behind the curtain" might not be in control anymore.  He also seemed a little out-of-the-loop when he found out that Jin was still alive. 

    Obvious questions include "who is Eloise Hawking?"; "why did Ben kill Locke himself?"; "for what reason does Ben not want Locke to meet Ms. Hawking?"; and "can we still trust Ben?"  But let's ask a question that's in the back of our minds ... deep deep in the back: What is the true connection between Ben and Locke?  Richard Albert has answered to both these men as the "leader" of the Others.  Why?  What makes these men so special?  Well, let's look at it the way we would look at any religious reign of power?  How does someone get power from another?  When the father dies, the son gets the power to rule.  The older child gets the power; the younger brother gets nothing!  In most cases, this causes a battle between brothers ( such as Jacob and Esau).  I would love to open that can of worms and question whether or not there is an Esau to the island's Jacob, but let's save that for another time.

    When the figures of Cain and Abel grow up and their parents (Adam and Eve) are gone, they consistently have moral debates.  Eventually Cain murders Abel because it is obvious to him that God favors Abel, even though Cain is the older brother.  Now, we see Locke finding out things that Ben does not know.  When Ben realizes this, he kills Locke!  What a minute?  Where am I going with this?  That's right!  I predict that John Locke and Benjamin Linus are brothers!  Furthermore, if this theory is right, it supports the theory that Christian Shepherd is Jacob.  God "favors" Abel; Abel is murdered by Cain.  Christian favors Locke; Locke is murdered by Ben.  Remember when Christian said to Locke, "I said you had to move it, John."   The sacrifice made by Ben was not accepted by Christian, but the sacrifice made by Locke was.   

    How soon will we find out if this theory is right?  I think we will find out soon enough.  The question is will Ben and Locke find out (or does one of them already know)?  If they are brothers, why did Ben have Sawyer kill their father, con man Anthony Cooper?  Did Roger Linus know that his wife cheated on him with Anthony Cooper?  I think we can assume that Anthony is the true father since the kidney transplant (Locke giving his kidney to Anthony) was successful.  Of course, the world of LOST could surprise us and reveal neither Roger Linus nor Anthony Cooper as the father; Christian Shepherd might hold that title.  In the Bible, Benjamin is the son of Jacob.  All the sons of Jacob are jealous of Joseph, the favorite son.  Benjamin was the only other child by Rachel, Jacob's favorite of his many wives.  Are Locke and Ben a mix of the Joseph/Benjamin relationship and the Cain/Abel relationship?  If so, what does that say about Jack (Christian's son) or Claire (his daughter).   What does it say about Aaron???  Anyone reading might start to hate me because there are enough questions left to answer without those that would come out of this theory being true.    We have the next few weeks to find out everything that season five has to offer!  We still have some time and more theories to come! 

 

More predictions for the rest of the season:

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  The reason Hurley got on flight 316 is because Charlie went to convince him, hence Charlie's guitar case as Hurley's carry-on
  
  
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   Ben succeeded in his promise to Widmore and successfully killed Penny; in an attempt to avenge Penny's death, Desmond will come back to the island and kill Ben.  Like Gandalf and Dumbledore had to die so that the true hero could save the day alone, so will our original crash victims have to get through the final season of LOST without the help of Benjamin Linus.  If this is true, I think Ben's death would be a nice Season 5 finale!
  
  
• 
  
   Jack's grandfather, Ray, who randomly made an appearance in "316," is actually Jack.  This would require a lot of time travel explanation as to why Jack thinks that his older self is actually his grandfather, but wouldn't LOST be the show to try it?

    

    Stay tuned!  There are plenty more things to come out of this wonderful season of the best show on TV today!