There are a number of emerging/continuing themes on the show, this list may serve as an overview of these concepts…
- Black & White
- References to paired objects that are predominantly Black or White
- Books
- References to the stories/themes of Books
- Artwork/Imagery
- Importance of various works of Art
- Religious/Philosophical Imagery
- Similarity to names of Scientists & Philosophers
- Individuals on the island have names that reference historical figures
- Mythology
- Names of the Dharma Initiative Complexes and various items around the island references to Greek gods/mythology:
- Apollo Bars
- The Complexes relate to the attributes of Apollo (swans, wolves, dolphins, bows and arrows, a laurel crown, the cithara (or lyre) and plectrum.)
- The Hanso Foundation site offers interaction with a character named ‘Persephone’ (a Greek goddess, “she who destroys sound,” Queen of the Underworld)
- Forgetfulness
- Ana Lucia made a comment that the “Survivors of Flight #815” are forgetting what happened to them (in regards to why they would need to form an “army”)
- The Survivors of Flight #815 keep mixing up Scott & Steve (forgetting which one is dead)
- But, there’s also a general sense that the islanders don’t spend too much time thinking about the events that transpire on the island (the monster comes & goes; people are taken, etc. and there is usually very little discussion about these things)
- Good vs. Evil
- A lot has been discussed about the core nature of various characters (Jack, Locke, Sawyer, Kate, etc.) as well as entire groups (for example, ‘The Others’ are usually thought to be “evil,” but they consider themselves “good.”)
- Daddy Issues
- Many characters on the island have (or have had) issues with their father.
- Jack: his father was a tough-loving alcoholic, whose drinking affected his medical practice (in which Jack has to intervene)
- Kate: hated her father and, eventually, killed him (leading to her life on the run)
- Locke: his father abandoned him, became reacquinted with him; douped him out of a kidney; then abandoned him again.
- Sawyer: His father killed his mother then himself in front of Sawyer (when he was young)
- Jin: Had issues with his own father (embarassment of his blue collar trade) and with his wife’s father (who had him perform questionable & violent services while in his employ)
- Sun: upset with the questionable & violent nature of her father’s work.
- Michael & Walt: Walt only recently discovered that Michael is his father.
- Charlie: his father did not seem very supportive of him (or his career in music) in one of Charlie’s flashbacks.
- Aaron: we don’t know who Aaron’s father is, but we do know he abandoned Claire & the unborn Aaron
- Shannon: one of the earliest flashbacks of Shannon’s revealed the death of her father (which seemed to prompt a change in her behavior/psyche)
- Hurley: As far as we can tell, Hurley’s father is non-existent (where the rest of his family members seem to be very important to him). But, since has yet to manifest itself as an “issue” for him.
- Salvation
- Many of the characters seem to be concerned with salvation on the island, care to add to this list?
- Eko has taken on the role of a priest on the island, even though he was only one “on paper” off the island
- Eko has noted that “there are many ways one can be saved”
- Many characters (Sayid, Ana Lucia, Henry Gale) refer to themselves as “dead already”
- Charlie’s destruction of his heroin stash could be a form of salvation (considering he’s an addict & all…)
- Charlie went to great lengths to try & baptize Aaron (the task was eventually performed by Mr. Eko, at which point he also baptized Aaron’s mother Claire)
- Reincarnation/Missing Bodies
- Bodies of the deceased seem to disappear from the places in which they were left.
- Later, individuals connected to the deceased have visions of them (alive) on the island.
- Thus far, only applies to people who have died off of the island
- Missing bodies include: Jack’s Father (missing from his coffin) & Mr. Eko’s brother (although Eko originally found his brother’s body in the drug-smuggling plane in which he died, when Eko returned to find the plane, his brother’s body was missing)
- **LIST JUST BEGUN** Please submit your own to add to this list
