A Mirrored Reality – Alice in Wonderland
This is totally off the cuff and not very well thought through… so please bear with me!
I have been thinking of what this ‘alternate’ timeline means for a while now. There are mulptiple possiblities.. I’ve simply just come up with another theory.. or a complication to a theory.
First, the lighthouse. In the lighthouse there is a mirror. Now, we assume that Jacob uses this mirror to keep an eye on his possible candidates, track them, and bring them to the island. Very plausible.
But, what if the mirror is suggestive as to what the “alternate” timeline is? Jack’s scar first got me thinking of this. In one of the more recent episodes, Jack asks his mom when he had his appendix out – strange no? But that’s not my main concern. My main concern is that the scar from Jack’s surgery appears to be on his left side in that episode. I know for a fact that in 4th season, Jack’s appendix was taken out on his right side. This is no mere inconsistancy. It leads me to believe that the “alternate” timeline might be a mirror-world.
Further evidence of this comes from David’s Alice in Wonderland book that Jack points out and tries to talk to his son about. Literature is very significant in this show. I believe we have a “through the looking glass” situation going on.
The mirror concept, however, is subjective depending on the character. Some characters mirror selves are the exact opposite of what we see on the island. For example, Jack is calm, Hurley is lucky, Ben is noble, etc., etc. Others, however, are shown as what they are on the island. For example, Kate still runs, Sayid still kills, etc.
Why a mirror-world is significant.. I have no clue. And if someone else knows, then feel free to add on to this theory. I just thought it made way too much sense in my brain at the time. Discuss away!
*** NEW ADDITION TO THIS POST***
I was doing some research on Alice in Wonderland – particularly the Through the Looking Glass half of the story. This is what I came across:
“Whereas the first book has the deck of cards as a theme, this book is based on a game of chess, played on a giant chessboard with fields for squares. Most main characters met in the story are represented by a chess piece, with Alice herself being a pawn. However, the moves described in the ‘chess problem’ cannot be carried out legally due to a move where white does not move out of check (a list of moves is included – note that a young child might make this error due to inexperience).[citation needed]
Although the chess problem is generally regarded as a nonsense composition because of the story’s ‘faulty link with chess'[3], the French researchers Christophe LeRoy and Sylvain Ravot have argued[4] that it actually contains a ‘hidden code’ by Carroll to the reader. The code is supposed to be related to Carroll’s relationship with Alice Liddell, and apparently contains several references to Carroll’s favorite number, 42.” — Courtesty of Wikipedia
This blew my mind! Because for the duration of the ENTIRE show, we have been shown our characters playing games – all sorts of games: Backgammon, Chess, Risk, Poker, Ring Toss.. you name it. But I have also felt that the characters themselves, in some ways, are game pieces or pawns. Alice in Wonderland just helped me illustrate this quite beautifully. Perhaps then the mirror world is not the one we see in the “alternate” timeline.. perhaps the mirror world is the island and everything that happens on it.
Thoughts.. comments?
*** EVEN MORE ADDED!!!!***
OK.. I need to stop reading about Alice in Wonderland.. otherwise this post will turn into a book. One last addition to this theory regarding Jack’s talking about Alice in Wonderland with David. Jack mentions to David that his (david’s) favourite characters were Kitty and Snowdrop… here’s what I researched about Kitty and Snowdrop:
“Dinah, Alice’s cat, also makes a return – this time with her two kittens; Kitty (the black one) and Snowdrop (the white one).” — Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Jack mentions two characters – one who is black and one who is white… and I dont think I need to tell the rest of you just how important those two colours have been to us in deciphering this show. What is interesting is that in Through the Looking Glass, Dinah brings these two kittens back with her to wonderland. It leaves me wondering whether or not we will see two children come or return to the island – one on the white side and one on the dark side. This could be a major clue!
Thoughts?
Well youve been coming up with a great bunch of theories lately havent you!
But youv made a teeny mistake… In jacks alt. flash, his scar is on the right.. when it shows a close up its in the mirror, making it look like the left side.. Sorry 🙁
But i do believe in a way it is a mirror reality. But for personalities not physical appearance.
And wow for the last 2 paragraphs! Everything seems to relate to Lost lol! They must have taken about 1000 shows/books/comics etc and merged them all into one show haha!
Blast – I knew I should have checked before I posted. I had a feeling that I might have been wrong.. but the idea was much to juicy to go untasted. Still – there’s a heck of a lot to do with Alice in Wonderland at least with this show!
That’s ok. Before you posted this I made the same comment about Jack’s scar on a different theory. I do like the similarities with Through the Looking Glass.
Yeah, the appendix is always on the same side of a person’s body. So it couldnt be possible for someone to have an appendix scar on the other side.
Nice thoughts here broken42…
Remember the story jack was reading to Arron when the O6 returned home?
And I quote from Lostpedia, “Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning?”
…on silver platter what is occurring on Lost between realities now, in my opinion…
I especially feel the mirror is important…
Let me ask you 2 questions to push you in what I feel is the right direction…
What was the first mirror/looking glass known in existence?
And what was the backdrop of the “magic” mirrors of the lighhouse?
Water. The answer to both questions is water.
I still have yet to understand the significance of water on this show – it appears all the time.. and the problem with water is that it can mean so many different things.
But, if we are going to look at water as a mirror.. a way of looking at oneself.. then being stuck on an island surrounded by water leaves you no choice but to do a little self-examination.
and perhaps someone who doesn’t like what they see would want to leave all that water behind and “go home”.
so – perhaps this lends more significance to the Looking Glass station?
maybe MIB and Jacob are really Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee!
brokenankh42, The significance of water and its meaning is, that it represents the collective unconscious and the continuum, where the flow of all things in the universe goes back to one source.
Prior to the invention of ancient mirrors, water was used for ‘scrying’ purposes to look into aspects of past, present and future.
The symbolism is present, and the writers are making us aware of this, through the names of the episodes and the references to the book.
In terms of the characters, there is no doubt that aspects of their lives and conscious minds are being reflected. The purpose of this is still not fully known, but likely has something to do with the meaning of water and mirrors. ‘Reflection’, being the key word.
Nice theory!
As someone who read and re-read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland probably a hundred times as a child, I was always pleasantly surprised to see any reference in Lost to one of my favorite stories (the other being The Wizard of Oz). Surely mirrors, games, rabbit holes have played a huge part in Lost, and now the writers are taking it a step further with the Lighthouse, Reflections, and mirrors in each episode. Every episode’s flash sideways has a character looking into a mirror or reflective surface–Kate, Jack, Locke, Ben, Sayid. And AES, your question/answer about the “first” mirror being water was genius! Water is also a huge motif in the story, and has always been associated in literature with cleansing, baptism, rebirth, and redemption. After watching “Dr Linus” it is clear that the redemptive process is in full swing in Lost.
My only problem with my 2 favorite childhood stories is the endings–they both end up as being dreams. I hope that our writers will come up with a more sophisticated “denouement” than that!
And kudos to you BrokenAnkh42, also for your answers on water. I love your last sentence referring to being stuck on an island surrounded by water leading to self reflection!
Nice writing on this theory. Listen imisscharlie perhaps the dream ending of those 2 novels may actually something important?
I know most people on this community/website do not want a dream ending, but what if we elaborated on this “dream” ending scenario?
Have any of you ever read Hamlet by Shakespeare? One of my favourite lines is:
“For in that sleep of death/What dreams may come”.
oh, yes, nacho, I have read Hamlet. The famous soliloquy you refer to deals with Hamlet’s thoughts of suicide. “To be or not to be” he muses. On the one hand he looks to death as the end of all his worldly troubles, an escape from this evil world. Then he realizes that with the sleep of death he may actually dream–meaning that there may be some unknown life after death that could be worse than what he’s going through now. So how do we connect this with Lost? The characters who cannot kill themselves whatever they do, like Jack, Michael, Richard, until it’s “time”? Are they all really dead after the original 815 crash and the series is simply the last fleeting thoughts before they leave this world? Is this their afterlife? Or their life after death BUT before their reincarnation? Lots to think about, and I hope we get an answer by May!
Exactly! Thanks for extending on my brief suggestion.
When I started watching the series, and when I saw the episode where Sawyer/Ford in the black rock exacts revenge on real sawyer, I thought to myself: They must be in purgatory. Where all sinners go before eventually they are judged and sent to heaven or hell.
Anyway, the travels from losties back to the real world seems to oppose this, but anyway I am confident by May it will be a convincing and satisfying answer.
At first I had the same thoughts of purgatory as you did, but the writers said that the island was NOT purgatory. They lie, though, they also said there’d be no time travel! Also, there are people who are just so offended by any references to Christianity, (although they have no problems with any other religions) that they can’t accept the idea of purgatory. However, many of the world’s religions have the same concept–a kind of halfway house between this world and the next. That makes so much sense to me, but then again, I really don’t like all those scientific ideas of quantum physics, wormholes, and multiple universes. I guess I’m more a person of faith than a person of science!
broken, please watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgpZ0bEi8H0
if you havent seen it already, it’s the spanish promo for season six, and it is basically exactly what you quoted about through the looking glass. so you are def on to something here.
but like you said that the book ends with it all being a dream. i would also be super disappointed if it was all just a dream, but we have been told that we’ve seen the last scene already, and the one scene that we have seen time and again is the camera zoomed in on someone opening their eye, so will the last scene be someone opening their eye and seeing it was all just a dream?
as far as in everyone’s comments about water being the first mirror and the island really being purgatory, i want to say that this is the most logical explanation for everything, and as much as everyone else doesnt want that to be the ending it’s the only one that would make sense. but it does get a little weird with them going back to the rest of the world and coming back to the island.
@brokenankh42 I first read this theory prior to your addendum, and I have to say it’s been fleshed out quite nicely! I remember thinking Kitty/Snowdrop being black/white and thought wow, that must be significant– esp. since Jack gets cut off while saying it to David! (I feel like the writers put important info in largely disregarded lines, or more comic characters like Hurley and Miles.) But I didn’t make that connection between Dinah bringing both kittens back! Love this. Definitely in the camp that this refers to David/Aaron. I esp like how AES tied it all in with pointing out the water themes as another form of mirroring…
I also read the theories (wish I could credit it but can’t remember who said it) about #42 possibly being Ji Yeon– since Jacob touched Sun/Jin at the same time. She could also be a “kitten” brought back to the Island…
Also throwing this out there just for the sake of argument– Walt, as a kid, shown to be extremely special but ended up leaving the Island. Were they afraid of how his powers might’ve evolved if he stayed on Island? And when he returns, now older, does this mean his powers would be less than they once were? We know he still has his sixth sense since he basically predicted Locke “wearing a suit” on the Island… kids/offspring have always been a huge focus of the show as well…