The Mark of Cain
  I just finished reading Clairespeanutbutter’s most recent post (it’s a good one folks, definitely worth a read) and Iwanted to add a few more spices to that tasty stew (hope you don’t mind Clairespeanutbutter). )
  When Cain killed Abel he was cursed by God. God said to Cain “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” (Gen. 4:10—12) To further this curse God “set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him” I started thinking to myself, is the smoke monster the mark of Cain? Nemesis said himself that he once had a human body but Jacob took that away from him. Sounds like a curse to me. So Cain commits mankind’s first murder as as punishment a mark is set upon him robbing him of his human body and giving him the ability to turn into black smoke. To further my point, Ephrem the Syrian(306-378) said that: “Abel was bright as the light, / but the murderer (Cain) was dark as the darkness”. That’s sound vaguely familiar doesn’t it? Oh I Iove it when it all comes together. In an Eastern Christian (Armenian) Adam-book (5th or 6th century) it is written: “And the Lord was wroth with Cain. . . He beat Cain’s face with hail, which blackened like coal, and thus he remained with a black face”. Exchange the word “face” with “smoke” and now we’re talking! It should be noted that the blackness that befell Cain did not refer to his skin colour but the lack of the light of God in his heart. Even Cain’s people shared this blackness, or should I call it an “infection”.
  Another story from the bible which I feel relates to our lovable Losties is from the book of Job. Job was a good man, a wealthy man, a man of God. One day the Devil said to God, “Hey G, you know the only reason Job loves you so much is because of all the blessings you have laid upon him” to which God replied “Ok D, I see your point but I believe I can prove you wrong. I’ll take away all of Job’s blessings, in fact I am gonna mess that sucka up, and guess what? He will still love me”. “You’re on!” replied the Devil. So God goes about messing Job up. He takes his money, kills his daughters, gives him boils but just as God said Job still loved him. I look at the lives of our Losties and I see Jacob messing those suckers up at all turns. He has been playing them since they were little Losties and he has done so to prove his point to the Devil. Free will is a big theme in LOST and so is the illusion of free will. Job never had free will and either do our Losties. They have the illusion of free will….They are just players in a cosmic game of “screw you”.
Clairespeanutbutter theorized that the two skeletons on the island are Bernard and Rose. I tend to think they are Jack and Kate. I still believe that LOST is a circle that has no beginning or end. We the viewer see things in a linear progression but what if Jack and Kate somehow travel back to the beginning of the island and die together under that tree? What if the reason Locke can walk on the island is because of the spinal surgery he will receive from Jack? What is the beginning is the end is the beginning (so says the Pumpkins!)
Cheers
I think that the skellies will be MiB and Jacob’s parents, and we will also find out that they helped come about the origin of the white and black stones.
cliffordification, some interesting thoughts on the issue of ‘free will’, which I feel really applies to Lost and the characters.
It is stated that if determinism is true, there is no free will. Free will is an illusion. Hard determinist’s believe that everything is predetermined and regardless of individual choices, the same outcome would come about.
I think the issue of ‘free choice’ is often confused with that of ‘free will’. The implications are somewhat different.
Nice theory!
god didn’t do anything to Job, he told the devil he could do anything he wanted to Job, but that he couldnt kill him. So maybe MIB is the devil and has been given the power to screw up the lives of the losties, but he can’t kill the candidates, and that little kid is god telling him, you know the rules
Very interesting stuff. I’ve always felt that Jacob and MIB would be explained as Cain and Abel, but it wouldn’t be that fulfilling or creative. Perhaps MIB was a candidate who “won” or was “nominated”. This would explain why he killed any non-candidates or people who plan on “hurting” the island. And it would explain why he’s so powerful. Prior to knowing that the smoke monster was actually a human, we all thought it was a security system for the temple. And a security system does the same thing as a “protector” that Jacob is currently choosing. I think that MIB’s fate is the fate of the candidate who gets nominated (they get turned into a monster that can kill anything). Thats why he is so spiteful and says “It’s an island, it doesn’t need to be protected”. In reality, the island needs protection from MIB. He, like all other tragic heroes, has had a fall from grace and let his pride get in the way. I believe that only the newly chosen candidate will be able to defeat MIB because they will both be demi-gods in a sense. Then that could be a cause for the epic finale we’re all hoping for. White smoke vs black smoke anyone? Ehhh maybe that’d be too cheesy.
Nice theory Ryan, great examples used to solidify your theory. The example about Job is great…
On a sidenote, Abel was the first shepherd… another clue/connection to the Shepherds?