Progression of Power – White Vs Black
Once again, I apologize if my thoughts are a bit scattered, a side effect of being Bi-Polar.
Richard, I believe, is never meant to be in power, merely a mentor and an overseer. Let’s call him John the Baptist of sorts. What is Richard’s driving force? his motto? his purpose?
Richard and anyone of power whom sits with and/or behind him on the island have one single purpose. It is their job to place people in power of the island, with the job of protecting the island. As is the ongoing thematic since the pilot (Locke holding up the backgammon pieces, one white one black) Richard works for “The White” aka, the common good of man. So who is the black? Widmore? Ben?
I believe that Richard weaves events to ensure that the person he places in power will do for the common good. But as the old saying goes “Power Corrupts”. So it’s necessary at some point in time to remove the person in power, after time and power has corrupted them. Including myself, I believe all of us have looked for one person to point a finger at and say “He is bad”. What I failed to see was my own belief, where we are all inherently good, as well as inherently bad. Yin and Yang, we are balanced. With that much power, I challenge any of you, any of us, to not become corrupted.
So Widmore (supposedly from his mouth) was in power until he started to become corrupt (something he failed to mention), he was ousted, and Ben was put in his place. Ben too served his purpose and did plenty of good. Now we watch as he becomes corrupt (hence the ongoing question, is Ben good or bad) and he too is being ousted with Locke to take his place. I believe this is the reason we have 3 separate people that have been the “Leader” of the Others.
To me this explains a great deal of both Widmore’s (sending a ship of Mercenaries) and Ben’s actions within the past 2 seasons. This to me is also a more realistic perspective of the White vs Black thematic, especially considering the original intention before writers/producers were even chosen was for this to be based on a reality show such as Survivor – in life no one person is entirely evil, no one person entirely good.
Feel free to pick this one apart, for I believe strongly about this one and wish to fortify any holes in my theory. 🙂 Happy Losting.
TehIgnored, I like the black vs white comparisons throughout the show.
As viewers, I think one of the points we should be taking away from this is, that nothing is black and white. That nothing is, as it seems. There are always shades of grey.
That aside, I like what you say about inherent good and inherent bad. It is all about balance.
This is how I apply the three sides of things. White, black and shades of grey being required to balance it all out! Perhaps, this is what Jacob is working towards.
agree dabs, its hard for me to see ben and richard as white when they end up killing most of dharma. no matter what the reason is, a true good person would find another way. so if you kill a bunch of people for some idealistic reason, no matter how good of a reason, still makes you grey to black.
Let me reiterate two specific points – They have in them both good and evil, just like all of us. You call it being gray, I call it being human. We are all capable of both. If you’ve read the Gunslinger by Stephen King, you see Roland as a not so nice guy, but his actions are meant to benefit the greater good. I never said they were angels.
You’re using the term “White” too literally. It’s that which benefits the common good of humanity.
It’s about balance, choices, and a common good.
One thing that cannot be denied from this theory , is that teh, you say that they all have good and evil in them. To a certain extent, we have seen at least a hint of good from almost evry character, evn Mr Linus.
The bad, we have seen a dark side to evryone almost.Even Jack pulled the trigger on Locke last season, but the gun wasnt loaded. I think evryone but Hurley and the kids at this point has killed, attempted to kill, or wanted to kill someone at some point on the show, at least from the Losties point.
EVERYONE has a little of good and evil in them sometimes, it as you asked leaaves us to wonder, at what cost. At what point iss the murder or killing of fellow man a ‘good’ or ‘ritious’ kill?
Both Widmore and Ben have incinuated that the other is the ‘bad’ guy. If it is necessary for the ‘white’ side to be ‘good’, and not have thoughtss of murder at some point, then we may have to wait for the ‘tabula rasas’ to return to the island. The blank slates, the children. Because at this point, they may be the hope and goodness that the island needs. Although we see a young Ethan already as well, and we know the outcome of that child.
Teh, I agree, both have shown some good and evil in them, its aout choice, free will, and very soon we will see them decide their path, and walk their path.
AES: Pardon me, but didn’t Hurley plow into someone with the Dharma van at the end of season three? If he did not kill Tom and the others, his intent was certainly to hurt (albeit in defense of his friends). I think his tearful confession to his mother involves at least some measure of guilt for being an accessory to all that violence.
YES, finalizing the idea!
7, 7, 7, great memory, forgot about Hurleys imatation of speed racer! Must have confused Jack with RacerX, lol.
Seriously though, a magnificent scene and possibly Hurleys bad side showing, even if for the greater good.
Man, that makes me happy, seriously.
I racked my brain for a good hour on that one little thing.
It really does show that everyone would kill if necessary, even if they wouldnt in a normal situation.
Protection. Protect you friends, your island, your holy land, your destiny, your world, your universe.
Interesting thoughts TehIgnored. I particularly like your take on Richard as the ‘overseer’. I agree with this wholeheartedly. Do you think Richard himself has become corrupt at any point though?
Ricky did on the smaller scale, put a few bullets in Mr. Keamys back…even if it was to save Sayid…(see above comments)
Thanks Mrs. S, haven’t put a great deal of thought into the possibility of Richard, and why or why not he has become corrupt. I did have a flash of an idea when Iggys and I were discussing this (we usually bounce our theories off each other before posting), where in Richard does not have enough power to corrupt him, he lacks the power to time travel. (I know this goes against other posts in other threads, but all my theories end up being independent of themselves) As I mentioned in my original post, he’s not meant to be in a position of power. He’s like the navigator of a ship, but it’s the captain that gives the orders.