"The Little Prince"

“Men occupy very little space on Earth. If the two billion inhabitants of the globe were to stand close together, as they might for some public event, they would easily fit into a city block that was twenty miles long and twenty miles wide. You could crowd all humanity onto the smallest Pacific islet.”

Maybe that's the key to Lost... it's a metaphor for humanity...

Pardon my musings... but last night's much-anticipated episode of Lost left me with tons of questions, but not a lot of REAL answers...

WARNING: IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED "THE LITTLE PRINCE" - SPOILERS AHEAD!

I found myself obsessed with the title, even prior to watching the episode. The more I looked at the book itself, the more I saw parallels (then again, I'm an English teacher!) - and got EXCITED!

Okay... Before I break down the episode via my big list of questions -- I want to share a few quotes from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (a French guy -- coincidence? I think not!)

"Grown-ups like numbers." -- like Hurley's haunted numbers?
I found something jarring about watching the Oceanic 6 continue to lead their off-island lives -- especially after spending almost an entire episode centered around the island in last week's "Jughead." I don't want to see Kate wearing goopy eye liner -- I preferred her covered in baby fluid (as she helped deliver Aaron in the jungle). But, Benjamin Linus rules (he's the master of evil... or good, I just can't tell yet!) and his inclusion of using lawyers and off-island tactics to get people back to the island is fascinating. I love how that's totally his lawyer. And how he doesn't even try to lie about it -- like he wanted them to know! Awesome.

"'For millions of years flowers have been producing thorns. For millions of years sheep have been eating them all the same. And it's not serious, trying to understand why flowers go to such trouble produce thorns that are good for nothing? It's not important, the war between the sheep and the flowers?... Suppose I happen to know a unique flower, one that exists nowhere in the world except on my planet, one that a little sheep can wipe out in a single bite one morning, just like that, even without realizing what he's doing - that isn't important? If someone loves a flower of which just one example exists among all the millions and millions of stars, that's enough to make him happy when he looks at the stars. He tells himself, 'My flower's up there somewhere...' But if the sheep eats the flower, then for him it's as if, suddenly, all the stars went out. And that isn't important?'"
-- In Lost, the island is the flower -- the only question is who's the "sheep" Benjamin Linus or Charles Widmore? How telling is this quote? Both of them love the island, but which one wants to protect it and which one wants to eat it... (metaphorically, of course). This episode had me questioning which "team" is the right team - it had me questioning Ben, questioning Faraday, even questioning Juliet!

Juliet... BTW, SERIOUSLY, how long has SHE been on this island?!? Because she seems to know A LOT for a transplant! I'm just saying...!

"'That is the hardest thing of all. It is much harder to judge yourself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself, it's because you're truly a wise man.'"
Everyone on Lost experiences denial at some stage in the game -- only those who judge themselves grow -- and learn from their pain. When John makes the conscience decision to NOT go visit himself at the hatch (during his the exact moment he lost and then regained his faith -- both based on Desmond turning on a light) and spare himself the pain of everything they've gone through - he opted not to. He acknowledged that he needed that pain to help him become who he is now -- Locke, AKA "Mountain Man," AKA "Walkabout Extraordinarre," AKA Future Leader of the Others, AKA Jeremy Benthem... damn! He's got a LOT of alias'!

"You're lovely, but you're empty," he went on. "One couldn't die for you. Of course an ordinary passerby would think my rose looked just like you. But my rose, all on her own, is more important than you altogether, since she's the one I've watered. Since she's the one I put under glass. Since she's the one I sheltered behind a screen. Since she's the one for whom I killed the caterpillars (except for two or three for butterflies). Since's she the one I listened to when she complained, or when she boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing at all. Since she's my rose."
Sawyer and Juliet seem to be making a lot of "eyes" at each other, but seeing Kate in the jungle totally jars Sawyer. He realizes how much he loves her, and while Juliet attempts to comfort him, she's just not HIS rose...

"One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."
Which is why you need a constant -- someone/something you love -- to keep you from losing your mind. Charlotte was GONE at the beginning of the episode. She revived, saw Daniel and didn't recognize him at first (Time travel sickness!), but then made the "heart" connection and stabilized -- leaving Miles and Juliet to pick up where she left off.

"Only the children know what they're look for," said the little prince. "They spend their lives on a rag doll and it becomes very important, and if it's taken away from them, they cry..."
This could be about Jack... the island's his rag doll... But, something tells me Aaron is A LOT more important than the rest of the motely crew that makes up the Oceanic 6. I was analyzing how I feel about the Six and realized that of the group, Sayid's the brightest bulb in the pack. And he's obviously got some weird ex-killing buddy issues going on with Ben, which is impairing his judgement -- and keeps resulting in his getting shot by tranq's. Kate's a basket case -- I kind of get her connection to Aaron (especially after reliving the birth scene), but her quest for family is just sad. Why did she leave the island? What was she rushing back for? On the island, she had TWO hunky guys lusting after her, she was queen of the jungle, and didn't have to deal with any bullshit. Now, she's running from the law, stalking Claire's Mom, and generally just surrendering herself to extreme bouts of paranoia.

"What makes the desert beautiful," said the little prince, "is that it hides a well somewhere..."
Or a hatch...
Or multiple hatches with time travelling bunnies...

"I was surprised by suddenly understanding that mysterious radiance of the sands. When I was a little boy I lived in an old house, and there was a legend that a treasure was buried in it somewhere. Of course, no one was ever able to find the treasure, perhaps no one even searched. But it cast a spell over the whole house. My house hid a secret in the depths of its heart... "
I was surprised by a sudden flash and electromagnetic light that moved the island through time. When Ben was a boy, he lived on an old island (with an old cabin built by Horace and taken over by Jacob), and there was a legend that a treasure (time-travel) was buried in it somewhere. Of course, Widmore was not able to find the treasure -- nor anyone else -- perhaps no one even searched (maybe they had to crash...). But it cast a spell over the whole island. The island is hidden in the secret depths of the hearts of those who've walked upon it. Too much of a stretch? It's poetic, but highly parallel.

"People where you live," the little prince said, "grow five thousand roses in one garden... yet they don't find what they're looking for..."
This seems to refer to those off-island -- the Oceanic 6, trying to "grow their roses" and never being able to find what they're looking for - because what they need is back on the island. This one just fits SO well!

"You risk tears if you let yourself be tamed."
That's why Kate's always running... she's afraid to be tamed.

"'People have stars, but they aren't the same. For travelers, the stars are guides. For other people, they're nothing but tiny lights. And for still others, for scholars, they're problems. For my businessman, they were gold. But all those stars are silent stars. You, though, you'll have stars like nobody else.'

'What do you mean?'

"When you look up at the sky at night, since I'll be living on one of them, since I'll be laughing on one of them, for you, it'll be as if all the stars are laughing. You'll have stars that can laugh!"
And he laughed again."
Something tells me John Locke has more stars than anyone else!

"For me, this is the loveliest and the saddest landscape in the world. It's the same landscape as the one on the preceeding page, but I've drawn it one more time to be sure you see it clearly. It's here that the little prince appeared on Earth, then disappeared." (like the island!)

Look at this lanscape carefully to be sure of recognizing it, if you should travel to Africa someday, in the desert (Tunisia?). And if you happen to pass by here, I beg you not to hurry past. Wait a little while, just under the star! Then if a child comes to you, and if he laughs, if he has golden hair (like Aaron!), if he doesn't answer your questions, you'll know who he is. If this should happen, be kind! Don't let me go on being so sad: Send word immediately that he's come back... "
And BRING him back to the island...

And now...

TARA'S BIG LIST OF LOST QUESTIONS

FOCUS: "THE LITTLE PRINCE"

1. Is Miles the son of Pierre Chang?


2. Does Daniel know who's been on the island before? And if so, how? Because he was there?


3. What the heck is Juliet's deal? I KNOW she's holding out on us - she knows more than she speaks of... It makes me think back to that Juliet-Ben tainted love thang (in "The Other Woman," when he said, "Why? You're asking me why? After everything I did to get you here, after everything I've done to keep you here - how can you possibly not understand...that you're mine!" it seems like there was A LOT more to that statement than pure jealousy over Goodman. It seemed like Ben had travelled or done something drastic to get Juliet back to the island -- more than just build her a pretty house with flower boxes! I'm thinking back to the original "Adam and Eve" skeletons from the first season -- could Ben and Juliet be Adam and Eve? Could Juliet be deeply connected to the island in a way we haven't seen yet? Her nosebleed leads me to believe that she's holding bigger secrets than she lets on...


4. Is Charlotte better? Or is it just temporary?


5. So... I'm starting (and continuing) to think that when people pop up in the island, where they're not supposed to be, it's all time-travel-related. And if that's the case, where the heck is Walt? What's his role? I still think HE should have to go back, right? Why not him?


6. What the heck happened to Lapidus? We never hear about him again! He totally knows the lie!


7. Do you think Ben was behind the fact that Claire's lawyer was also HIS lawyer? I think he was - he's Ben! He rules. I just haven't figured out what side... Either way, I'm kind of okay with it :)


8. Was I the only one who wondered how many neon orange animals had to die in order to create Hurley's prison jumpsuit?


9. What's the significance of Sawyer being present at Aaron's birth? There's gotta be more to it then that sappy, "She was so close, I could touch her if I wanted to..." But then again, it did make my heart flutter, so maybe it's just a function of the love story.


10. New theory -- after HOURS of Lost-mulling and theory-reading -- I totally am on-board with the Jensen idea of Charles Widmore and Ellie being BROTHER AND SISTER! The way he snaps at her in "Jughead" screams of an extreme familiarity... that could also explain a few things -- like why he hasn't killed her when he knows where she is (he can't the island won't let him!) and why she knows so much (she's been there JUST AS LONG AS WIDMORE!). And it would make sense for a brother-sister battle royale... Just saying :)


11. Do you think the Aijira Airlines bottle is from the flight that takes the Oceanic 6 back to the island? Check out their website: http://www.ajiraairways.com/ (It features an Austrailian WalkAbout...)
12. And, who left those boats? Our very own Oceanic 6?!? Could they be the ones shooting? But why shoot?


13. AND - WHERE ARE ROSE AND BERNARD!?! Are they dead? Or just in a REALLY REALLY good hiding spot?


14. I'm still puzzled over who Charlotte is, really... who the heck is she? AND who are her parents? I think this will be important info...


15. What's Sawyer's ultimate role in all of this? It seems like the ones who left are all the dumb-butts (minus Sayid - but he's got a lame resume) who are trying to escape fate. Remember, we have a pill-popping/boozy doctor, an insane-asylum escapee, an ex-Iraqi Republican Guard soldier, an ex-convict/murderer, the cheating wife of a mafia man, and the illegitimate baby of a girl who got "lost." And the ones who got "left behind" are the brains and brawn of the operation -- Juliet (Doctor/Island Knowledge Keeper), Daniel (The Scientist and the only one who knows what the heck is going on), Charlotte (Part scientist/part island girl from the past -- either way, she's been here before and knows it!), Miles (He can see dead people! And hear them!), Locke (The island mini-Messiah), and Sawyer (The Ultimate Con-Man/Fighting Machine/Old Softie). It seems like Sawyer's going to have a greater destiny in all of this, more than just merely getting naked -- although he can keep doing that! :)


16. At what point in time do you think Jack's Dad was alive on the island? I'm figuring he's been there too...


17. Was Richard EVER a child? We know Ben was, but Richard?


18. Why the heck does Sayid hate Ben so much? Sayid's the one who signed up for Ben's army of death, why be bitter now?


19. How closely did the writers associate this with the book, The Little Prince? Because if it's just about Aaron being a little prince, I've read WAY too much into the literary connection!


20. Why is Kate annoying? And why did they have to slap such a dramatic amount of eyeliner on her to distinguish between "Island Kate" and "Post-Island Kate" -- dude, we can already tell by the look of her blown-dried hair!


21. Is Desmond in next week's episode? I hope so... And Richard! He's the only one who can wear eyeliner on this show - and get away with it!
22. Is Jin a Jedi? How the heck has he survived, out at sea, with no food or water?!?
23. AND how cool is it that Danielle Rousseau is back? And preggers! Whoo! But this raises some questions -- because Jin formally introduced himself to her -- and she him, so why didn't they recognize each other when they met originally? Because it hadn't happened yet? Argh! I'm confused! But Yay! Jin's alive!
24. How the HECK is Ben going to prove it to Sun!!???
25. And is Sun the crappiest Mom ever? Mini-bar candy and 100 channels of cable? Don't leave your kid with her!


26. And, finally (for now), why did I expect this week's installment to answer ANY of the questions I've been toiling over from last week?!? I've had so many questions and this episode only stoked the fire and made me hungry for more answers -- darn you/LOVE YOU Lost!

Than God this show has an end date -- otherwise, I'd be frustrated, but because I know we have to build before the climax, I feel the ending will be well worth the frustration and questioning... right? Right? Anyone? Bueller...?

Anyone up for an Aijira Airlines trip? Hee hee -- maybe we'll get to see one next week!

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