Lord of the Rings, the Bible, and LOST

In the fourth of my series on TV, books and movie influences on LOST I get to discuss two of my favorites.  If you read my “about me” post called “Why I really get LOST” you will see how much those aforementioned things reflect on my love of Lost and my life in general.

So here are some of the tie-ins to LOST  I see in the Lord of the Rings:

The Great Eye over Middle Earth

The Great Eye – Well, as probably everyone knows, LOST starts off with the shot of a single eye-opening to reveal Jack alone in the jungle on Lost island.  In LOTR we see the Great Eye described as “lidless wreathed in flame”, which is the eye of Sauron, the evil and dark presence in Middle Earth.  In both stories the “Eye” is referenced quite frequently.  In LOST, I read the eye to represent an awaking of the soul (as in a birth or rebirth).  In LOTR the eye is just the opposite, it represents slavery and death of the soul until all living things are subjugated to the will and control of the evil one.

Myth & Legend – The LOTR’s has a backstory going back through many civilizations of Middle Earth.  With each new place the characters discover there are relics and carvings from an older civilization.  For instance before they can enter Moria they must first use an old incantation to open the doors to the underground world of the ancient Dwarves.  In LOST, the survivors first encounter the first “layer” if you will when they enter the Swan hatch (from the 70’s), then they discover the four-toed statue from an even earlier civilization.  And we have seen glimpses of hieroglyphics at the Orchid and the tunnels under the Dharma barracks.

Ancient creatures – On LOST the “ancient” creature is Smokey, the nanobot shaped cloud of smoke that can read your life and destroy enemies.  In LOTRs there is the ancient spider Shelob and the Watcher of the Water outside Moria.

The Quest to save the World – In LOTR there is a conflict between good and evil to save Middle Earth from domination of the forces of Sauron.  Gandalf explains to Frodo his purpose.

And here is Ms. Hawking describing Desmond’s role in LOST (which ties into another ring..)

The Bible

The most direct tie in would be to the episodes titles.  I count five LOST episode titles that refer to Bible chapters/books, or Psalms or Bible quotes.

Season 1: Numbers, Exodus
Season 2: The 23rd Psalm,  Fire + Water
Season 3: Stranger in a Strange Land

And we know these “men of the cloth” so to speak from LOST.  Both Desmond (a monk) and Mr. Eko (a priest) were people associated with religion.  Charlie was associated with the Virgin Mary statues and he was an altar boy.  Kate knew about names of the saints from going to Sunday school.  Jack Shephard is probably a reference to the Good Shepherd.  Moses is referenced directly in the show when Eko finds out Claire’s baby’s name is Aaron.

Bible Themes such as faith, hope, and love are referenced throughout the show.  As is the interesting debate about science and faith, life and death , and immortality (especially with Locke).

For more interesting Biblical connections to Lost check out this article at Lostpedia.

Here is the Life and Death music theme.