A Lost Theory: The Purgatory of the Island

Lost, the hit show from JJ Abrams (Alias) and Damon Lindelof (Crossing Jordan), is different enough that someone could find symbolism in every aspect of it. And any hardcore fan with an Internet connection knows there are tons of conspiracy and general theories floating around about what is going on in Lost, or what something might mean.

One of the first theories someone might come across is that of the island being Purgatory. And on the surface, that makes sense. In his Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri expounds on Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. Dante's Purgatory is an island-mountain, the only land around. Okay, that makes sense. Lost finds the plane crash survivors on an island in the middle of nowhere, probably in the Southern Hemisphere, much like Dante's island. The island is also not flat, giving it a similarity to the mountain aspect in the Divine Comedy as well. But so what? There are plenty of mountainous islands with no other land in sight that actually exist on this earth.

Dante's Purgatory is where the seven deadly sins are purged through penance from the souls who were beset by them. So what are these seven deadly sins? They are pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and slothfulness. Each episode of Lost delves into the past of one of the characters, most often showing mistakes or bad deeds they committed. It is rather easy to connect things like theft and murder to the list of deadly sins. But there are more than seven people on the island, so it doesn't make sense in terms of the number of survivors and the terraces to Purgatory.

Heaven sits at the top of Dante's mountain. What is interesting to note is that the seven contrary virtues - said to protect you against temptation of the seven deadly sins - are humility, kindness, abstinence, chastity, patience, liberality, and diligence. Now, what are the lessons that each of the characters on the show seem to be learning while on the island? They very well could line up with those seven virtues.

So why do I not buy the island is Purgatory theory? Well to begin, the characters cast shadows unlike the dead in Purgatory. Why would a dog be sent to Purgatory? How could a baby be born to a dead woman? And the creators of the show have adamantly declined to admit that anything supernatural or sci-fi is going on.

But then, who knows?