Is John Locke As Naive As John Locke?
In reading Madeline L'engle's An Acceptable Tiime I came across this description of philosopher John Locke and his view of Native Americans.
"Locke's impressions [were] idyllic and . . . a little naive. . . . The [natives] seemed to Locke to live a life as innocent as Adam and Eve in the Garden. They lived without external laws, did not buy or sell or pile up wealth. They were, Locke implied, without shame, not burdened by the guilts of the past." p. 76
This view seems to me to mirror our John Locke's view of the Island and Alpert's crew of true believers. Of course, we've seen more of the Others than Locke has, so I wonder if part of the "bad things" will merely be Locke's eyes opening to the reality of human nature and its depravity even on the Island. Maybe the real reason Locke leaves the Island is that his idyllic picture of the Island is shattered by reality. How Jack returning could help that I could not say, but Locke often looks for the easy, buck-passing solution (Sawyer and the real Sawyer), so perhaps Locke's plan to return the O6 is more mere naivete on Locke's part.
And while we're on Locke, I can't remember asking this before -- do you think off Island Bentham/Locke can walk or does he have to return to a wheelchair?
Monday, October 20, 2008
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7 comments:
You almost lured me into a DT spoiler there. Shame on me.
Great observations! :-D
I vote for yes, I've always thought that Lostie Locke was incredibly naive and childlike. He was so wide-eyed and blinded by things, seeing only the part that he wanted to see about the island, etc. Sometimes he looked as if he was going to jump up and down clapping giddily, like in the Flame when he was playing with the computer. Who knows if he will have a rude awakening coming to him in S5, I wonder!
I was wondering about Locke's legs too. If the coffin really was smallish, and not just an optical illusion caused by the camera angle perspective, maybe they get chopped off in during the "bad things"! :-o
It seems to me that he'd still be able to walk if he came back alone. It's one thing to get on a commercial airliner and fly to Austrailia and quite another to maneuver yourself out of a submarine. But maybe he didn't come back alone. Maybe someone - Richard or somebody - came with him.
I thought the coffin looked short also. He thought he could go on a walkabout without the use of his legs, so I don't think coming back and losing leg power would stop him.
He seems incredibly naive at times, and then quite savvy at others. Hard to say.
John Locke is indeed naive and child-like since he just wants to fit in and have a family. That is something he always has been denied. When he was with the pot growers, he was the same way...just happy to sitting down at the picnic table with a "family". He wants to belong to something...if not a nuclear family, then the island.
Good news Lost2010; I'm starting Song of Susannah tonight.
Yay! Think back to your blog post as you read.
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