The Divine Right of Kings
The Divine Right of Kings
Knight asked me to post a more comprehensive explanation of my "kings" theory, so here goes...
I'm not dogmatic about this, but I see a clear pattern in the names of the "candidates." The names of the candidates appear to correspond to kings, or at least national leaders, or to something directly relating to kings. Note the following:
The Man in Black discussed how several of the central Oceanic survivors are actually candidates for leadership on the island, and John Locke's name has been crossed off after his death. It associates each person with one of the numbers. But, I also read about the tapestry woven by Jacob in "the shadow of the statue," and how it shows the sun God above, and two kings - one on either side - watching as a bunch of rays come forth from the sun god, reaching down to nine people. Are the two "kings" Jacob and his nemesis? And these figures at the ends of those rays... are they the candidates and three other notable cast members? (Such as Sun, Claire and Kate plus the six candidates?)
I was considering all this when something suddenly struck me about the names. The surnames. Mind you, on one or two of these, I may be reaching a little to fill the holes, but several of these are explicit in meaning...
4) Locke -- a fortified place, or a locksmith. Philosopher John Locke is arguably most famous for opposing the idea of the divine right of kings.
8) Reyes - Spanish, means "king"
15) Ford - One who crosses over, particularly over or through water, also name of a national leader - a president, although not a great one. In fact, that president is considered by many to be a loser, a failure and a screw-up... not unlike Sawyer.
16) Jarrah - "one who gives sweetness," also a legendary Muslim leader who was a companion of Mohammed. Not sure about this one. But just as noteworthy is his first name, Sayid, which was a title for major chieftans in early Islam, and also signified direct descendants of Mohammed.
23) Shephard - shepherd, a reference to Jesus. Don't believe me? Who is a shepherd, but also a "great physician" who can make the lame walk? Also, Jack has had an alcohol problem; alcohol has been called "the water of life" by numerous cultures for thousands of years. So, Jack is a Shephard who is a great physician and makes the lame walk, and who partakes of the "water of life" and has exercised rulership over the survivors. Jack's number is 23. The most famous psalm is Psalm 23, which begins "The Lord is my shepherd..." To top it all off, what's his father's name? Christian!
42) Kwon - "authority," an explicit reference to Korean kings, the name was created specifically for kings. But, what about Sun's maiden name? Paik is a variation of Paek or Park, which originated with the founding king of the Silla Dynasty in Korea, one of the greatest empires in Korean history.
So, to recap:
- Reyes means king
- Kwon means king
- Paik was a very prominent Korean king
- Sayid is a chieftain and descendant of Mohammed
- Jarrah was the name of a specific, early Islamic chief and companion of Mohammed
- Shephard is the most famous king in all of history - Jesus, the shephard, great physician and king
- Ford was the president (king) of America, albeit a loser, a screw-up and a failure by the standards of many
- Locke was a philosopher primarily concerned with opposing the divine right of kings
I agree at least a couple of these are weak, including Ford and particularly Jarrah. The latter may in fact be because it is Middle-Eastern in origin, so I'm obviously going to be ignorant of most allusions involving such a name. However, it is striking to me that many names on this list either refer to kings or national leaders or actually, literally mean "king."
Richard clearly exercises authority on the island. Was he a previous "candidate?" His name... guess what? "Powerful ruler." The name is Germanic in origin. So is his last name, Alpert, which is combined from two Germanic words meaning "noble" + "famous." So.... powerful ruler, noble, famous! Can we get more obvious?
It occurred to me that I might be looking at this the way many people look at horoscopes - reading into it whatever they want to see. So, I looked through the name meanings of at least 50 or 60 character names from the show (there's a website that compiles the name of every major, minor and trivial character on the show, along with the meanings of their names), to see what I'd find. Virtually all of the names outside of these candidates have no meaning in the context of the show, at all. Their names mean trivial things like "wagonwheel maker" or "cyprus tree" or are named after a real-world river or the suburb of a city in England, etc. Clearly, the names of the candidates mean something significant, especially regarding kings and/or national leadership.
I am certainly not dogmatic on this theory, and even if I'm on the right track here, some of this information may be off. I welcome and encourage more input on this possible use of symbolism in the story!
