In less than a week, the LOST series will come to an end. Throughout the whole series, I’ve never known exactly who to root for. Who is the bad guy? For many seasons, you found yourself hating some characters and then coming to love them again, always unsure of who the is the bad guy. But now, this villain has been identified.
The enemy of the people on the island is the Man in Black.
He is, and always has been the nemesis of the story.
Today, I started daydreaming about our own personal stories, the screenplay we write in our own minds. In our stories, we are the hero. In order to be a true hero, an adversary must also be identified. In my own life, it seems pretty clear in my own mind who I would identify as my foe, although it would change from time to time. But if I were to ever write the novella of my life, I could easily label who that person is. I’m sure you could probably name yours too.
But then it struck me- Is it possible that I am someone else’s nemesis? Is there someone in the world that would write their memoir and craft me the villain? I would not particularly paint myself to be evil or hateful. It seems absurd that someone would possibly view me this way.
Or is it?
The concept of becoming a villain brings about a myriad of questions. Are all people bad? Are all people good? What causes a person to be evil? What is the purpose behind identifying those we hate? What does this accomplish in our own lives? Is it a desire for darkness, the self or just a response to previous unresolved pain?
The man in black has finally revealed his motivation for wanting to get off the island- he had been previously hurt. Someone had lied to him and he felt betrayed. He wants to leave the island not to spread evil among the world, as I had previously thought. He wants to escape the island which he associates with the pain of his childhood.
How often is this our own reasoning for being hurtful to others?
A note to my unknown rival,
I am deeply sorry for ever hurting you. It was never my intention to bring you pain. It might have come from my own selfish desires. Or maybe I hurt you because I have some wounds in my own life that have not yet healed. I’ve screwed up before. And as much as I don’t want to admit it, I will do so again because I am human. But I am learning from my mistakes and I’m trying to be a more considerate person. I hope you will forgive me.
Sincerely,
Pam
pmcmillan
