Unlikely Possibilities

This post will have some other connections from the show to the book that I've deemed maybe too much of a stretch, or theories that have been disproven due to new developments on the show.

1. "Who am I here to save?"

These lines are spoken by Jack at the end of the episode "Every Man for Himself," after he sees the x-rays of someone (a man, about 40 yrs old) who has a spinal tumor. This points to what was said earlier about Jack's plane being purposely flown off-course just to get him on the island. Here's a more thorough update:

Lost Horizon: the High Lama is dying (after living for 100's of years). With his means of contacting the outside world, he finds the writings of Hugh Conway, and studies this man from afar. The High Lama decides that this is the man with the right philosophy to carry on his vision in Shangri-La, and he has one of his subjects hijack the plane that Hugh Conway is flying in to bring him there. But when attempting to land plane in the village, the plane crashes and the pilot dies.

Lost (theory): the leader of "the others" is dying of a spinal tumor. With their means of contacting the outside world, they discover the work of Jack Shephard, and see that he's worked miracles before (in the episode The Hunting Party we learn of Jack's legendary status). The others then use what means they have to divert the plane that Jack is on to bring him to the island. But the plane crashes and the pilot dies.

- The pilot said that they were a thousand miles off course. Could this have been intentional? The others may not have 'caused' the plane to crash, but they may have been trying to get the plane to land on the island, regardless.

- Also in the book, this isn't the first time they've brought people to the village by dubious means. In fact, one of the women, a major love-interest character, was brought there "by accident" as well, and she is one of the key characters that discovered Hugh's work to begin with, and convinces him to stay once he's there. Could Juliet be one of the many that the others have brought there for their purposes (fertility)? On the island, there are multiple crashes - Henry Gale's balloon, Rousseau's boat, Desmond, etc. The others could have brought Juliet there in the same way. Did she do the research on Jack to begin with? And is her job now to convince Jack to stay?

This connection may have fizzled due to a couple of reasons:
- in episode 5 of season 3, Benry asks Jack if he believes in God. Jack asks back: "do you?" Then Benry goes on to describe how amazing it is that here he is in need of a spinal surgeon and one drops out of the sky. If he's telling the truth (I think he is), then basically saying it's pure coincidence (not planned) that Jack is there.
- In the official lost podcast hosted by the creators, they said that they're big fans of Charles Dickens, and one of the things they've really liked and borrowed from him is his use of coincidence. So some of the strange connections between characters on this show are just that: fateful coincidence.
This connection isn't necessarily disproved per se, but now I think it's unlikely.

2. A Spinal Tumor?

Part of my theory is that the residents of Shangri-La don't get sick and don't age. So what about the fact that Benry has a spinal tumor? Not sure how to explain that one. This is a work in progress folks...