Okay, put on your earmuffs if you who still haven't read the book Lost Horizon and wouldn't like to have the ending spoiled. Here goes: in the end of the book, Hugh Conway escapes Shangri-La and barely survives the journey down from the mountains. Once back in the safety of western civilization and with a hero's welcome awaiting him back home, he decides to head back into the mountains and spends the rest of his life hiring whatever planes and mountain guides possible in search of a way to get back to what he now realizes is paradise.
Need I say more about this theory???!!
* A new note regarding motivations (thanks capcom!): In the book, Conway is presented as a very admirable figure. Like the traditional hero, he puts others' concerns before his own. But this kind of heroism is thrown into question when his need to help others becomes his own downfall when he feels that it's his responsibility to guide others out of Shangri-La. I think it's perfectly clear now that Jack faces the same kind of internal struggle. Jack needed to fill the role a hero for the survivors, and I know I've certainly rooted for him to kick ass, but his need to have something to fix has led to a form of self-destruction.
