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.
4 comments:
Hi Tommy,
That's exactly what popped into my head as I was watching! Jack must have made a decision to leave much in the same way as in the book, i.e., wanting to stay, but somehow being convinced a little bit more than he wanted to stay at that moment, to leave. Or, as in the book, someone convinced him that they couldn't leave if he didn't help them, feeding off of Jack's need to help or save people, so he gave in to them and assisted their escape by going with them and helping along the way.
Now, he knows that he made the wrong decision and wants to get back. It will be fun to find out where this goes: if he gets back, and what might happen if TPTB show what goes on after he gets back (as opposed to him just making it to the island and collapsing on the beach in relief, "The End")! :-)
Hi Capcom! Excellent comparisons... I think I might need to update the entry. And you're right - I sure hope that they'll have a better ending in mind than the Frank Capra version you're describing!
But I did like the sappy-happy ending in the Capra movie too, it was appropriate for an old timey movie. :o) I just hope that Lost doesn't do that.
Good point, the way you said that he felt it was his repsonsibility to guide the people in their leaving Shangri-la. Our need to help can sometimes indeed become our downfall. I guess that's the definition of sacrifice, that Lost broached earlier in the series. Maybe Jack goes one self-sacrifice too far and messes up, according to the flash-forward.
Tommy, in your interest of Lost Horizon and Shangri-La, have you ever come across the Russian artist Nicholas Roerich? He did some awesome paintings of Tibet, Asia, Shambala, etc. If you haven't, you should really look into him since he spent his life on a quest to visit and paint Shangri-La. I think that you would like his work. I just bought a couple books on his biography and paintings. I also posted a little article on him on my blog (capcomslost.blogspot.com). If you go there, don't be surprised to see your blog listed there, since you were the one who started me on my Lost Horizon trek. :o)
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