Thoughts on Jacob

So this Jacob character was at first presented as this all-knowing guru or guiding figure. He was considered leader of the others, had a list, and was loved by God. Ben seemed to use him as an excuse to do all sortsa crazy shit.

Here are my thoughts on Jacob:

In the episode "The Man Behind the Curtain," when Ben first meets Richard Alpert by the sonar fence, Ben explains that he was out there looking for his dead mother. Alper doesn't seem to think that this is a big deal. Only when Ben mentions that she didn't die on the island does Richard think Ben is pretty special.

This leads me to believe a couple of things. First, it kind of explains that seeing people on the island that were supposed to have died there, or their bodies are there, is a kind of natural occurrence (see Christian Shephard, Boone, Yemi, etc.). Second, it demonstrates that Richard thinks Ben is special, much like Walt was thought to be "special." So the others seem to put a premium on psychic abilities, powers, or what have you. With this I'm going to surmise a story about Ben and his relationship to Jacob.

In my Shangri-La theory, there was an older civilization on the island that lived in a kind of paradise on the island. In Lost Horizon, this place was ruled by the High Lama, who was originally a jesuit priest who made his way into the valley, combined western religion with eastern philosophies, and used the natural tendencies of the valley to lead people into a kind of utopian ageless paradise. For right now, I'm going to say that this character of Jacob represents this High Lama guy. But at some point in the history of the island, something went wrong. The original inhabitants were killed off, some crazy corporations took over to try and mine the place of its riches. There was an incident. Or something. This act of destruction caused Jacob to be left in some sort of limbo.

The others that Ben joins are westerners, possibly ex-dharma scientists, that somehow discovered the original history of the island and want to re-create the Shangri-La that once was. Already they've discovered some of the island's natural tendencies (like psychic reconstruction of the dead and agelessness). They know that the previous civilization was perhaps ruled by Jacob, that he's supposed to be in that cabin, but they're not quite sure how to talk to him. Enter Ben Linus. When he becomes initiated into their group, they think "just how special is this kid?" They tell him that he should try and communicate with Jacob, see what happens. So he goes into that cabin and tries, but doesn't hear or see a damn thing. But Ben's a slimy mofo, and out of fear of rejection or whatever, he lies and tell the people that he did, in fact see and talk to Jacob. So suddenly he's the only one that can talk to Jacob, and over time Ben uses this to become an authority on Jacob's wishes and leader of the Others.

Ben, being the twisted dude that he is, tells the others that Jacob wants all sorts of mayhem. Kill the scientists. Kidnap the children. etc.

So when Ben brings Locke to the cabin, he doesn't expect Locke to hear a damn thing. And when Locke doesn't hear anything, he would then tell the others that Locke isn't that special after all. But Locke does hear Jacob, and suddenly Ben is threatened. The entire authority that he's falsely constructed for himself is about to be challenged. So his only choice to stay in power is to kill Locke.

I would also say that this abuse of power is what caused Ben to get ill with the tumor. Locke keeps saying how Ben's wheelchair demonstrates that he's not the real leader. Somehow, the island picks its own, and Locke knows this. Jacob isn't this floating metaphysical entity that makes commands to steal children and kill the bad people, he's a guy stuck between worlds and needs help from our main man John MFing Locke.