You know who loves Lost? Stephen King. The master of horror himself is a die hard fan. And I bet he gets a chuckle every time he and his work are mentioned on it (Juliet's favorite book: Carrie; "Henry Gale" asks for King instead of Dostoevsky.) Another thing about Lost that many have found is that it takes a lot of the same elements as King's two biggest epics: The Stand and The Dark Tower. These connections are no more clear than they are now in the Sixth season. Now I won't go into too much detail about either seeing as how I only saw the TV-movie version of The Stand (I plan on reading the book) and am in the middle of the reading the Dark Tower series. But what I do know about each I will elaborate on.
SPOILERS, SERIOUSLY!!!
THE DARK TOWER...so far:The series begins with the main character Roland hunting his nemesis, a devilish sorceror he calls "the man in black." He hunts him in the hopes that the man in black will lead him to the legendary Dark Tower, where, as far as I can tell right now, all meaning in all the universe lies. I see Roland and the man in black can be seen as Jacob and The Man in Black. Roland and the man in black have been enemies for too long and have participated in a deadly game of tag; Jacob and The Man in Black are eternal rivals who are bound together by fate it would seem to compete in their own childlike game of "I'm right-you're wrong." There is probably a better way to find a link between these duos but I can't see it just yet. The Dark Tower itself, referred to as the nexus where all worlds meet, is somewhat similar to the Island.
In Lost, there is usually a specific group of people who go off exploring the unknown on the Island (fans call this group "The A Team." Part of the Dark Tower involves the gunslinger Roland to find companions throughout his journey, a group called a Ka-Tet (Ka meaning destiny). Roland seems like he could be a composite of Island leaders Jack and Locke, seeing as how he is battle savvy outdoorsman who can quickly react and get out of a situation fast and do what he believes is necessary. Not to mention Roland's life has been all about finding the Tower, like Locke's has been to serve the Island. Eddie Dean, the recovering drug addict, reminds me at times of Sawyer(wisecracking and smart despite appearances), Jack (no nonsense type personality), and Charlie (good humoured and recovering heroin addict.) Susannah Dean is a brave woman which I guess you could attribute to any female Lost character (I think Susannah was specifically created in the image of '70s Pam Grier, but a schizoid as well.) Then Jake Chambers, a boy who has a close relationship with the leader Roland, obviously parallels Walt and his friendship with Locke. Also Jake befriends a fictional animal, called a billy bumbler, named Oy, who is like Vincent except a bit more valiant.
In addition to the story, the characters frequently flashback to past times in their lives that have significance to their current problems. The theme of destiny or predeterminism is prevalent. In the world the characters journey through the laws of physics and many other things do not apply like they would in our world, like the Island.
I will definitely read the rest of the series and decide for myself how similar it is to Lost, but I would already recommend reading The Dark Tower if you are looking for a series.
THE STAND
The Stand takes place in an apocalyptic setting, where a biological weapon is released and kills nearly everyone on the planet. With the world in peril, the supernatural forces of good and evil make their plays = two players, two sides. Many good people are led to the side of the kind and righteous Mother Abigail Freemantle while the bad are drawn to the side of the scheming and demonic Randall Flagg. The forces of each side begin to prepare for a battle that will decide the fate of everything. Sound familiar?
The events of the book are a lot like Lost's. The good guys, who come from all walks of life, are brought together not only through the global castastrophe they survived, but also through shared dreams of Mother Abigail. This is a lot like the Lost castaways being brought together seemingly by a plane crash, but most were really led to their destination by the will of the mysterious Jacob. After they are united, the survivors make a home for themselves in a little Colorado suburb, like the castaways made their home on the Island's beach. Eventually, the group realizes that they will have to make a stand against those who have been led astray by the villain Randall Flagg. The castaways made a stand against The Others in season 3 and are more than likely drawing towards their new fight against The Man in Black in the last season. The leader of the good, Mother Abagail, soon dies like Lost's Jacob. After she dies, it is revealed that Nick Andros, a wise deaf-mute, was originally supposed to lead the stand against Flagg and his group; kind of like John Locke being murdered when he is the first in line to replace Jacob as protector of the Island. Also near the end of the story, Flagg's righthand man Lloyd is faced with the choice of doing the greater good and killing Flagg or killing Glen, one of those to make the stand for good. Under pressure due to all that's happened to him, Lloyd kills Glen. This sequence reminded me of the scene where The Man in Black has brought Ben to the statue to kill Jacob, Jacob tries to persuade Ben to not go through with it, but Ben does it in the end. Oh yeah, and the final resolution comes in the form of a nuclear explosion: a psychotic Flagg follower, Trashcan Man, brings a nuke to Las Vegas where Flagg and all of his followers have congregated. With all of this set in motion "the Hand of God" literally reaches down and detonates the bomb, killing all of the villains and sacrificing a few of the heroes. This is another parallel to the season 5 finale.
The biggest Stand connection to me, however, is Randall Flagg. Before we meet him people give him nicknames such as "The walking dude", "The man with no face or "The man in black." Randall Flagg is in fact the same Man in Black from The Dark Tower series, where he also goes by Walter O'Dim and Richard Fannin. Despite what I originally thought, Flagg is not Satan. He may not even be a demon. The most I know about him really is that he is a wizard of sorts with many dark agendas. Most of the time he, looks like an average looking man dressed in cowboy boots, a jean jacket, and wears "smiley" buttons, though in The Dark Tower he is seen in a black cloak (hence his famous nickname). Flagg is a sly, arrogant, malicious manipulator. He is a very persuasive person, and often promises what people want most to put them in his debt. He has been shown to bring people from the dead and predict the future. It is assumed that he can appear in many forms, most notably a crow or a horrific demon-like form. He is however, not all powerful and is easily hurt (he might just break down if you insult him too badly.) But when their was some more coverage on The Man in Black in season 6, Flagg was the first thing that came to my mind. They are both manipulators, with powers that are limited but still dangerous, and are banding together their own groups of people to meet their ends. The only difference is, the Lost Man in Black seems a bit more convincing (that doesn't mean I believe him) than Flagg, one look at Flagg and you know he has tricks up his sleeve. Season 6, more than anything, resembles The Stand.
All of this is not criticism. I think it is cool. People have often been able to find a connection between the show and any piece of literature that has appeared on it. This is just stuff that I have found. With The Stand/Dark Tower-esque turn for the final season, I am even more excited as it might tell me that everything that is happening is leading up to one last stand on the Island that will decide everything.
Thanks for reading.
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