HIATUS WEEK TWO
HIATUS WEEK TWO: November 23rd, 2006
Bunnies (or “Rabbits I Have Known”)
This week’s article concerns some of the many references to rabbits and bunnies in the Lost world and some trivia concerning the number 8.
As a young man I remember reading “Watership Down” by Richard Adams. What struck me then about the book was the idea that rabbits, when trapped will always try to find a way out, even going to the extreme of a chewing a leg off to gain freedom. Now, many years later I correlate that story to the Lost Island and see that it fits nicely into what I have been saying for weeks. The premises for many works of literature are constantly being re-written and supplanted into the Lost episodes.
There are too many uncanny connections to recount in full but here are a few of my favorites. Adams created an entire culture for his rabbits, including a language (Lapine), proverbs, poetry and mythology. More than one chapter consists of examples of rabbit lore. Is any of this sounding vaguely familiar? The book opens with the runt rabbit Fiver foreseeing the destruction of the warren. We now see Desmond as someone with the power to see into the future. Albeit in tiny bits he still seems to have the ability. A dissatisfied group of rabbits want to leave the warren but the main group continues to hold on in the old ways. The two Lost groups are made up of those who wish to remain on the beach and seek rescue and those that wish to explore (push buttons, etc.) Both groups must face the problem of furthering their own society. The rabbits have no does to increase the warren population which will stagnate and die out without children and the Lost Islanders who, without hope of rescue, must build their own world on this small island. Many of the rabbit characters in the book have counterparts on the Lost Island. I’ve already mentioned Fiver and Desmond but there is also Hazel, the rabbit leader, who reminds me of Jack, General Woundwort, a tyrannical Chief Rabbit who is obsessed with control whose counterpart is none other than Ben Linus and Bigwig the strongest fighter of the group which I think represents Locke.
In the pilot episode of Lost Boone is seen reading “Watership Down” on Flight 815. Later, in episode 108 “Confidence Man” he notices Sawyer reading the same novel which leads him to believe that Sawyer found his bag which contained Shannon's asthma medicine. A great argument within the camp grows from Boone’s argument that because Sawyer had his book he also had the medicine.
Two articles by Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly (October 31st, 2006) make a connection from the bunny number 8 to Stephen King.
The complete article can be found here:
EW Article
Doc Jenson’s slant:
“TELL ME ABOUT THE RABBITS, UNCLE STEVE...
In last week's episode of Lost, there was a scene in which Ben seemed to kill a bunny by shaking its cage so violently that the rabbit had a heart attack and died. If you saw the episode, you know that it was all a ruse; Ben was trying to get into Sawyer's head — to rattle his cage, so to speak — and to prove that the castaway con man was no match for the former Henry Gale in the art of psychological warfare.
Quick — what's the one thing you remember about that rabbit, besides its fake death? My assumption is that what you most vividly recall was the ''8'' that was written on its white fur. I'm going to make that assumption, because a better mind than mine tells me that that's the assumption most anyone would make. His name is Stephen King, and it turns out that the 8-branded bunny is a reference to his memoir, On Writing.
The passage can be found in the chapter titled ''What Writing Is.'' The first sentence of the chapter answers the implicit question, and from a Lost theorizing perspective, it's kind of a doozy. What is writing?
''Telepathy, of course.''
And he's serious, too. I think. Read the book and decide for yourself. In this short chapter, King tries to argue his point by painting a word picture. ''Look — here's a table covered with a red cloth. On it is a cage the size of a small fish aquarium. In the cage is a white rabbit with a pink nose and pink rimmed eyes. In its front paws is a carrot stub which it is constantly munching. On its back, clearly marked in blue ink, is the numeral 8.''
It's King's belief that upon reading that, and reflecting upon the bunny, we would all agree that ''the most important thing here... [is] the number on its back.... This is what we're looking at, and we all see it. I didn't tell you. You didn't ask me. I never opened my mouth and you never opened yours. We're not even in the same year together, let alone the same room... except we are together. We're close. We're having a meeting of the minds.''
Do Bunnies + Telepathy = Doc Jensen's Animal Magic Theory?
Station to station
But some other things about On Writing. Earlier in the brief bunny-referencing chapter, King refers to books as ''an escape hatch'' out of the ''purgatory'' of life. He also talks about the place where you, the reader, like to be when you read a book. He calls this place your ''far-seeing place, the one where you go to receive telepathic messages'' from an author via the broadcast frequency of the printed page. King describes his own ''far-seeing place'':
''I'm in another place, a basement place where there are lots of bright lights and clear images. This is a place that I've built for myself over the years. It's a far-seeing place. I know it's a little strange, a little bit of a contradiction... but that's how it is with me.''
Does that sound familiar to you? It should. You've been there before. And tonight, you're going to go there again.
You know it as The Pearl Station.”
Bunnies (or “Rabbits I Have Known”)
This week’s article concerns some of the many references to rabbits and bunnies in the Lost world and some trivia concerning the number 8.
As a young man I remember reading “Watership Down” by Richard Adams. What struck me then about the book was the idea that rabbits, when trapped will always try to find a way out, even going to the extreme of a chewing a leg off to gain freedom. Now, many years later I correlate that story to the Lost Island and see that it fits nicely into what I have been saying for weeks. The premises for many works of literature are constantly being re-written and supplanted into the Lost episodes.
There are too many uncanny connections to recount in full but here are a few of my favorites. Adams created an entire culture for his rabbits, including a language (Lapine), proverbs, poetry and mythology. More than one chapter consists of examples of rabbit lore. Is any of this sounding vaguely familiar? The book opens with the runt rabbit Fiver foreseeing the destruction of the warren. We now see Desmond as someone with the power to see into the future. Albeit in tiny bits he still seems to have the ability. A dissatisfied group of rabbits want to leave the warren but the main group continues to hold on in the old ways. The two Lost groups are made up of those who wish to remain on the beach and seek rescue and those that wish to explore (push buttons, etc.) Both groups must face the problem of furthering their own society. The rabbits have no does to increase the warren population which will stagnate and die out without children and the Lost Islanders who, without hope of rescue, must build their own world on this small island. Many of the rabbit characters in the book have counterparts on the Lost Island. I’ve already mentioned Fiver and Desmond but there is also Hazel, the rabbit leader, who reminds me of Jack, General Woundwort, a tyrannical Chief Rabbit who is obsessed with control whose counterpart is none other than Ben Linus and Bigwig the strongest fighter of the group which I think represents Locke.
In the pilot episode of Lost Boone is seen reading “Watership Down” on Flight 815. Later, in episode 108 “Confidence Man” he notices Sawyer reading the same novel which leads him to believe that Sawyer found his bag which contained Shannon's asthma medicine. A great argument within the camp grows from Boone’s argument that because Sawyer had his book he also had the medicine.
Two articles by Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly (October 31st, 2006) make a connection from the bunny number 8 to Stephen King.
The complete article can be found here:
EW Article
Doc Jenson’s slant:
“TELL ME ABOUT THE RABBITS, UNCLE STEVE...
In last week's episode of Lost, there was a scene in which Ben seemed to kill a bunny by shaking its cage so violently that the rabbit had a heart attack and died. If you saw the episode, you know that it was all a ruse; Ben was trying to get into Sawyer's head — to rattle his cage, so to speak — and to prove that the castaway con man was no match for the former Henry Gale in the art of psychological warfare.
Quick — what's the one thing you remember about that rabbit, besides its fake death? My assumption is that what you most vividly recall was the ''8'' that was written on its white fur. I'm going to make that assumption, because a better mind than mine tells me that that's the assumption most anyone would make. His name is Stephen King, and it turns out that the 8-branded bunny is a reference to his memoir, On Writing.
The passage can be found in the chapter titled ''What Writing Is.'' The first sentence of the chapter answers the implicit question, and from a Lost theorizing perspective, it's kind of a doozy. What is writing?
''Telepathy, of course.''
And he's serious, too. I think. Read the book and decide for yourself. In this short chapter, King tries to argue his point by painting a word picture. ''Look — here's a table covered with a red cloth. On it is a cage the size of a small fish aquarium. In the cage is a white rabbit with a pink nose and pink rimmed eyes. In its front paws is a carrot stub which it is constantly munching. On its back, clearly marked in blue ink, is the numeral 8.''
It's King's belief that upon reading that, and reflecting upon the bunny, we would all agree that ''the most important thing here... [is] the number on its back.... This is what we're looking at, and we all see it. I didn't tell you. You didn't ask me. I never opened my mouth and you never opened yours. We're not even in the same year together, let alone the same room... except we are together. We're close. We're having a meeting of the minds.''
Do Bunnies + Telepathy = Doc Jensen's Animal Magic Theory?
Station to station
But some other things about On Writing. Earlier in the brief bunny-referencing chapter, King refers to books as ''an escape hatch'' out of the ''purgatory'' of life. He also talks about the place where you, the reader, like to be when you read a book. He calls this place your ''far-seeing place, the one where you go to receive telepathic messages'' from an author via the broadcast frequency of the printed page. King describes his own ''far-seeing place'':
''I'm in another place, a basement place where there are lots of bright lights and clear images. This is a place that I've built for myself over the years. It's a far-seeing place. I know it's a little strange, a little bit of a contradiction... but that's how it is with me.''
Does that sound familiar to you? It should. You've been there before. And tonight, you're going to go there again.
You know it as The Pearl Station.”
****
Of Mice and Men Connection
This novel, written by John Steinbeck, is one that Sawyer is seen reading while in prison in “Every Man For Himself.” Both he and Ben quote the book to each other on the way to the Hydra Island Lookout.
The story is the tale of a simple and childlike but physically powerful man named Lenny who is befriended by George a smaller, weaker man with a quick wit. The ideal situation for both men, who are struggling to find work, is to save enough money to purchase a farm and live off the fat of the land. Lenny dreams of owning a farm with a few rabbits.
The dream collapses; however, as Lenny accidentally kills their bosses' son's wife, while she is talking to him about her own failed dreams. To save Lenny from what could only be a long and painful death in prison; George shoots Lenny and distracts him by talking about the bunny farm he always dreamed about.
(In the novel, the character Lenny has frequent dreams and visions of rabbits.)
***
Number 8
The Dharmachakra, a Buddhist symbol, has eight spokes
In tarot, card No. 8 is "Strength"
In numerology, 8 is the number of building, and in some theories, also the number of destruction Songs with the number eight in their title include the Byrds's Eight Miles High and the Beatles' Eight Days a Week
"Eight maids a-milking" is the gift on the eighth day of Christmas in the "Twelve Days of Christmas" carol
Using hyperbole, the Beatles sang about loving their addressee "Eight Days a Week". Also from music is the 8-track cartridge
Magic 8 Ball is a randomized process of predicting the future or answering various questions, packaged to resemble this ball and often sold as a fortune-telling device
The atomic number of oxygen.
In physics, the second magic number.
All spiders, and more generally all arachnids, have eight legs. An octopus has eight tentacles
Timothy Leary identified a hierarchy of eight levels of consciousness
As of 2006, in our solar system, eight of the bodies orbiting the Sun are considered to be planets.
The Noble Eightfold Path in the Buddhist faith has eight steps
The Eight Immortals are Chinese deities
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that humans are responsible for their actions by the age of 8. Before that age, children lack sufficient knowledge to commit sin and are therefore exempt from judgment for their actions.
There are eight bits in a byte
"Section 8" is common U.S. slang for "crazy", based on the U.S. military's Section 8 discharge for mentally unfit personnel
In Colombia and Venezuela, "volverse un ocho" (meaning to tie oneself in a figure 8) refers to getting in trouble or contradicting one's self.
The Alternative One
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Date November 23rd, 2006
P.S. I am looking for suggestions on what to include in next weeks Bonus Section. If anyone has any ideas or subjects you’d like me to discuss please feel free to e-mail me.
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The Alternative One – dharmapoet@wi.rr.com
The Alternative One – dharmapoet@wi.rr.com
posted by The Alternative One at 9:08 PM
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