Lost continues to have me on the edge of my seat. The end of this week’s episode especially blew me away because this show has been so tied to a fatalist view of time, causality, and human action. I look forward to seeing how they work this out.
I am especially interested because I was starting to be intrigued by young Ben. I find adult Ben tedious as a character and could care less about him (although he does have a way of shaking things up), but young Ben is that kind of innocent-creepy I have found myself drawn to many times in the past.
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Published by Nancy E. Shaffer
NANCY E. SHAFFER has been an experimental psychologist (M.A., Cognitive Psychology, Rice University), a philosopher (Ph.D., History and Philosophy of Science, University of California, Davis), and software developer. She taught history and philosophy of science at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec and the University of Nebraska Omaha.
Her philosophical work has appeared in the journal Philosophy of Science and her pop-culture philosophy website, All Things Philosophical on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: the Series.
Dis/inhbition is her first novel.
She currently resides in Tempe, Arizona.
View all posts by Nancy E. Shaffer
Author Nancy E. Shaffer 
I was totally surprised by the ending because I could see Sayid being tempted to do it but then not being able to shoot a child. Of course being dead on that island isn’t necessarily a permanent thing. I felt very bad for young Ben, with his abusive father and village of people who don’t care to intervene, and who knows if Sayid’s action is what pushes him from a kid with fantasies of running away to kid with fantasies of killing everyone he knows.
I suspect that’s what they’ll end up doing. Young Ben will survive the gun shot and be pushed over the edge because of it.
But he was already teetering on the edge, if you ask me. His father is bitter and abusive, but I think Ben had sociopathic tendencies to begin with, because not every child responds to abuse with genocide.
Yes, and I think that’s why there was the scene of Sayid as a child – because not every child is capable of killing things. Sayid was one and Ben most likely another.
So why do think it would be safer to be alone in a room with Sayid than with Ben?
Well, I never said it would be, but Sayid at least looks better in a leather jacket.
Sayid seems to at least want to be a good person, and he definitely has doubts. It’s the people who operate from a place of absolute certainty who scare me the most, and Ben never seems to waver. It’s interesting on this show how many people are searching for a purpose – it might be a completely evil purpose but everyone wants to know why they’re there.
For me, it boils down to the reason they kill. Sayid will kill someone when doing so will benefit many people. Ben seems to kill when it will benefit himself.
I tried to resist…but I can’t: the difference is clearly that Sayid has a soul and Ben doesn’t!
Really, really sorry.
Metaphorically, that’s quite true.
this episode wasnt all that engaging but the ending was nice. Unfortunately, we all know that lil’ ben will probably survive.
I read a post on another board that I’m totally hijacking that said Ben’s infatuation with Juliet exists because she is the one who saves him from dying at a young age.
but my personal theory is that the island resurrects him and therefore, the Others take notice and accept him into their little jungle group because of the rising from the dead thing.
Also would later explain Ben’s rationale for killing Locke (knowing the island would resurrect Locke too).
but what do I know??
All logical speculation from what we know….