The Monster is a Tulpa - Part 2

Continuing with the idea that the monster is a tulpa, here are some quick implications that occur to me:

What, really, is the black smoke?

The black smoke is the monster’s true form; when all is said and done, it’s just a big ball of psychic energy. No doubt that provided many advantages for Jacob, assuming he created the monster to assist him in his work. If Jacob needed a particular creature, or tool, he only had to command and the monster could become whatever he needed. Once the monster developed a mind of its own and rebelled, these abilities were turned against those who came to the island. Thus the monster can become dead loved ones, medusa spiders, Taller Ghost Walt, and even Kate’s horse. We’ve been looking for some kind of pattern with respect to what the monster can and can’t become, but I think we’re wasting our time. Theoretically, the monster could become anything at all. However, there are some practical limitations. The monster has very little imagination of its own, so it has to rely on the thoughts of others for inspiration. The personalities of the dead, left behind in their corpses as described by Miles, are an especially good source. I also believe the monster draws somewhat on the degree of faith the observer has. Thus, to a skeptic like Jack, it could only appear as a stiff and unconvincing apparition of Christian. To believers like Eko and Locke, it was able to appear as a fairly convincing physical entity. By drawing on the belief and faith of the Hostiles, it was able to virtually “become” Locke and sever its ties to Jacob once and for all. Of course, the monster isn’t totally stymied by skeptics; if all else fails, it can simply bash them to death or rip them apart telekinetically. Only the sonic fence, for some reason no doubt related to the bizarre nature of the monster, is an effective deterrent.

Why did Jacob not get rid of the monster when it became rebellious?

This is a good question, and I can only think of two answers: either Jacob couldn’t get rid of the monster, or he didn’t want to. I believe Jacob was an extremely powerful psychic, and also drew on the natural power of the island to create the monster. So it’s entirely possible that he was able to create an entity that was beyond his power to destroy. However, I think it’s equally likely that Jacob simply chose not to. Did he perhaps feel a fatherly affection toward the monster? If Jacob can be seen as the monster’s father - in a sense - it would continue the theme of estranged parents and children that we’ve seen throughout the show. Did Jacob display a fatherly indulgence when the monster told him it wanted to kill him? Did I detect a hint of fatherly pride when Jacob said “you found your loophole”? When Jacob asked Ben to leave them to “discuss our issues,” was he planning to administer a metaphorical spanking? Perhaps Jacob simply couldn’t bring himself to destroy something that was no doubt difficult to create and which was, in a very real sense, part of him. Maybe Jacob hoped the monster would see the light until the very end. And maybe – it still can.

So have all the visions and dead people been the monster?

I believe almost all of them have been. The exceptions are the dead people that Hurley sees. I believe Hurley is, unknown to himself, a psychic as powerful as Jacob. Hurley’s subconscious psychic powers are what allowed him to pick the winning lottery numbers – but, I believe, these same powers have been responsible for Hurley’s run of bad luck ever since. And these hidden powers have allowed Hurley to create tulpas of his own from the memories of his dead friends. They are very weak at this point and apparently invisible to everyone else - although at least one mental patient did seem to see Charlie. I believe Dave was a long term tulpa that grew much stronger when Hurley arrived on the island, to the point that it tried to destroy its creator by tricking him into jumping off a cliff. The fact that Hurley has these capabilities, in my opinion, makes him one of the strongest weapons against the monster. Although it has become real and independent of Jacob, the monster remains an entity of thought – and therein lies its vulnerability. If Hurley understood his abilities and how to use them, he could bend the monster to his will as Jacob once did.