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The island gives all the survivors a chance to shed who they once were and start over again.

According to the Season 1 DVD bonus featurette "Lost: On Location (Season 1)", director/producer Jack Bender says that Lost is "All about redemption and rebirth."

There are a number of elements in the plot to support this as an important theme of Lost, as well.

Character examples

Kate

After becoming a wanted fugitive, she spent her life running and constantly avoiding contact whenever possible. However, on the Island, she has become a key figure of her group, and has managed to in part let go of her emotions over Tom Brennan and secrecy about who she really is.

Locke

John Locke perhaps shows a more literal example of a "second chance" on the Island, after having spent four years in a wheelchair prior to the crash of Flight 815. Arriving on the Island, Locke discovered his paralysis to be completely gone, and so began his second chance on the Island of being able to walk again. Locke quickly adapted to living on the Island, believing himself to have a greater fate there. His devote belief in destiny has led him to also join the Others, who presented him with his father. With his death arguably marks the point where Locke has completely let go of his previous life off the Island.

Shannon

Shannon is the strongest example of rebirth on the island. Initially, she acted with selfish motivations, and refused to involve herself with the main group. However, as events passed, Shannon became more caring about her fellow survivors, and when she saw Walt appear before her, she chased after him into the depths of the jungle, ultimately leading to her death. Part of Shannon's rebirth came from having someone, mainly Sayid, believe in her for the first time in her life. Her stepmother had refused to finance her ambition to take up an internship, saying she could not be trusted and could not achieve anything without sponging off others. Having someone see her as worth something as her own individual seemed to have an impact on Shannon, and indeed moments later it seemed to allow Sayid to also see Walt in the jungle for himself.

Sun

Sun has also arguably been metaphorically reborn on the Island. Before the crash, she was stuck in a marriage she partly wished to escape, even though she still deeply loved her husband, and so could not bring herself to leave him. After the plane crashed, Sun was initially kept back by Jin, who refused to allow her to get involved with the other survivors, and on a number of occasions told her to cover-up her clothing despite the heat. Indeed, Sun's jealousy was seen in "Pilot, Part 2" when Kate stripped off to bathe herself in the water was obvious. However, Sun later managed to overcome her issues and settled things with Jin, and was able to dress how she wished, cooling off by the water in "...In Translation". In a bitter twist of irony, Sun's initial motivation to leave her husband was fulfilled as she returned from The Island without Jin - albeit her feelings about her husband had dramatically changed since the day of the crash.

Walt

Even at a tender age, Walt was constantly moving around with his mother all over the world. When he arrived on the Island, he decided that he did not want to move anymore, and that he liked the Island. His time there showed that Walt had found some harmony, being with his father finally on a place where they could both stay. Indeed, Walt burned down the raft to ensure he did not have to leave. However, he had a change of heart after realizing how much Michael wished to go, and helped his father build a second raft. After being captured by the Others and then rescued, Walt left the Island hugging his father, showing his progression since the initial plane crash where they hardly knew each other and often argued.

Quotes

"The Next Life"

There are several times when versions of "See you in the next life" are said on Lost by:

• Nadia ("Solitary")
• Desmond ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")
• Dave ("Dave")

See Regularly spoken phrases for verbatim quotes.

Starting over

• Ray Mullen to Kate: "I get it, you know. Everyone deserves a fresh start." ("Tabula Rasa")
• Jack to Kate: "We should all be able to start over." ("Tabula Rasa")
• Locke to Shannon: "Everyone gets a new life on this island, Shannon. Maybe it's time you start yours." ("Hearts and Minds")

Literal interpretation of rebirth

Mysterious appearances of apparently dead characters

Christian appears as a vision to Jack in the jungle, despite his previous death

• Christian Shephard (to Jack on and off the Island)
• Yemi (to Eko on the Island)
• Ana Lucia (to Eko in a dream, with blood coming out of her mouth, before he knew she was dead)
• Boone (to Locke, as he was in the sweat lodge seeking to "speak to the Island")
• Emily Linus, Ben's mother (to Ben)

Literal resuscitations from near death

• Jack used CPR to resuscitate Rose from heart arrest. She came back with a calm conviction that Bernard was ok. ("Pilot, Part 1")
• Jack used CPR to resuscitate Charlie after he was abducted by Ethan (along with Claire) and hung from a tree by his neck and left for dead. ("All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues")
• After he was given some antibiotics, Sawyer started his recovery from a gunshot wound. ("Collision")
• Charlotte Malkin revives after drowning, despite being pronounced dead by Dr. Ian McVay and preparation for autopsy. She meets Eko at the airport with a message from his deceased brother, Yemi, "from the in-between place". Whether she actually returned from the dead is disputed; both she and her mother claim she did, but her father says this claim was invented. ("?")
• Nikki Fernandez and Paulo were believed to be dead but were actually paralyzed after being bitten by the medusa spider. Just as Nikki started recovering, she and Paulo were buried alive by the other 815 survivors.
• Locke is thrown out of an 8 story building off the island but only suffers paralysis.
• Mikhail has seemingly died twice - once even pronounced dead by Kate - but is somehow alive again. In this first "death" Mikhail explained that the Sonic Fence that supposedly killed him wasn't set to lethal. In "Catch-22" he told Desmond that he already died once this week. In "Through the Looking Glass" he shoots Greta through the heart and kills her only to have himself shot through the heart with a spear gun by Desmond. Not a few minutes later, Mikhail kills himself when he uses a grenade to blow open a porthole of the Looking Glass from the outside, which results in Charlie drowning.

General rebirth/reincarnation symbolism and references

• Every single one of the characters has a chance to now redeem themselves on the island after a troubled past; this appears to be the meaning of the title, "Tabula Rasa" (which means blank slate).
• Sawyer believed that the boar was a reincarnation of Frank Duckett. ("Outlaws")
• The black horse that Kate sees twice appears to be a reincarnation of Wayne.
• Locke told the story of a golden retriever that his foster mother was convinced was the reincarnation of his foster sister. ("Outlaws")
• Boone died at the same time as Aaron was born, and the scenes were juxtaposed with one another to show the endless cycle of life. ("Do No Harm")
• The symbol at the center of the DHARMA logos and The Hanso Foundation logo (yin-yang) is one which symbolizes an endless balance and cycle of the universe, including of reincarnation, an element of that referenced religion.
• Desmond woke up naked in the woods after the Discharge which could symbolize a rebirth. ("Further Instructions")
• Eko investigated the case of a resurrection for the Vatican. A girl regains consciousness after drowning, and claims to have seen his brother, Yemi in a vision from the other side. ("?")
• As a child, Locke was tested by Richard Alpert in a way similar to tests are done to find the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. ("Cabin Fever")
  • The difference is that unlike the test of the Dalai Lama, the items Richard shows Locke are not from the past (which might imply reincarnation), but the future (such as the polar bear comic book similar to the one Walt had on island from Hurley, he uses the compass made by Sayid, Eko gives him the Book of Laws). In particular, these items are from Locke's future (like his drawing of the monster on the wall).
    • The compass is different in appearance to the one Locke uses, as well as the primitive one Sayid makes. Though the comic book refers to a "Mystery Island," the actual comic book is not seen elsewhere in the series (The one Walt has is a Flash/Green Lantern book), so there is no reason to infer that it is from Locke's future. While certain books of the Old Testament portion of the Bible are considered books of law, and the Old testament is sometimes referred to as "The Law," the book Mr. Eko finds and later hands to Locke is "The Holy Bible." The book that Richard Alpert presents has a very different appearance and is titled "Book of Laws."

The Lost Experience

• On the Hanso Foundation website from September 26, it is written, "the work of the Hanso Foundation has always been intended to bring rebirth to a dying land and a dying people."