The Question of Free Will in LOST

Flocke and Sun 6x10 The Package

Flocke gesturing at Sun in 6x10 The Package

Did you notice how in the last episode, 6×10 The Package, Flock said that he wanted Sun to make a free choice to join him?

Sun, to Locke: You killed those people at the Temple.

Locke: Those people were confused. They were lied to. I didn’t want to hurt them. Any one of them could have chosen to come with me. And I’m giving you that choice Sun, right now. I would never make you do anything against your will. I’m asking you. Please. Come with me.

That reminded me of the way that Jacob had talked about choice:

Jacob to Hurley, in The Incident: All you have to do is get on that plane. It’s your choice, Hugo. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.
—————-

Jacob to Ben, in The Incident: Benjamin, whatever he’s told you, I want you to understand one thing. You have a choice.

Ben: What choice?

Jacob: You can do what he asked, or you can go.

We saw something similar with Dogen, Lennon, and Jack in What Kate Does:

Dogen wraps a capsule in a piece of paper, and says something in Japanese.

Lennon, to Jack: He says you have to give your friend this pill.

Jack: Are you serious? Why don’t you give it to him?

Lennon: Because it won’t work unless he takes it willingly, and he won’t take it willingly from us.

What are we to make of this? Could it be that the MiB/Flocke, Jacob, and Dogen were all equally bound by some rule which says they should not force people to do anything against their will? Does forcing people to take action somehow undermine the validity or power of those actions, as Lennon suggested? What is so special, in the Island world, about choices that are made freely?

Or was Flocke just b.s.-ing Sun? After all, when Sun did make her choice — to turn Locke down — instead of accepting her choice, Flocke ran after her, which suggests he might have intended to try force instead.

Flocke running after Sun LOST 6x10 The Package

Flocke running after Sun

Also, to what extent can Zombie Sayid be said to have made a free choice to join Locke?

Screencap of Locke gesturing at Sun is from Lost-Media.com. Screencap of Locke running after Sun is from Lostpedia.

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