Themes

LOST is full of many themes that weave nicely together and make the storyline compelling.

The Numbers

Nadia leaves a message to Sayid saying "You'll find me in the next life, if not in this one."
Desmond tells Jack "I'll see you in another life, yeah?"

Jack has many conflicts with his father at the hospital.
Kate kills her father.
Kate's mother tells the police about it. She shouts for help when Kate appears in the hospital.
Sawyer's father killed his mother, then committed suicide.
Charlie's father disapproved of Drive Shaft.
Walt was estranged from Michael for most of his life.
Locke's father cons Locke for one of his kidneys, then abandons him.
Shannon's father and Shannon presumably had a good relationship, yet he leaves her nothing in his will.
Jin is ashamed of his father.
Sun is distressed over the work Jin does for her father.
Boone's mother/Shannon's stepmother is a coldblooded manipulative social-climbing b---h
Sun's mother is the Korean version of Boones mother.
Jack's mother may not be a social climber but the rest definitely applies.
Hurley's mother is psychologically abusive
Locke's mother is mentally unstable
Sawyer's mother cheated on her husband
Claire thought her mother would "kill her" when she found out she was pregnant.
Kate's mother turned her into the police.
Walt's mother took him away from his father. His stepfather happily returned him to his true father Michael. Walt is learning to love Michael.

Charlie: Has dreams about needing to save Aaron which include images of his childhood and a painting by Verrochio.
Hurley: Has a dream about gorging down on food. In the same dream he speaks Korean to Jin and sees the mascot for Mr. Cluck
Claire: Has a dream about looking for her baby, encountering Locke and finding an empty crib.

Locke: After his foster sister died a Golden Retriever showed up that his foster mother was convinced was her daughter.
Kate: When she's first arrested by Edward Mars she is able to escape after a black horse runs in front of his car. Later she sees and touches a black horse on the island.
Sawyer: Is plagued by a boar that he thinks is the spirit of a man he killed. Is later plagued by a tree frog that won't let him sleep and that he eventually kills. Also sees the black horse together with Kate.
In the Dark Territory Hurley sees a huge bird of prey (hawk? Eagle? Condor?)

A common theory (which the producer have denied) is that they're in Purgatory
Hurley's mother is a devout Catholic
So are Charlie and Mr. Eko
Charlie's dreams both featured Verrochio's Baptism of Christ in Which his mother and Claire appeared as angels and Hurley as John the Baptist.
Mr. Eko's brother was a priest.
So is Mr. Eko.
Aaron and Claire have both been baptised.
The various animal appearances have totemic qualities.
Boone's vision of Shannon being killed by the Monster was very like a shamanic visionquest.
Locke often acts in a quasi shamanic fashion and claims to be "a man of faith".
Dharma and "Namaste" are both terms relevant to Hinduism and Buddhism
The Dharma logos feature symbols from the "I Ching"
Sayid is a Muslim but only seems moderately devout at best.
The number 108 has religious significance in Buddhism.
The flashes in the Black Smoke when it confronts Mr. Eko include several religious images (a church, a cross, a crucified Jesus).