Dreams and visions

Ana Lucia in Mr. Eko's dream ("?")

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"The thing that's cool about the Island is that the Island can sort of conjure up these images of great importance from your life. Then the characters on the show have to sort of deal with the consequences. Those visions often provide tests, and those tests are right along the axis of what is most important for the character." -- Carlton Cuse, DVD commentary for "The Man Behind the Curtain"

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In addition to flashbacks, many characters in Lost have had dreams and visions.

Occurrences

The following characters have had dreams or visions:

		Season	Main article
	Ben	3
	Boone	1
	Charlie	2	Charlie's dream
	Claire	1	Claire's dream
	Desmond	3	Desmond's flashes
	Eko	2,3	Eko's dreams
	Hurley	2,4
	Jack	1
	Kate	2
	Locke	1,2,3	Locke's dreams
	Michael	4
	Sayid	2
	Shannon	2

Details are listed below, sorted by episode.

Season 1

• Jack repeatedly sees his deceased father in the jungle. ("White Rabbit")
• Claire has a dream about looking for her baby, encountering Locke, and finding a crib filled with blood. ("Raised by Another")
• Boone has visions of Shannon being killed by The Monster in the jungle, after having being drugged by Locke. ("Hearts and Minds")
• Locke has a dream in which he sees the Nigerian drug plane crash into the Island and his mother pointing skyward. He becomes wheelchair-bound again, and also sees Boone covered in blood repeating the phrase, "Theresa falls up the stairs, Theresa falls down the stairs." ("Deus Ex Machina")

Season 2

("Everybody Hates Hugo")

• Shannon has three visions of Walt
  • While searching for Vincent. During this vision Walt says backwards, "Don't push the button. Button bad." ("Man of Science, Man of Faith")
  • In her tent. During this vision Walt says backwards, "They're coming, and they're close." ("Abandoned")
  • While searching for Walt with Sayid. Sayid also sees him in this instance. ("Abandoned")
• Hurley has a dream in which he gorges on food, speaks in Korean to Jin, and sees the mascot for Mr. Cluck's. ("Everybody Hates Hugo")
• Kate sees a horse in the jungle that looks just like the one that allowed her escape from Edward Mars. ("What Kate Did")
• Mr. Eko sees flashes from his past when confronting The Monster. ("The 23rd Psalm")
• Charlie has two dreams about needing to save Aaron, which include images of his childhood and a painting by Verrocchio. ("Fire + Water")
• Hurley has visions of his imaginary friend Dave. ("Dave")
• Mr. Eko has a dream featuring Ana Lucia and Yemi in which they tell him to help Locke, and in which Yemi instructs him to look for the "?". ("?")
• Locke has a dream where from Eko's point of view, he climbs a cliff and meets Yemi. ("?")

Season 3

Locke has a vision quest ("Further Instructions")

• Locke undergoes a vision quest in which he is guided by Boone and instructed to save Eko. ("Further Instructions")
• Desmond has a series of flashes, in which he perceives possible instances of future eventualities:
  • Locke giving a speech, saying he would go after Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. ("Further Instructions")
  • Lightning striking Claire's roof, killing Charlie. ("Every Man for Himself")
  • Charlie drowning trying to save Claire. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")
  • Charlie dying in the ocean from being slammed against rocks, while trying to catch a seagull for Claire. ("Par Avion")
  • Desmond, Charlie, Hurley, and Jin trekking through the jungle; Charlie is killed by an arrow trap, and they find a parachutist. ("Catch-22")
  • Charlie drowning while flipping a switch in a hatch; Claire and Aaron leaving the Island in a helicopter. ("Greatest Hits")
• Mr. Eko has a confrontation with what he thinks is Yemi. ("The Cost of Living")
• A young Ben sees his dead mother on the Island. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
• Locke, in the mass grave site, receives instructions from what appears to be a vision of Walt, telling him he has "work to do". ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 1")

Season 4

• Hurley has several visions of Charlie: once in a convenience store, in the LAPD interrogation room, and outdoors at the mental institution. On the Island, he also sees Jacob's cabin, which appears to follow him, then disappears after he wills it to disappear, much as he willed Charlie to disappear at the mental hospital. ("The Beginning of the End")
• Michael had two separate visions of Libby: once while in the hospital, and once just before he was about to detonate a bomb on The Kahana. Both of these appearances are connected to his guilt over killing her. ("Meet Kevin Johnson")
• Off the island Jack sees visions of his father while inside his medical office. He seems to only be seen by Jack.
• Claire on the island seems to be able to talk to her father, though he wasn't in the plane crash or on the island during the event that unfold. He seems to be able to pick up the baby, so we know that her visions must be somewhat true.

Recurring themes

Seeing dead people

Many dreams and/or visions have consisted of characters interacting with dead characters:

• Jack saw Christian Shephard on the Island, and later heard his voice on the broken Hydra intercom. ("Walkabout"), ("White Rabbit"), ("A Tale of Two Cities")
• Mr. Eko and Locke both interacted with Yemi. ("?"), ("The Cost of Living")
• Mr. Eko interacted with Ana-Lucia in a vision. ("?")
• Locke was guided by Boone in a vision quest. ("Deus Ex Machina")
• A young Ben saw his mother on the Island at least twice, despite her being dead since he was a baby. They also interacted. ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
• After leaving the Island, Hurley sees Charlie several times, even though he died while on the Island. He eventually manages to speak with Charlie at Santa Rosa, where Charlie admits to being dead, but "also here". Curiously, a fellow patient, Lewis, is seemingly able to see Charlie. ("The Beginning of the End")
• Michael has brief vision of Libby both off the Island and on the freighter, although these may have been brought on due to his guilt over her murder. ("Meet Kevin Johnson")

Many visions of people who have died appear barefoot.

• Eko's vision of Ana-Lucia ("?")
• Ben's vision of his mother ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
• Hurley's vision of Charlie ("The Beginning of the End")

It is worth noting however, that in Locke's vision of Boone in "Further Instructions", Boone IS wearing shoes.

Asking to help others

In some of the visions where a dead person appears, he/she asks the one having the vision to help somebody:

• Ana Lucia asked Eko to help John ("?")
• Boone asked John to help Eko ("Further Instructions")
• Charlie told Hurley "they need you" ("The Beginning of the End")

Literary references to dreams and visions

The following books seen and referenced on the show have a major surrealist/dream element to them.

• Lord of the Flies
• An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
• The Stand
• The Third Policeman
• The Turn of the Screw
• Watership Down
• The Wizard of Oz
• Alice in Wonderland