The Characters: Hurley (and his curse)

Time is short today, so just a quick few words on Hurley. Ever since winning the lottery, Hurley is convinced that he is cursed. A lot bad things do happen to him and his family: his grandfather dies of a heart attack[1], his brother’s wife runs away with another woman,[2] his best friend steals his girlfriend.[3] Some of this can be explained as the added stress and jealous every lotto winner faces. But then his chicken store is hit by meteorite.[4] The reason I mention this is because Hurley has his own meta-theory on why everything that happens on the island happens. He blames it on his curse.

First, he blames himself for Arzt’s getting himself blown up.[5] He even tells Jack the “truth” about his curse, though Jack of course does not believe him.[6] Hurley also blames himself for Charlie’s impending death.[7] As late as the fifth season finale, after all we have learned about fate and the universe course correcting and Desmond not pushing the button and releasing an electromagnetic surge just as Flight 815 passes by, Hurley still thinks the plane crashed just because he was on board.[8] It’s sad.

But that is his character. Hurley’s central character flaw is that he has always felt cursed, just as Locke as always wanted to feel special. But there’s also a contrast there. When Hurley boards Ajara 316, the return flight to the island, he buys 78 other tickets in order to keep other innocent bystanders from being sucked into the island.[9] Hurley’s true curse is always feeling bad about himself despite being the most innocent guy on the island and still managing to be a force for good.

Or is he actually cursed? There is too much weirdness on the island to blame Hurley for any of the happenings there. But winning the lottery with The Numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 did seem to curse him. So, that’s the real reason I am talking about Hurley’s curse. We have to ask ourselves if the numbers really do have the ability to damn people and if so, how? I’ll try to answer that question in tomorrow’s post.

[1] “The Numbers”
[2] Id.
[3] “Tricia Taneka is Dead”
[4] Id.
[5] “Exodus”
[6] “Man of Science, Man of Faith”
[7] “Tricia Tanke is Dead”
[8] “The Incident”
[9] “316”