I was watching the 16th episode of Lost Season 6 and it was amazing. This episode served as a back story of Jacob v/s The Black Smoke. As most of the people who follows Lost probably knows that the countdown to the ending has begun. I couldn't help noticing the prominence of Unity of Opposites in the finale.
The most popular definition of Unity of Opposites is equality of Light and Dark. In the image shown in the right it shows how light and dark balances out each other.
The concept of Unity of Opposites is present in practically every religion known to man. Michael v/s Lucifer, David v/s Goliath, Lord Rama v/s Ravana, Ying v/s Yang even Harry Potter
It does not necessarily means good v/s evil. Hell it's not even right v/s wrong. In it's most fundamental form it is a contrast of nature. It means two concepts or forces at the opposing end of spectrum.
Hollywood tries to portray a clear distinction of good v/s evil when it's nothing more than a point of view.
When you catch a movie next time or read a book do yourself a favor and do it from the point of view of the antagonist. In storytelling your protagonist and antagonist almost always follows the same goal with opposing means.
Mahabharatha although is considered a battle between Kauravas and Pandavas but in essence it is a battle between two people following different idealogies - Lord Krishna and Bhishma.
All most all religious text around the world is based on one simple notion - Unity of Opposites. Like a seasoned writer the storytellers understood that good story can only happen if there is any contrast.
In the end whichever way you understand duality but one thing to understand is that it is the contrast in the nature which makes every experience worthwhile.
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