Dream Again

Afterword

first a few notes:

There have been cases, notably the six Tongan boys, of people who survived on deserted islands. I based all of the character's survival tactics on what really worked, from homemade fish traps to catching birds. I do not guarantee or know if you could survive a fall from a plane, the answer is a definite maybe. How low the plane was when the side opened and all else would play a role. It's not impossible but it's also not likely.
So. In conclusion I'll sum up some of the inconsistencies in the narrative. This is if you don't enjoy piecing it together and got frustrated, I wanted to lay it out. If you do enjoy the ambiguity of the text then don't keep scrolling!

The narrator does not introduce himself until after the crash. At this point he says his name is James Barry. J. M., James M. Barrie is the author of Peter Pan, the book that he is reading on the plane.
His story about Brandon changes several times, at the end this is revealed Brandon waAs transporting and arresting him.
He never actively lies when River mentions there was a murderer on board. Instead he actually argues that it couldn't be Max.
He lies to Ivan, who was a flight attendant, about his seat number. The flight attendants would have been told where a prisoner was sitting, so he was diverting suspicion.
He also lies about his age several times.
Adrain is the only person who recognized him from apparently news coverage.
Later on the narrator's identity is hinted at, when he's injured he doesn't respond to 'James' surprised at the name becuase of course it isn't his.
He does however insist no one is looking for him. This is something of a lie as in Brandon's tablet, he found messages from his mother.
The identity of who the narrator murdered isn't revealed but it is hinted at. He states he paid doctors to do the kidney transplant, implying they were in America. He also says his sister died of infection and that the doctors 'weren'T practicing anymore'. The cause of his father's death isn't known but at one point he blames his fahter for his sister's addiction. His and his sister's age difference is never stated.
He says evasively he was in Australia on holiday. It's relatively clear he was on the run and was only recently caught. This was high profile enough it was on the news, hence Adrian recognizing him.
However, the only bit of evidence in the narrative we do get for what hte murders were, Adrian wasn't concerned and in fact trusted him. This, and Brandon's handling of him, implies it was more self defense, or highly provoked, than in cold blood.
That's slightly negated by the fact that the narrator fully knows how to stab Ivan, hitting vital organs with relative ease.
The narrator hints at his incarceration when River asks him to promise not to leave her. He knows if they are rescued he will in fact be separated from her and evasively promises to always love her.

The reason the narrator survived the fight with Ivan is hinted at in the narrative. Because his wounds were so open the bleeding would have done its job to purge infection. An arrow wound, a puncture, becomes more easily infected.

The twist ending, as well as the presence of the monster, implies that the narrator isn't reliable. He directly conceals his identity, and at the end tells the FBI that there was truly a monster. However multiple times in the narrative, he refers to himself as Max's monster. The only perosn the monster appears to hurt is Max. It buries the bodies, which is what the narrator does throughout, along with asserting that he is in fact a monster, and that the other survivors wouldn't like who he really is.

Max's motivation is not stated. It is possible to shoot a boar with a long bow. It's not clear however why he did what he did or why he took such a stand against them, despite not knowing who the narrator is, or why originally seemed ambivalent to the girls. That's for the reader to guess.

It is however implied Ivan was not actually a flight attendant, possilby implying some fowl play. After all, despite teh narrator lying about his seat number, Ivan should have had a bulletin, had the narrator pointed out, or something, prior to take off, even if he was running late. Yet he has no apparent recollection of what he narrator is, nor is it clear how and why he and Max know each other.

Max and the narrator both quote several different plays. They quote the Tempest to one another, and the narrator quotes Macbeth. The narrator says that Macbeth is a 'Scottish film I like'. Macbeth is supposedly cursed, and is often referred to as 'the Scottish play' to avoid invoking the curse.

It's not clarified why the rescue crew came. That is because it should be kind of obvious. The entire island burning created enough smoke for neighboring islands to see and send planes to look. The narrator was lying on the beach (and Max's body was as well).

The plane's deparature from course and explosion are evidence of foul play, inclined the sattelite radio being tampered with. Max's calm implies he may have known something about this, however it's never clearly stated.

I had no romantic relationships for the narrator, mostly because I really don't like 'trapped on an island', romances because it's really not a very sexy situation. It's not. You're dying and traumatized. Yes you're bonded there is a bond there. Also it didn't fit with the narrator's character. He knows this isn't going to last becuase he's going to be arrested he doesn't want to hurt her more than she will be.