The wild imagery of Locke’s sweat-lodge vision makes me wonder if this vision, as well as others for Locke, was somehow transmitted to him, implanted if you will, by whatever means that will eventually have a rational (I hope) explanation. So the question is, who is giving these visions to Locke, and why? Whatever he ingested to hallucinate in the sweat lodge may explain that vision, but what about his conversation with the unconscious Eko? Or his dream that he followed in finding the small airplane? No hallucinogens then, but each time Locke receives advice in an altered state, then follows it – even in the face of seemingly contradictory fact.
Now compare this to Locke with the undercover officer, or Locke’s experience with his father. Each time, Locke believed what he wanted to believe – when the truth was he was being conned, or manipulated by people hiding their real motives. Even when the pot farmers show Locke that the hitch-hiker is an undercover officer, Locke refuses to believe the truth at first. He was used as a means to an ends – infiltration, getting a kidney. And why? Apparently, a psychological profile done for the police showed Locke was “amenable to coercion.”
The problem is, Locke has a track record of being a true believer, but the things he believed turned out to be wrong. Not just the hitch-hiker or his father’s motives. Remember Locke on pushing the button in the hatch? He said he’d never been more sure of anything in his life before; then he confesses to priest Eko how wrong he’d been.
Locke’s resolve and tenacity are admirable, but I am afraid that his new mission will once again have him in the role of “useful idiot” for another manipulator.

Flashbacks

See...I think that the Locke from the past...the one we're confronted with in his flashbacks, was someone who was too easily manipulated by those around him. He was a lonely man who was desperate for companionship and as a result he was always getting hurt. He let his father manipulate him into giving him a kidney because he so desperately wanted to believe that his father could love him after all those years. He let himself believe that a 'phone sex' woman (or whoever she was) could care more about him than her regular clients...because he needed to feel close to someone.

This latest flashback showed more of that tendency to be manipulated. He wanted to see Eddie as a lost soul who just needed some friends. Eddie reminded him a little of himself, and Locke has the instinct to reach out and connect with people because he NEEDED that connection. Even after all the times he'd been burned. To learn that Eddie was using Locke's own nature (his need for human connection, his desire for friends...trusting people to a fault) against him...almost broke him. He was exactly what Eddie said he was...and Locke knew it. And it hurt that someone who he thought was his friend was profiling his flaws to use them to get something he wanted.

I think it's because of how Locke suffered in his own life...that wanted to be reborn on the island. Instead of being manipulated by people and trusting those around him...he put his faith in something larger, something more spiritual. Whether it was his unrelenting obediance to 'the island'...or his desire to continually push the button at all cost, Locke needed to believe that there was something more to believe in than human beings.

But the problem is that it didn't make him less 'amenable to coercion'. He's just coerced by different things. He's constantly looking for signs to tell him what to do. He followes what he thinks the island wants him to do...even if it means sacrificing someone like Boone. And then when he came upon the hatch...suddenly he felt like he needed to push the button...because it was fate.

Locke was co-erced and hurt by almost everyone in his real life, so on the island he has put everything in the hands of fate because he feels it will save him from that. But, in my opinon, those two ways of life aren't that different. Either people maniuplate him, or he lets forces greater than he is confuse and manipulate him. He's still stuck in the same pattern.

Even the title reflects Locke's pattern of behavior: Further Instructions. Locke seems to thrive on the faith-based mission. He was humbled when his idea that the hatch button did nothing turned out to be so wrong. He sought a new mission through the sweat lodge - and got further instructions. I just wonder who is giving the instructions.

Amazing post QueenElessar. You completely nailed it.

Though I can easily see Locke's faith in the Island blowing up in his face, and can see his visions being projections sent to him from an unknown source to manipulate him for some end, I really hope that Locke's faith in the Island is the one time he invests his trust into something without it blowing up in his face. The story is supposed to be (partially, at least) about redemption, and I think it would fit perfectly.

Something, probably the event that paralized him, turned Locke into the Hunter he is now. He was going on a walkabout before the crash, a spiritual journey to discover ones way.