And a Little Lamb Shall Lead Them

“And a little lamb shall lead them.” I don’t know why I thought of that quote when Ethan Zohn won Survivor: Africa.

Well, maybe I do. After all, he was like the little lamb shown above. Cute. Innocent. Adorable. Special. Most people I know identified with him at some level. The day after the show ended several friends came by my desk and said, “I am so glad Ethan won.” Indeed, I don’t know anyone who is not happy Ethan won, myself included.

But what can you say about Ethan winning? Well, one school of thought feels it would have been Lex to win, had he not gotten sick. But even if Lex had won the final immunity, and took Ethan with him, chances are Ethan would have won. But who knows. All we can do is speculate at this time, like viewers can speculate what would have happened had Carl not missed the tick question in Episode 3; the final four might have been Carl, Linda, Teresa, and Frank. Who knows? As my Grandmother might have said, “Only the Shadow knows.”

I somehow have a need to analyze Ethan. I don’t know why. And the one quality that shines through about Ethan is his niceness. Let’s face it. Ethan is nice. In the US Weekly magazine preview, one of Ethan’s friends had this to say about him: “He’s not a bastard, that might be his downfall.” (October 29, 2001) Indeed Ethan is NOT a bastard. He was kind. He was kind when he begged Jessie to drink water. He was kind to take Lex on the trip and buy him French fries. He was kind to leave his Hacky Sack with those African children. He was kind to everyone. The fact that he got no votes cast against him in Tribal Council shows that either he was a genius at flying under the radar or everyone loved him. I personally think it was both of these qualities.

It seems like both these qualities have served him well in life. I look at the other people and it always seems like those who rise to the top are the ones who know how to network. They are the ones who know how to say the right things but never follow through. The ones who promise their bosses something and then have an underling do the grunt work, while they get the credit. People who know how to kiss ass. Yes, they may work hard, but they are untrustworthy. These people coast by life by using other people and spitting them out when they have served their purpose. They would stab you in the back and enjoy it. Sort of like Survivor on a less primal level. [Editor’s Note: Indeed, there is even an amusing book that tells people how to be just like this – “What Would Machiavelli Do?: The Ends Justify the Meanness.” Click here to read my review.]

I think this is why everyone is so happy Ethan won. All my life I have heard “Nice guys finish last.” Ethan is a nice guy. Therefore he should have been eliminated earlier in the game, or not made it to the final two. But he did. And he won. The nice guy finished first. This little lamb has restored my faith in reality TV on one level, but to a larger extent in my life. It is possible to conquer and not to be a bastard. This little lamb has led us all.

Even though Survivor: Africa is over, you can still order Survivor III, the Diary, by Mark Burnett.

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