I think one of the most interesting things is the different
paths that Luke and Anakin (Vader) take with their lives. For those of you who
have seen all six films, you know that Anakin started on his Jedi path at a
much younger age than Luke did. When taken in, both Anakin and Luke were young
and ambitious, and wanted to learn everything they could about the force and “become
the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy.” Despite similar upbringing and training
(both by Kenobi), Luke and Anakin chose polar opposite paths and joined
different sides of the force. In the beginning both want to be heroes, but Luke
stays true to this ideal throughout his life while Anakin strays. What I wonder
is, are the circumstances of Luke’s upbringing (Empire already in control) and
the fact that he is the only young Jedi left that could fight the Empire the
reason why he becomes the hero? Despite his bratty and immature qualities we
see at first, does he contain the moral strength and bravery of any hero,
seeing as it would be an appealing offer to join the dark side and become even
more powerful? For those who have seen the other films, why do you think Anakin
and Luke end up so different in the end?
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I think many heroes that are in certain circumstances, are obligated to be heroes, and if not completed whatever goal they are supposed to, they will be looked as 'failures'. So being the hero, has a lot of responsibility, and consequences if not completed correctly. I think Darth Vader decided to go to the dark side solely due to instead of being afraid of failure and the consequences, he maid his own consequences. What I mean by that is, if you are a hero, you probably are afraid of the consequences that will happen if not completed the mission. This could be used as motivation, but also can deterrent your hope. If you are a villain, and you have no consequences to be afraid of , you start to create chaos with no rules. I think Darth Vader continually wanted more power, and more power means more responsibility (as said in the movie)...but Vader wanted more power, and no responsibility. As for Luke, I think he was a hero in circumstance, and that is demonstrated due to his attitude towards everything in the beginning of the movie, that he really just didn't care that much until he was told he was the 'only' one to do this.
ReplyDeleteInteresting question. But I don't think that Anakin and Luke both set out to be the most powerful Jedi, per say. Luke had nothing; he didn't know his parents and he hated the place in which he lived. When his aunt and uncle were killed Luke had absolutely nothing in his life, so the quest presented to Luke to battle the Empire was really the best and only option he had at the time. It sounds lame but, what else would he do? Anakin, however started his journey young, as you said. But he was troubled by the Dark side of the Force even before he knew what the force was, Yoda even said so of the nine year old boy at the time. But he soon began to create relationships. His mother, Padme, Obi Wan. And he wanted to be able to protect them from harm because he loved them, and he became obsessed with protecting them. He sought power because he believed that the only way to protect his loved ones was to be powerful, and that's how he eventually became corrupted by the Dark side. Luke on the other hand had no reason to join the Dark side. It was easier for Luke to stay true to the Jedi Code and combat the Dark side than for Anakin.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this. In Anakin's case, he had been severely traumatized upon the death of his mother and became obsessed with helping Padme. Through visions of Padme's death, he became obsessed with saving her. Therefore, Anakin was so easily swayed as Palpatine promised him that the dark side could help him save Padme. In one of the closing scenes of the Episode III, we see a fully constructed Darth Vader tied to a table and in agony due to the fact that he had just been told of his wife's passing. Thus, to go back to Mitchell's question, the reason which these two seemingly similar characters choose different paths is due to the fact that despite appearing similar, they are actually met with two very different sets of problems.
DeleteI would have to agree with that analysis completely Emre. Though they both came from poor families on Tatooine, their circumstances were very different. Whereas Luke was really the only hope of the Jedi, and Obi Wan knew that, Anakin was trained as an honor to Qui-Gon Jin, and Yoda even said about him "I sense great darkness in this one." Plus Anakin was easily manipulated by Palpatine, as he became obsessed with saving Padme. Overall, though similar starts, there were very different circumstances.
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