THE SKYWALKER TRAGEDY
Whenever I watch the Star Wars trilogy, I often view the
life of Skywalker family as a tragedy. To begin with, what we
know from 'facts' concerning the prequels, is that Anakin and his
mother Shmi Skywalker are slaves and live a poor life on the
desolate planet Tatooine. We no nothing about the fatherhood of
Anakin at this stage, only to know that it is absent. The life of
a child, especially a boy without a father, and according to
rumour about Episode I, Anakin loses his mother tragically also:
It would be devastating. Then to go on to form a new relationship
and best friend in Obi Wan Kenobi, and on Anakin's own point of
view to feel that friendship betrayed in some manner would also
dent his psyche. No wonder that it was easy for Palpatine to sway
him into the grip of the Dark Side. Perhaps the greatest tragedy
of all is that Anakin himself does not know that he is a father .
. . .
Moving on to Anakin's son Luke, his own life has it's
highs and lows. Imagine that all of your life that you have been
mislead concerning your father. Luke was told that Anakin was a
'navigator on a spice freighter'. I come to the point now, why
was Luke even raised by Owen? Has anyone ever asked why Obi Wan
did not raise Luke?? Recently, canon has stated that Owen is
indeed Obi Wan's brother, so why would you give your best friends
son to your brother to look after? I feel sorry for Luke that he
never knew his mother, and even his sister Leia only had cloudy
memories of her. It seems like Luke was manipulated into
confronting Vader, and you have to wonder if Yoda and Obi Wan had
ever planned to tell him that Vader was his father. Imagine the
feelings of hollowness and emotional detachment when Vader
revealed himself to be his father. Vader was the person that luke
dispised the most, he had killed his own 'father figure' in Obi
Wan. That in itself is a reversal. The saintly Ben who had been
slain was revealed not so perfect after all, and the epitomy of
evil was the father to the savior of the galaxy. It's poignant
that the only real emotional connection between father and son
only lasted for about two minutes, where for the first time in
over two decades, Vader once again became Anakin, and he saw his
son with his 'own eyes' for the first and last time. It's sad
that Anakin never had that chance with Leia. It's sad that Luke
and Leia never had the chance to grow up together. Scenes where
Luke is looking at the sunset in 'A New Hope' and where he is
standing over the funeral pyre in 'Return Of The Jedi' are also
emotional. Casual fans might think that the Star Wars trilogy is
lighthearted and fun, but when you look deeper into it, it does
have another emotional aspect to it, and thats what makes it all
the more believable.
Leia's life is just as tragic. Discovering that she is
adopted, and after learning of her true lineage, realising that
he true father had a hand in destroying the world that she grew
up on, plus who had personally tortured her.
Forgive me for being overly sentimental with this
editorial, and maybe I have watched the movies too many times and
looked for deeper aspects of the story and meaning, but I feel
that this dimension gives a greater realism to the films, and I
wish for the prequels is this element is woven into the story
line as well.
Until next time,
MTFBWY