Comments | rpowell: "The Moral Landscape of the STAR WARS Saga"

rpowell

"The Moral Landscape of the STAR WARS Saga" - Luke Skywalker

Aug 14, 2014 18:18

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Comments 7

lazypadawan August 15 2014, 21:18:57 UTC

Saw this on jedi_news...

Excellent points. Vader tortured Luke's buddies in TESB explicitly to manipulate him and draw him out to Cloud City. Why? Because Vader suspected the apple didn't fall far from the tree and he was right. Luke had become deeply attached to his friends, enough so that he dropped everything and went against the advice of Yoda and Obi-Wan to go save them. Which is exactly what Anakin would've done in the same situation. Vader used Luke's attachment to Leia to draw him out during their battle in ROTJ, but that time I think Vader hadn't realized just how deep that attachment ran. Leia triggered Luke the way Padme had triggered Anakin, which is why Luke came so close to turning. But I think my favorite point you've made here is how Palpatine tipped his hand. Palpatine's words snapped Luke out of it. As Luke said earlier, overconfidence was the Emperor's weakness.

rpowell August 16 2014, 03:39:55 UTC

But I think my favorite point you've made here is how Palpatine tipped his hand. Palpatine's words snapped Luke out of it. As Luke said earlier, overconfidence was the Emperor's weakness.

Whenever I think of that moment and compare it to how Palpatine finally manipulated Anakin in "REVENGE OF THE SITH", I find myself wondering if twenty-three years as Emperor had made Palpatine complacent and a little careless.

lazypadawan August 16 2014, 16:01:17 UTC

Yup. If you pulled off what he did, it would be hard not to be overconfident.

fatpie42 August 16 2014, 16:11:50 UTC

Not sure why letting go of attachments should automatically be seen as a good thing. When Luke's family are killed Obi-Wan is offering him the opportunity for revenge. Obi-Wan's knowledge of Luke's father meant that he was pretty much the closes thing to family that Luke had left. When Obi-Wan died, it must have seemed like an end to Luke's last lifeline and like the truth about his father would be buried forever. No wonder he reacted emotionally ( ... )

rpowell August 17 2014, 04:05:08 UTC

Not sure why letting go of attachments should automatically be seen as a good thing. When Luke's family are killed Obi-Wan is offering him the opportunity for revenge.

Revenge? Luke didn't seem concerned with revenge to me. And that's a good thing?

I'm a little lost by all the mind games towards the end of "Return of the Jedi". Luke is face to face with two figures responsible for terrible hardship, many deaths and hideous oppression across the galaxy. And yet apparently his only option is to remain passive if he doesn't want to become corrupt and evil? I just cannot buy into that.I could. And I understood why it was important for Luke to toss away that lightsaber. It seems to me that one the continuing problems with humanity seemed to be its inability to let go of its reliance upon violence and aggression ( ... )

fatpie42 August 17 2014, 09:32:11 UTC

Revenge? Luke didn't seem concerned with revenge to me. And that's a good thing?

Isn't the big motivation for killing Vader because Vader killed his father? Isn't the big motivation for helping the rebels because they killed his Aunt and Uncle? He seems reluctant to leave initially and then things get personal.

Why is this not revenge? I'm not saying it's the only motivation, but it's definitely part of it.

I could. And I understood why it was important for Luke to toss away that lightsaber. It seems to me that one the continuing problems with humanity seemed to be its inability to let go of its reliance upon violence and aggression.So Vader loses at the end then? Because he uses violence and aggression to kill the Emperor, right? So that means he's still corrupt and still controlled by the Dark Side ( ... )

rpowell August 17 2014, 18:38:53 UTC

Isn't the big motivation for killing Vader because Vader killed his father? Isn't the big motivation for helping the rebels because they killed his Aunt and Uncle? He seems reluctant to leave initially and then things get personal.

If that is the impression you got from Luke's decision to leave Tatooine, well . . . that's how you feel.

I just don't agree with you. I got the feeling that although he was upset over Owen and Beru's death, he finally got the opportunity to leave Tatooine. The only time I sense that Luke wanted revenge in A NEW HOPE was when he began shooting at the Imperial troops and Vader, following Obi-Wan's death.

Luke says to Jabba "free us or die". In the prequel trilogy Jedis kill tons of aliens and droids. It doesn't seem clear that killing turns you evil in the Star Wars universe - EXCEPT in the third act of ROTJ. I'd be less upset with the fantasy-logic if it was consistent.I get the feeling that you're trying to generalize what I was trying to say. No, I didn't say that simply killing others made ( ... )