Anakin's profoundly human frailty

I think that you could interpret the cave scene the way that she does. But IMO, I think that the significance of the cave lies in Yoda's statement: "Only what you take with you." The cave is suppose to show Luke the fear and anxiety that still lies in Luke at that point. Because it is a domain of evil, it will bring out the weaknesses of the person that goes in there.

Exactly. I still believe that if he hadn't taken a defensive posture first, he could have overcome. Doing that really showed that he still had to conquer his fear.

 

Once he cuts off Vader's hand and then looks at his own hand, he realizes that at that moment, he has become Vader. His father had taken his hand and now he had taken his father's hand while using the dark side. Only at that moment when he is looking over the precipice that he is able to come back from the dark side and throws away his lightsaber, rejecting the dark side.

I don't think he necessarily sees that he has BECOME Vader, but that is the now the path he has chosen to repeat and walk by letting his hate take control. It's fascinating. If Anakin had not chopped off Lukes hand, and Luke didn't have that cybernetic attachment, would he have stopped? Could he have stopped? Or would he have given into hate?

Again let us refer to J Campbell:

The problem of the hero going to meet the father is to open his soul beyond terror to such a degree that he will be ripe to understand how the sickening and insane tragedies of this vast and ruthless cosmos are completely validated in the majesty of Being. The hero transcends life with its peculiar blind spot and for the moment rises to a glimpse of the source. HE beholds the face of the father, understands-and the two are atoned.

For Luke, the fateful meeting and confrontation with Vader in ESB shakes him to the core. Luke?s failure in the cave, the lose of his hand, the might of the Dark Side are enough to send him into deep meditation, returning calm, a true Jedi Knight. He realizes that his own strength and peace can save his father. Return him to the light. It is his destiny to do so. When Luke sees in ROTJ that he is on a collision course to repeat his fathers actions, he is able to finally step aside and take the path of righteousness. Luke is willing to sacrifice himself because he will not allow himself to fail the way Anakin did.

 

I think that a clue as to where Luke is after he takes Vader's hand is his facial expression after that fact. If you remember, the look is perhaps more powerful than either look that Anakin gives in the Tusken slaughter or the confession scene.

IMHO, he is immersed in the dark side. I also think that what brings him back from the dark side, and IMO from being Vader, is the prompting of the Emperor. If the emperor didn't reorient Luke with his words, I feel that he would have killed Vader and become of the dark side. The emperor's words allows him to realize that he had temporarily joined the side of his enemy, against what he had been fighting against for so long, and it kicks him out of the funk.

 

I agree poor Luke looked like he was close to going Sith Postal. It just shows even the most mild mannered of Jedi's can snap!

 

UP.

 

I like what was said on this thread about Dagobah and Luke confronted to his father's choices and his own choices.

I think human frailty can also be described as: you never know who will choose this or that path in the end.
How could we know that Anakin would turn ?
As a "not very old" adult (I hope !), I feel attracted to Anakin's character (apart from the key scene with the killing of the Tusckens). He is full of life, energy, love. He wants to be free and is trying to obey his master ("I am trying"). Good will, help to strangers without wanting anything for himself in TPM etc.
You cannot judge someone before he has done bad things. But how can you determine who is going to do bad things and who is not ? You can't forsee the future ("impossible to see, the future is"). Is there any clue ? I don't think so.
Considering Shmi's education: she doesn't seem to have failed. She gave Anakin love, had the courage to let him go and live his life, had authority but was not authoritarian.
OB1 gives him good advice as well and cares for him ("this weapon is your life").
As a very young mother (my daughter is 16 month's old), I feel very much concerned about education. When I see how easily, a child can become "a dictator" if you let him do everything, my question is how not to be too directive, guiding(to let the child become independant and himself, find his own way) and not too permissive (there are things not allowed by society in order for everyone to live in peace). Are you in a way responsible for what your child becomes ?
I don't think Shmi failed. And I wonder why then Anakin, being the nice young adult he is (with Padme for instance), could kill the tuskens. I don't think Plapatine's influence went that far at that point.
Is it because he has the opportunity to use this so powerfull weapon (the Force)?

In my opinion, this is exactly what human frailty is about: unpredictiveness. (How strange considering all the prophecy and destiny thing in the movie !). Untill the last second, Luke doesn't know himself, IMHO, which path he is going to follow.


PS: I like the J Campbell's quotes. Is he someone very famours ? studied in class ? or writing about SW only ? Who is he ?

 

Great post, anakinforever. "Unpredictiveness" is defintiely a lesson of these movies, I think...no matter how good a person may seem (young Anakin, or Luke) every day they are faced with choices, and with every choice they make, they can go down the wrong path. The same with evil -- even as Vader was viewed as the ultimate villian in the OT, he still faced choices, and ultimately made the right one in the end, setting back on the right path where he belonged. People's expectations or assumptions (even the expectations or assumptions of the person doing the choosing) have nothing to do with the capacity or ability to choose good or evil as each opportunity comes to you. You can't assume that Vader won't be redeemed, and you can't assume Luke won't fall (man, I love ROTJ ).


Joseph Campbell is a famous writer and studier of mythology (of all cultures), whose writings and books have greatly influenced George Lucas as he's written Star Wars, from way back to the early drafts of ANH.

 

Thank you very much Ami-Padme.
I am going to the bookstore to see if I can find one of his books.

 

If you would like more information about Joseph Campbell and his work this is a good place to start. He is fascinating to read. Especially if you have an open mind.

 

"HE beholds the face of the father, understands-and the two are atoned."

Just like when Vader asks Luke to take off his mask. Before that moment, for Luke and for the audience, Vader can only be understood as a non-human entity. Luke's fear throughout ESB and ROTJ was becoming like his father. The mechanical being that acted as a harbinger of death throughout the galaxy. Once Luke removes the mask and gazes on Anakin Skywalker his fear is dissuaded, because he realizes that he is just like his father...a hero and savior of the galaxy.

 

Very nice Abstract:

Here's something else interesting from JCampbell:

They show in the final stages of the adventure the continued operation of the supernatural assisting force that has been attending the elect through the whole course of his ordeal. His consciousness having succumbed, the unconscious nevertheless supplies its own balances, and he is born back into the world from which he came. Instead of holding to and saving his ego, as in the pattern of the magic flight,he loses it, and yet, through grace it is returned.

It is interesting if you think of this as the Fall of Anakin and his road to redemption. His fall is mostly mental, he gives into the Dark Side of his nature. Yet he also embraces a mystical power that he is attuned to. Consciously he has fully embraced the darkest passages in his mind. However, lurking in the farthest corners of his mind lies the threads of his former self, the young joyous boy who fully embraced and lived for love. Anakin's capacity for love was as equally great as his capacity for hate. This I believe is the main points of EPs 1 &2.

This brings us to the final crisis of the round, to which the whole miraculous excursion has been but a prelude- that, namely, of the paradoxical, supremely difficult threshold-crossing of the hero's return from the mystic realm into the land of common day. Whether rescued from without, driven from within, or gently carried along by the guiding divinities, he has yet to re-enter with his boon the long-forgotten atmostphere where men who are fractions imagine themselves to be complete. He has yet to confront society with his ego-shattering, life-redeeming elixir, and take the return blow of reasonable queries, hard resentment, and good people at a loss to comprehend.

Anakin returns because of his love for his son. His son's compassion ignites the love that burned for so long in young Ani's heart. His decision costs him his life. Palpy's Sith lightning destroys his breathing apparatus, giving Anakin only one moment to seek forgiveness before dying. It is the forgiveness of his son that matters most to him. In reality, death is the only natural course for Anakin, for how could he possibly face people in life after what he became? How can he attone for the pain he caused to so many? In life he cannot do so.

Anakin is humbled by the pure love his son readily gives him and wishes to continue to give him "but I have to save you." For him, Luke's forgiveness is enough. At the end of ROTJ, we see of course that even Yoda and Obi-Wan hold him no ill will.

The true hero's journey is not always the easiest, purest of roads (such as Lukes) for in many ways the hero must succumb to magic, deception, and pain in order to attain that perfect understanding of redemption. Nevertheless-and here is a great key to the understanding of myth and symbol- the two kingdoms are actually one. The realm of the gods is a forgotten dimension, either willingly or unwillingly, is the whole sense of the deed of the hero. The values and distinctions that in normal life seem important disappear with the terrifying assimilation of the self into what formerly was only otherness... the fearfulness of this loss of personal individuation can be the whole burden of the transcendental experience for unqualified souls. But the hero-soul goes boldy in- and discovers the hags converted into goddesses and the dragons into the watchdogs of the gods.

 

Hate to bring this up, b/c I know people don't like mixing religion up in all of this, but PLJ's last post calls to mind the story of Jesus. Now, I'm not going to go off on any rant here, but one thing in particular did pop in my head. The last act Jesus commits before entering Jerusalem to complete his journey is the raising of his friend Lazarus from the dead. This tale is unique because we actually see some human emotion described. Even though Jesus knows it is in his powers to raise his friend, he still gets upset when he sees the actual body. But he performs the miracle, much to the awe of the crowd, and then sets forth on his own path to death & resurrection.

Contrasting that to Anakin's journey, we see what happens when a man with immense powers cannot save those closest to him. Anakin knows he is the chosen one, and he believes his powers should be unlimited. When he realizes he cannot do anything to save his mother, he rejects the principals of his calling, and turns to selfish revenge to ease his pain.

"I'll even learn to stop people from dying."

It may come true yet, but here Anakin rejects life, and becomes the destroyer aspect of the god.

 

Many thanks IamZam for the information. All the more so as I couldn't find any of his books at the bookstore.

 

Ok, let's see if anyone finds this interesting. This is from the work of Carl Jung.

Puer aeternus. Latin for "eternal child," used in mythology to designate a child-god who is forever young; psychologically it refers to an older man whose emotional life has remained at an adolescent level, usually coupled with too great a dependence on the mother.[The term puella is used when referring to a woman, though one might also speak of a puer animus-or a puella anima.]

The puer typically leads a provisional life, due to the fear of being caught in a situation from which it might not be possible to escape. His lot is seldom what he really wants and one day he will do something about it-but not just yet. Plans for the future slip away in fantasies of what will be, what could be, while no decisive action is taken to change. He covets independence and freedom, chafes at boundaries and limits, and tends to find any restriction intolerable.

[The world] makes demands on the masculinity of a man, on his ardour, above all on his courage and resolution when it comes to throwing his whole being into the scales. For this he would need a faithless Eros, one capable of forgetting his mother and undergoing the pain of relinquishing the first love of his life.[The Syzygy: Anima and Animus," CW 9ii, par. 22.]

Common symptoms of puer psychology are dreams of imprisonment and similar imagery: chains, bars, cages, entrapment, bondage. Life itself, existential reality, is experienced as a prison. The bars are unconscious ties to the unfettered world of early life.

The puer's shadow is the senex (Latin for "old man"), associated with the god Apollo-disciplined, controlled, responsible, rational, ordered. Conversely, the shadow of the senex is the puer, related to Dionysus-unbounded instinct, disorder, intoxication, whimsy.

Whoever lives out one pattern to the exclusion of the other risks constellating the opposite. Hence individuation quite as often involves the need for a well-controlled person to get closer to the spontaneous, instinctual life as it does the puer's need to grow up.


The "eternal child" in man is an indescribable experience, an incongruity, a handicap, and a divine prerogative; an imponderable that determines the ultimate worth or worthlessness of a personality.[The Psychology of the Child Archetype," CW 9i, par. 300.]

Sounds like one Anakin Skywalker to me.

 

The_Abstract,
Thanks for your thoughtful posts. Quoting Jung was a good call- sounds like a perfect character sketch of the Infamous Padawan Skywalker.

The puer's shadow is the senex (Latin for "old man"), associated with the god Apollo-disciplined, controlled, responsible, rational, ordered.

Luke ultimately incorporates both the child (Anakin) and the good senex (Obi-Wan, Yoda and other good Jedi) into a whole.

This puer aeternus-senex explains the bond between Anakin and Palpatine and Anakin and Amidala. Palpatine, unforturnately a sinister form of the senex. Senator Amidala (senex and senator have the same Latin root origin: both senior, old man) takes on the senex role. Her line in the packing scene: "Anakin, don't try to grow up too fast" takes on a new meaning.

Conversely, the shadow of the senex is the puer. Whoever lives out one pattern to the exclusion of the other risks constellating the opposite. Hence individuation quite as often involves the need for a well-controlled person to get closer to the spontaneous, instinctual life as it does the puer's need to grow up. [The Psychology of the Child Archetype," CW 9i, par. 300.]

 

The_Abstract:
Your post was brilliant. Loved it.

 

I posted this elsewhere- but I think those who enjoy this thread will have fun mulling over this little theory of mine.

GL said everything we needed to know about the PTs and how they will play out is spelled out in EP 1. I remembered a little interaction w/ P&A in their first meeting:

P: You're a slave?
A: I'm a person and my name is Anakin.
P: I'm sorry this is a strange place to me.

Those little lines, particularly Anakin's spell his doom. Of course unbeknownst to himself at the time that he was 1/2 god, Anakin from early on embraces his humanity. He is forever chained to his emotions. Which I think is why Lucas made Anakin a slave to begin with, to pound this fact into the public. Qui-Gon does free Anakin, and in Anakin's one complete act of free-will embraces the life of a Jedi. The Jedi are chained to a code of ethics and ideals to live by. Anakin doesn't know this, he only sees the adventure.

The other interesting line to me is spoken at the dinner table, Anakin says "I had a dream once that I was a Jedi and came back here and freed all of the slaves." He asks QG if that is why he came to Tatooine. QG senses there is something deeper, a stirring if you will inside the boy with this exchange. Call it the Chimes of Destiny ringing. Unfortunately, nobody understands what the chimes mean and QG who is the only one to hear the chimes is cut down before he can see how things are played out, or to help Anakin to realize his dreams.

JC
These "Eternal Ones of the Dream" are not to be confused with the personally modified symbolic figures that appear in nightmare and madness to the still tormented individual. Dream is the personalized myth, myth the depersonalized dream; both myth and the psyche. But in the dream the forms are quirked by the peculiar troubles of the dreamer, whereas in myth the problems and solutions shown are directly valid for all mankind.

Anakin dreams, as does Luke. In their dreams it is the desires and need to help people, particularly those they love the most, that spawn them into action. Sends them to reach out for their destinies.

Slavery is something has settled deep into Anakin. It is something he HATES more than anything. He hates being helpless in freeing his mother. In his dreams, he does not know she has been freed, only that she is in pain, that coupled w/ his guilt for not freeing her, the one woman he loves more than anything, spurns him into action. It leads him down the path of destruction.

Anakin again sees Padme in the terms of Master/slave w/o his realizing it. He gives her complete authority to decide their future. When the finally marry, he again is now slave to her. However, marriage is a natural form of commitment. Their love is pure and it binds them together. Their union will produce the children who help to redeem Anakin when he is lost and confused.

Anakin wants to be free, but everywhere he turns he ends up still as a slave. He's a slave to love, to the Jedi Order, to rules, to everything. The only way he can fight back is with anger. Through his anger and pain he levels the field. Palpatine sees this flaw in Anakin and abuses it terribly. Palpatine is The figure of the tyrant-monster...He is the hoarder of the general benefit. He is the monster avid for the greedy rites of "my and mine." The havoc wrought by him is described in mythology and fairy tale as being universal through-out his domain...The inflated ego of the tyrant is a curse to himself and his world- no matter how his affairs may seem to prosper. Self-terrorized, fear-haunted, alert at every hand to meet and battle back the anticipated aggressions of his environment, which are primarily the reflection of the uncontrollable impulses to acquisition within himself, the giant of self-achieved independence is the world's messenger of disaster, even though, in his mind, he may entertain himself with humane intentions.

Obvioulsy Anakin sees Palpatine as a man of great wisdom- we know that from AOTC. And when Palpatine rescues and resurrects him as Vader in EP 3, Anakin will again become

 

PLJ, another brilliant post, I must say.
Is it too much to ask that this thread stays up?

Yet another thing that GL is an advocate of is free will. There are several examples of this throughout the saga, but if we focus on Anakin, we see the argument in its purest form.

Anakin is at once born a demigod and slave. He occupies the lowest social rank in the galaxy, but he has the potential to be the most powerful man that has ever lived. Already his life is out of balance.

Qui-Gon offers Anakin his freedom from a slave's life on Tatooine, but he must then submit it to the principles of the Jedi Order. As 10 years pass, he becomes more and more disenchanted with the Jedi Code, feeling once again like a slave with an overbearing master.

.....To Be Continued....Time to Head Home.

 

Abstract- I'm doing my part

FYI I forgot to quote this section- it is by JCampbell- I am not that insiteful!

The figure of the tyrant-monster...He is the hoarder of the general benefit. He is the monster avid for the greedy rites of "my and mine." The havoc wrought by him is described in mythology and fairy tale as being universal through-out his domain...The inflated ego of the tyrant is a curse to himself and his world- no matter how his affairs may seem to prosper. Self-terrorized, fear-haunted, alert at every hand to meet and battle back the anticipated aggressions of his environment, which are primarily the reflection of the uncontrollable impulses to acquisition within himself, the giant of self-achieved independence is the world's messenger of disaster, even though, in his mind, he may entertain himself with humane intentions.

Here is something else I posted in the Love Story thread:

J Campbell:

It is the business of mythology proper, and of the fairy tale, to reveal the specific dangers and techniques of the dark interior way from tragedy to comedy. Hence the incidents are fantastic and "unreal": they represent the psychological, not physical, triumphs. Even when the legend is of an actual historical personage, the deeds of victory are rendered, not in lifelike, but in dreamlike figurations; for the point is not that such-and-such was done on earth; the point is that, before such-and-such was done on earth, this other, more important, primary thing had to be brought to pass within the labyrinth that we all know and visit in our dreams. The passage of the mythological hero may be overground, incidentally; fundamentally it is inward-into depths where obscure resistances are overcome, and long lost, forgotten powers are revivified, to be made available for the transfiguration of the world. This deed accomplished, life no longer suffers hopelessly under the terrible mutilations of ubiquitous disaster, battered by time, hideous throughout space but with its horror visible still, it's cries of anguish still tumultuous, it becomes penetrated by an all-suffusing, all-sustaining love, and a knowledge of its own unconquered power. Something of the light that blazes invisible within the abysses of its normally opaque materiality breaks forth, with an increasing uproar.

Simply stated- it is the power of myths to show the path that can lead to mass destruction, whether that is to an individual or to a society. It is the power of one hero to right the wrong of that imbalance. Unfortunately, sometimes the hero must delve into realms that others fear to tread- such as Anakin must completely give himself into Hate and anger- in order to understand the power of its destructive nature. Only by doing this, and only upon that realization, can he actually, finally restore the balance, and return to the light and restore peace and order to the Force.

For Anakin to achieve this goal he need to be able to recognize again the goodness within himself:

...all the life-potentialities that we never managed to bring to adult realization, those other portions of ourself, are there; for such golden seeds do not die. If only a portion of taht lost toality could be dredged up inot the light of day, we should experience a marvelous expansion of our powers, a vivid renewal of life. We should TOWER in stature. Moreover, if we could dredge up something forgotten not only by ourselves but by our whole gneration or our entire civilization, we should become indeed the boon-bringer, the culture hero of the day- a personage of not only local but world historical moment.....

It is seeing Luke's sacrific that reminds Vader of the boy who claimed at his mother's gravesite, "I wasn't strong enough to save you Mom, I will not fail again" and the boy who said he would "learn to stop people from dying." Once Anakin was a proud, ideallistic young man with a heart of gold. The heart became swallowed with rage, pain and anger.

The hero, therefore, is the man or woman who has been able to battle past his

 

UP

 

I tried to base everything of my opinion on Anakin on the movies as they are 'canon' and EU is not (as is the vox populai) and JQ is EU. But you are right, in the books, Anakin comes across much more sympathetic. The movies, he does not.

And I have no problem with anyone constructing their *general* opinion of a character soley based on the movies. It's just that the EU directly contradicts the assertion that he acted like an ass to the other kids in the Temple. Whether or not the EU has any bearing on anything is up for debate, but IMO official SW books take precedence over simple speculation. As for whether or not he's sympathetic, I tend to believe it's a matter of what one is reading into him. If you want to believe he's a punk, there's plenty to back you up. If you want to believe he's basically a confused kid with his heart in the right place- ditto.

I really dislike the tendency some have to regard any thought of Anakin's circumstances as an attack on Obi-Wan. It's generally not meant that way. Obi-Wan did his best- he did good things and he also made mistakes. There's a lot more at play than that.

As for the signifigance of Anakin having an evil genius around: he isn't speaking to Anakin as anyone might. "Anyone" does not have the intention of turning a boy to the Dark Side, and no one but Palpy is plotting to overthrow the government and institute a brutal totalitarian state. Anakin is naive, an idealist. He sees the corrupt Republic and wants to make it better. Palpy sees that and uses it to further his own very un-naive, un-idealistic purposes. If "anyone" else talked to Anakin that way, it wouldn't be nearly so big a deal. We may choose to be Luke or Obi-Wan or Leia instead of Anakin, but my point is that any of them could have chosen to be Anakin given his circumstances. How do we know what Obi-Wan would have been like after spending the first 10 years of his life as a slave, or what Anakin would have been like after spending the first 10 years of his life at the Temple? How would Luke react to having his tortured mother die in his arms? What if she was all he ever had, and her killers were right there? You ever noticed the temper Leia has on her? I can point out a passage in the ESB novelization that states very plainly that Leia and Chewie hang back behind Lando in Cloud City, shooting Stormies. They do it because they are so angry and heartsick over losing Han. How is that different than what Anakin does, really?

This is myth. I don't think it's a matter of tearing the main character's psyche apart to show how any other given prson or character is wiser or "better" than he is. I think it's meant- and I think I'll employ a couple cliches here- to be another example of how the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And that there, but for the grace of god or the Force or whatever, go any of us. If one *chooses* to disregard that and refuses to empathize, a lot is missed.

 

I want to thank everyone for keeping this post alive. If it wasn't for all of you, I wouldn't have seen this. I've taken some time of the boards after AotC and I am glad to see this thread as a happy introduction back to the Council.

For those just joining this thread, do yourselves a favor and read the entire thing for THIS is Star Wars. This is what Star Wars is all about. This is why the prequel trilogy is so good and adds so much depth to the Star Wars saga.

I'm glad to see that everyone is appreciating the mythic depth that Lucas has placed into the prequel trilogy. Sadly, I'm afraid that this is being missed even by a lot of the "so called fans of Star Wars."

AotC is my favorite film of the trilogy because it effects me emotionally.

The mythic connections of the SW saga to our shared past on this planet has been the reason why I believe people are drawn to the saga in the first place. The prequel trilogy has not let me down in that regard.

I had asked a question back in May that think got brushed aside in the excitement of the release of AotC. I think I know have a good home for it to be asked.

From a mythological standpoint, does Anakin Skywalker fulfill his own journey to obtaining the power he seeks?

"Someday I will be so powerful I can stop people from dying"

My answer is yes he does.

Anakin believes that this POWER lies in the Force. This is a false belief that leads him on his false quest for power that leads to the darkside. The truth that Anakin learns in RotJ is that he has had this POWER all along. The power that saves his son is LOVE, not the Force. It's Anakin's newfound love for his son, daughter, life and most importantly, himself that takes the full wrath of Palpatines darkside powers and drives him forward. Anakin finally accepts that the emotion of LOVE comes at a high price. The child that Anakin Skywalker is/was during the prequel trilogy and the the original trilogy finally becomes a man. He accepts the consequences of his emotions and understands that to have LOVE and to be LOVED you have to accept the consequenses of the emotion. It's his understanding of this that allows him to save Luke. He is no longer afraid of the consequences like he was in TPM when Yoda sensed the enevitable loss of Anakin's mother and his profound fear of losing her. The boy knows LOVE, but doesn't understand the responsiblity of this emotion.

What I think Lucas's message is even with all the potential (i.e. high midicholrians, the prophecy) with a mythic magic (the Force) you won't obtain your destiny until you open your heart to love and accept all of the happiness (which Anakin wants) and the sadness and pain(which Anakin tries to avoid) that accompanies this emotion. This is what all myths have been telling us from the beginning of time.

kudos to George Lucas and Joseph Campbell

 

Jedi Master Matt

Sniff sniff--I think I've found a soulmate in my love of SW. Wonderful post! Thank you.

 

A minor connection between STAR WARS and the classic sci-fi/horror novel FRANKENSTEIN is the reaction to the finality of death. A major character (Anakin/Dr. Frankenstein) is unable to accept the loss of a loved one and it leads them in the direction of doing horrible things. The universal experience of loss through death touches us all, but in these two classic stories, it has ominous consequences...the creation of two monsters: Darth Vader and Frankenstein.

Dr. Frankenstein reacts by wanting to learn to re-animate the dead. Anakin makes the statement that "one day I will even learn to stop people from dying." They both foolishly want to violate the natural order.

Neither can accept the inevitable, we all die and we MUST die in order to continue the natural cycle. Death gives life it's meaning and preciousness by making life finite. We must let go of our attachments to those who have passed on. This is part of the human condition that must be accepted by every person. It's a simple lesson, but it's essential for emotional stability.

 

PadmeLeiaJaina, excellent post. just truly wonderful.could not have summed it up any better.Out of all the Star Wars characters, Anakin is the most tragic. He never got a chance to be all that he was meant to be.