Free Will vs. Destiny in Star Wars

Greetings, everyone. Recently I had to write an essay for school about Free Will vs. Destiny in the World and I used Star Wars as an example of a story where one is "fated" to do something, ie, Anakin is destined to bring balance to the force. Don't you think the whole concept of fate is a very depressing one? If you have no choice in how your life will end up, why bother living? On the flip side, free will seems very hope filled and optimistic. Each choice you make is your own, and you can gain much satisfaction from doing the right thing. Of course, I think even if you do believe in free will, you can get depressed by thinking you abused it. Yet free will by nature means that you can always change, always come back to the light, no matter where you are. In Greek tragedies like Oedipus, a character is fated to do something by the gods. Often that character stuggles to overcome fate, yet it catches up to him or her in the end. We find these stories entertaining because we like to watch a character struggle in the face of hopelessness. Is it a similar case with Star Wars? Do we find it entertaining because Anakin is struggling with his destiny? The Lord of the Rings trilogy, on the other hand, seems to embrace free will. Each character is walking through a dark path against evil, yet it is the individual's choices that affect Middle-Earth. Aragorn doesn't have to be the king; he chooses to because he knows it is the right thing to do in order to distract Sauron and ultimately let Frodo destroy him. What do you guys think of free-will vs. destiny?

 

There's quite a bit of discussion on this very topic in Balance of the Force and Anakin isn't the Chosen One!!!!

 

In AOTC, Mace Windu says to Obi Wan;

"If the prophecy is correct, then your apprentice is the only one who can bring balance. You must have faith that he will choose the right path."

The implication of this is that Anakin had the freedom to choose the wrong path. So although the idea of destiny certainly exists in Star Wars (such as Anakin being the one of an ancient prophecy), the characters do have the ability to choose their own paths.

This is a world where evil has run amuck. But you have control over your destiny, you have many paths to walk down, and you can choose which destiny is going to be yours.
George Lucas- Time interview (Bill Moyers) 03/05/99

I think that the ability of the Jedi (and Sith) to see the future, and then to manipulate events to change the future is what the "Balance of the Force" issue is all about. In the distant past when the Prophecy was... er, prophecised, the Force was in balance, and the Jedi could see clearly into the future.

Think about this. As the Jedi became able to see the future, they were also able to influence it. (Imagine someone knowing that Han was going to shoot first, then warning Greedo about it...) With the result that what was once a virtually static destiny became a future that was in motion.

As the Jedi (and Sith) became able to influence the future, the balance of the Force was shifted. By the time of AOTC (and ESB), the future is now in turmoil.

"Hard to see, the Dark Side is."- TPM
"The Dark Side clouds everything."- AOTC
"Difficult to see. Always in motion, the future."- ESB

 

I just have a few basic thoughts on this question:

1. It's hard to hold people personally accountable for their actions if they have no free will.

2. Predestination (everything you do is ordained in advance by some being or force apart from you) is different from Foreknowledge (the choice you are going to make in the future is known in advance to some other being).

3. Predestination is not compatible with free will and personal accountability, but Foreknowledge probably is. This is why the idea of prophesy is compatible with free will.

4. The kink in #3 is that if a person knows that he is prophesized to choose X, that may influence his decision regarding whether or not to choose X.

 

DarthNigel,

I understand that predestination does not allow for personal responsibility, but I free will was a part of it. What I'm trying to say is that Anakin could make any choice he wanted in life, yet in the end he would still bring balance to the Force.

In some ways, this topic is very similar to Neo's fate in the Matrix. Would Anakin still be the chosen one had not everyone told him that he was? Sometimes you can become something, just by being told that you are that thing.

 

"Sometimes you can become something, just by being told that you are that thing."

In principle, I would agree with. That being said, this story was written as it was for a reason. Anakin failed because he began to believe (or worse yet, ignore) his own press. Worse than that, he was easily manipulated as a result. Countless films are based on this premise.

Yoda and Obi-wan chose not to repeat this mistake with Luke. They knew that someone would stop the Emperor (while I know Anakin to be the Chosen One, I still entertain the notion that Yoda and Obi-wan weren't entirely sure.) What they did do was train Luke to the best of their abilities, to prepare him for any attempt to be lured to the Dark Side.

Ben's faith in the Prophecy is quite evident in ANH. He had the opportunity to kill Vader on the DS, but simply held him off until Luke was in a position to see him killed by Vader. Obi-wan knows he can come back to talk to Luke, and wants Luke to see Vader as the ultimate bad guy. Furthermore, if Luke stays to try and save Obi-wan, or worse yet confront Vader before he's been properly trained, then all those twenty years of waiting have been for naught. Ben had three excellent reasons to let Vader kill him.

The fourth, of course, is that had Obi-wan killed Vader, Palps would simply have found a new appentice who would not have a potential relationship with Luke - the Jedis' "ace up their sleeve". Any other apprentice would have mowed Luke down, rather than be "impressed" with his Force skills, as any father would be.

Okay, I'll stop now.

 

MeBeJedi, I agree. I truly enjoy movies that lend themselves to philosophical debates. Especially when they're full of action and titled Star Wars!

BTW, no disrespect but I know nuns who get more action than this board. Maybe if the mods didn't lock so many threads! wink wink nudge nudge!