Two Schools of Thought, the NJO, Anakin & Jacen Solo (Possible DJ Spoilers)

The crux of the NJO highlights two schools of thought.


Anakin Solo

Guilt defines Anakin Solo's character. Many times, we see Anakin "high flying" his way into battle with little, if any, prescient consideration to the ramifications. Reckless is the word oft used. It is Anakin's Guilt, however, which prompts this reckless behavior.

We saw this Guilt during the voxyn mission when Anakin, as the self-appointed leader, blames himself for many Jedi deaths. Finally when he sees Jaina critically injured, Anakin high flies his way to save her, eventually leading to a mortal wound. Fatuous? Yes.

So in essence, Anakin "acts" in hopes of improving the past which he holds himself accountable. Noble indeed.


Jacen Solo

In contrast, exhaustive foresight (to the point where it becomes annoying for many us, right? ) defines Jacen's character. In a war where one wrong move could result in unintended or unforeseen disaster for himself or others, Jacen hopes to make sure he's making the right move for everyone. Indecisive is the word oft used. It is Jacen's sagacious prescience, however, which prompts this vacillation.

We are privy to this exhaustive and annoying consideration of the future when Jacen foresakes the Force entirely in BP due to a Force-inspired vision. Jacen hopes to avoid a future blunder with the Force; so, he abandons the Force entirely. Fatuous? Yes.

So in essence, Jacen "acts" in hopes of improving the future. Noble indeed.

 

Sounds correct to me...

 

Correct on my radar..

On the other hand...
Jaina Solo... Trys to miss her brothers funeral. Self-Centered Indeed!

 

I think there are more trains than that

This is from one of the FCs, I forget which(saved on comp):

Luke
@The force is to be used to save lives, not to take lives.
@The force should never be used for personal gain.
@Every jedi has a vote in making decisions for the group.
@The jedi should work to support and maintain the new republic-but not at the expense of jedi ideals.
@If the jedi are called upon to fight, they will defend the helpless without hatred, anger, or thoughts of revenge.

Kyp
@Do not be afraid to use the Force-it is a tool, just as a lightsaber is a tool.
@Do not wait for others to perceive the danger before acting.
@Listen to the force. It is on your side and will warn you if you're making a mistake.
@The jedi have served the republic for Milennia. They have a proud tradition and should never be perceived as a collection of weaklings or cowards.
@The Jedi are the best weapon the galaxy has against the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. Waiting for the New republic to understand this might be self-defeating, if by the time they realize the need for Jedi there is no more New republic-or no more Jedi.

 

Heh, I don't think that's self-centered really. Subconsciously, if she doesn't go, she may not have to accept it. Understandable I think.

 

Sorry! (I hate Jaina)

 

Don't apologize! We all hate certain characters for one reason or another

 

I think the Luke-Kyp thing has been beaten to death on these boards in the past, so I wanted to stay away from it

I believe in many ways, Luke's & Kyp's schools mirror Jacen's & Anakin's, respectively.

 

Yeah, but thats how they were written. Didnt want to lie

 

Riiiiight.

Well thanks for telling us the truth

But this point under Kyp: "Do not be afraid to use the Force-it is a tool, just as a lightsaber is a tool," was actually first mentioned in the books by Anakin.

 

Continuing on the Two Schools of Thought . . .


Revisiting Vector Prime, we can pinpoint a defining moment, setting Jacen & Anakin on opposite journeys. Towards the end, Anakin initiates a metaconcert between Jaina, Jacen and himself in the asteroid belt right outside Dubrillion with skips hot on their tail.

Following Anakin's remarkable display of using the Force, both brothers settle into very interesting introspection.

In Jacen, we see decisive transition from a confident 16 year-old who soundly defeated his brother in a lightsaber duel to an introspective, questioning and just plain complicated person. On p.315 (hardcover), we have:

In light of that display, Jacen had to question his own philosophy concerning the Force as a tool for improvement of the self, this strictly inner usage designed to allow a Jedi to discern his or her place in the universe.

Note that Anakin entertains doubts not unlike his older brother Jacen (p.316):

...from [Anakin's] point of view, his philosophy concerning the Force as an outward-projecting tool also seemed deficient. If he had been stronger emotionally, as was Jacen, if he had trained himself to deper levels of meditation instead of concentrating on the outward battle skills, the mentally joined run through the belt would not have so overloaded his sensibilities.

But unlike Jacen's constantly evolving journey, things do not change all that much for Anakin. From the views he presented to Jacen during the lightsaber duel on-board the Falcon, to his high-flying maneuvers in Conquest, Anakin never really explores the doubts he raised in VP following the truncated mental link he initiated on the belt. In Rebirth, Corran reminds Anakin that the Force is not just a tool. For an answer, Anakin habitually shrugs of an I-know.

The source of Anakin's actions stem from his Past Guilt moreso than any real extrapolation into the nature of the Force.

Enter SbS. We come full circle here. Jacen serves as the empathic strength of the battle meld micro-managing emotions and pain, diverting pain from some and feeding confidence and resolve from others (particularly from Anakin). Jacen now serves as the link for everyone, very similar to Anakin's role on the belt in VP. In doing so, Jacen adopts the Force-is-a-tool mentality. But for Jacen, it doesn't stop there. Jacen draws from an inner peace within in this meld; note that Jacen is not even conscious of physical surroundings when serving this meld.

Anakin's progression is more outward, using the Force to perfect any physical strategies against the Yuuzhan Vong.


From their introspection in VP, each brother questioned their own views concerning the Force. Only Jacen is able to remotely adopt the other brother's mentality. Anakin fails to follow through on his part primarily because Past Guilt dominated his destiny. Not issues of a grander, all-encompassing Force.

 

So you're saying if Anakin had been named Bob, or heck, even Jimmy, he would have lived longer?

Much of the guilt and fear he carried was due to the heavy the burden he carried with the name "Anakin." The need to make amends for his grandfather, coupled with his guilt for Chewbacca and Centerpoint/Fondor (both incidents out of his control) caused him to doubt himself, and that doubt would lead to his downfall.

 

My essential thesis means to transcend naming conventions. Past Guilt dominates Anakin's character regardless of the name.

Even if we look at the burden of Anakin Skywalker, once again we find that the Past influences Anakin Solo's present and future.

And as you say, this coupled with Chewie's death prompted him onward and forward without any thorough analysis of the consequences. We may make a case that Anakin Solo does in fact consider the ramifications. But does this consideration, in and of itself, truly outweigh his Past Guilt? I don't believe so. If it did, Anakin wouldn't have found it necessary to fly through the air for Jaina in SbS, resulting in a mortal wound.

This Past Guilt is too overbearing for Anakin's character to really follow through on his VP-introspection which I alluded to in my previous post.

 

I was suprised that Anakin died. But when I think about it, I should really have seen it coming. The way they were building him up so much was ominous in itself.

 

Too perfect to be true?

Needless to say, I was shocked as well. I thought the avid anti-Jacen sentiment surely marked him. Even on TOS, I remember reviews of Rebirth mentioned a general frustration and animosity towards his character.

 

I dunno, I just think Jacen is too useful as a character for Del Rey to kill him off. Anakin, while cool, was more of a conventional Jedi.

 

Yep.

And Anakin and Jacen embody polar opposites in Two Schools of Thought.

Anakin's destiny is plagued by an Overbearing Guilt (i.e., the Past). On the other hand, Jacen's destiny is marred by an exhaustive consideration of the ramifications (i.e., the Future).

Based on these two characterizations alone, we find that Jacen's character is fairly significant.

 

Indeed.

 

Up. Purely for selfish reasons

 

"So in essence, Anakin "acts" in hopes of improving the past which he holds himself accountable. Noble indeed.

So in essence, Jacen "acts" in hopes of improving the future. Noble indeed."


Lets take it a step further if we can though. Jaina (in Dark Journey) seems to ignore the future ramifications of her actions entirely. She doesn't care if what she's doing takes her to the dark side. In her lack of concern for the Dark Side, she's showing an equal lack of respect of the future of the galaxy (she's willing to possibly set her evil self loose on the galaxy), and the past (in following the path of her grandfather who nearly eliminated the Jedi from the galaxy entirely).

So I guess you could put Jaina at a third "evil" polar opposite from each of her brothers. I don't think the authors of the NJO would set up a critical philosophical disagreement between 2 of the solo children, and ignore the differing views of the third.

Someone will have to see through these 3 different views, and find the course the Jedi will follow in the war. My guess would be Luke, as the most experienced of the Jedi, he's in a good position to resolve these 3 views and has the authority needed for the rest of the Jedi to follow.

Remember, Jaina has said that she will not be the one to discover this path, and I'm not sure it makes sense for one of the Solo Children on the opposite ends of these views to suddenly see the middle ground, I think it will be someone from without.

 

I agree that there seem to be three schools of thought regarding the Force.

 

Is Jaina's current stance really that much different from the Two Schools we've already established?

I'm not sure her current position is all that much different from Kyp's. And Kyp's "Jedi War Philosophy" is really adopted from Anakin's position since the very beginning of the NJO.

Hence, I believe we are essentially left with two distinctly diffferent Schools of Thought. We have Luke, Jacen and the "wimps" on one side, who act with a thorough consideration of the future. On the other side, we really have Kyp, Anakin and now Jaina, whose actions are motivated more from a utilitarian perspective; that is, the consequences or ends determine the "right" conduct.

You can, however, make a case for how each person differs from their contemporaries in each School. In the end, though, I believe their similarities far outnumber and outweigh their differences.