What quality did Luke have that Anakin didn't?

Luke Skywalker was able to resist the temptation to join the Dark Side of the Force; his father Anakin was not. What quality of character did Luke have that enabled him to succeed where his father failed?

 

Uncle Owen was the difference. Instead of having powerful figures telling him how great he was, Luke had a poor water farmer telling him to stop whining and do his chores for 20 years. This may have given Luke a greater work ethic, and a sense of selflessness and humility that his father never had.

 

Luke wasn't afraid.
He never had the overwhelming feeling that those he loved would die. His mother never died in his arms, he never feel in love with anyone so completely that he couldn't go on without them.
The boy had a loving family and grew up an innocent and earnest farm boy. He was never arrogant and never thought of himself as special.

It makes the difference.

-Seldon

 

I agree with both of those.

I'd also say Luke has certain inherent character traits (inherited from his mother?) that enable him to fight and resist his fears.
There's an inner sense of confidence and belief to Luke. He seems to know the right path for himself. I don't see that in Anakin, who as a young man might be smarter and stronger than Luke, but is always trying too hard prove himself. His fears and continual desire to prove himself, IMO, lead to his downfall.

Don't forget that Luke has the advantage of knowing what happened to Anakin. Good Jedi, like Ben and Yoda, are not necessarliy enviable in the OT, but Luke seems to inherently realize that Anakin's sacrificed his soul to gain more power.

 

Freedom. Less restrictions on his life and the ability to make his own choices to meet his destiny. Anakin was a slave, then he was a "slave" to the Jedi code, then he was the Emperor's apprentice. Luke, after leaving his responsibilities at the Homestead, was left alone by Obi-Wan on the Death Star and able to come and go as he pleased to Yoda on Dagobah.

 

That is an interesting point Latorski. I've always found it to be interesting that despite all his powers, Anakin is weak when compared to Padme's strength. She is independent, has opinions, is a public servant, an idealist, a reformer, she has ambition but isn't blinded by it. She is such a strong character when compared to Anakin's many weaknesses. There are qualities of her in both Luke and Leia.

-Seldon

 

I agree that Padme's influence is strong in Luke. In a world where everyone is cynical, Luke is more open about how he feels, who he cares about. Luke is more willing to learn from his mistakes and take account for them for example coming back to see Yoda after Bespin. Luke sees the goodness in people and works to bring that out. His gentleness and good humour evolve him into a deep, contemplative young man while Anakin becomes much more conflicted about himself and allows dark thoughts to plague him. Luke works through his bad days and comes out stronger.

 

It's easy to characterize Padme as ideal when focusing only on her virtues .

Anakin himself is (com)passionate, headstrong, self-sacrificing, willing to do what it takes to save those he cares about. Luke and Leia have inherited these qualities. He has opinions on what is best, he has his own ideals. As a public figure he is also in more danger physically and spiritually than others can know or experience.

Although Padme's virtues are good, they can also be her flaws. Padme is blinded be her compassion for Anakin and even her own ambitions (she wants to be a wife and mother); she overlooks the killing of an entire tribe of Tuskens and knows the danger her love puts Anakin in for being a Jedi.

Neither one person in the Anakin/Padme couple is stronger than the other; both of their virtues caused the death(s)-physically and spiritually-for each of them.


Ciou-See the Sig

 

Darth-Seldon posted on 4/8/05 12:45pm

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I've always found it to be interesting that despite all his powers, Anakin is weak when compared to Padme's strength.
[hr][/blockquote]

Oh, definitely. Anakin isn't strong. He thinks power is strength. He believes that he has an inherent right to prestige, enhanced by his life of slavery or perceived slavery. However, I'm not sure how strong Padmé is in the end. She gives in, too. That has a negative influence on Anakin, to see someone who is a pretty strong person giving in. But overall, Anakin is simply not a very strong person, largely because of how he's chosen to deal with what's been thrown his way (though I will grant he's had it tough. But those things *could* have made him very strong had he dealt with them right).

Luke has strength, but it does requrie some support. It's not until RotJ that he's really able to stand on his own feet. I think part of it is just his own personality, but also the fact that Ben and Yoda didn't hold his hand the whole way. Obi-Wan was perhaps too protective of Anakin, though obviously his reasons for worrying were founded in reality. With Luke, they drew a line in the sand- here's where we'll help you, but sometimes, you have to do things on your own and take responsibility. Luke learns the right lessons from his experiences.

[hl=tan][color=darkred][b]-sj loves kevin spacey[/hl][/color][/b]

 

Many of the above are excellent points. I agree at least a bit with all of them! ^_^ But if I had to narrow it down, I think Luke's humility and upbringing saved him in the end. He seems to have been taught humility and the value of hard work by Uncle Owen, while also being taught compassion and love for your fellows by Aunt Beru. While Anakin knew how to work hard (being a slave) it a work ethic influenced by fear, a fear that would later instill in him a desire for power so that he wouldn't find himself helpless again. This left him critically open to the Emperor's Dark Side influences.

Now, Luke also wanted to prove himself, but it seems to be more with the purpose of living up to his idealized father's example and bringing peace and justice to the galaxy. He also lacked a great deal of Anakin's arrogance. (An arrogance greatly egged on by being constantly reminded of possibly being "The Chosen One".) Couple all this with Luke inheriting aspects of Padme's personality and there you go!

 

But there is one point in Luke ... he is certainly bored at Tatooine. He wants to go to "he Academy", like Biggs said, and like it's described in the novel. He is most certainly bored on that "ball of dust", and wanbts to get out, living his own life. In a way, he's a slave, too, imho, but not as strong as Anakin once was.

What Luke definitively differs from his father is Friendship. Luke has friends, his father never had them. Luke leraned to trust his friends, because they saved him (Han 2 times ! ) - and he repaid in setting up a scheme to free Han when he was imprisoned.

I think that's the most important part : friendship.

Alrik.

 

Yeah, I do think Anakin was more isolated than Luke. Part of it was his fault probably because of his "I'm better than you" attitude, but I'm sure part of that was a reaction to everyone treating him like he was different (people within the order, I mean). He did have friends on Tatooine but he could never be sure of keeping them

Luke definitely has a much more "normal" and stable upbringing. It's natural for him to eventually want more, but at least he had it in the important formative years.


-sj loves kevin spacey

 

I would have to agree with the assessment that Luke didn't have anything or anyone to lose, unlike Anakin. The choice for Luke was an easy one considering everything and everyone he had ever loved was just wiped out by the Empire, thus he wasn't distracted during his training like Anakin was. It kind of makes you wonder how Luke would have reacted had he went to train and left loved ones behind. We get an idea when Luke loses it against Vader after he mentions Leia turning to the Dark Side.

 

Luke had Anakin.

What is the ultimate factor within Luke that allows him to beat the darkside?

- He wants to be the Jedi that his father was.

What is the ultimate factor within Luke that sparks him to become a Jedi?

- He wants to be like his father.

etc etc.

Anakin never really had that, sure he wanted to be a Jedi - but he had no idea what being a Jedi was "like". There's the older, more experienced, gentle and kind Qui Gon. Then there's the younger, brasher, more arrogant but yet highly respected Obi Wan. Then there's Palpatine etc etc.

Luke never had those ideals and goals clashing with each other, all his life he wanted to be "like" Anakin. He heard those stories by Obi Wan and set his mind to it. He caught of a glimpse of Anakin in Vader and set his mind to it.

I think that's, by far, the biggest difference between Luke & Anakin.

- O_F

 

Also, Luke feared the dark side. Anakin had no fear of the dark side. All he learned about it was that he shouldn't go there, but that it gave him more power. Naturally, he went there ultimately.
Luke, however, learned that a darksider had murdered his father. Luke would never want to become like his father's killer, because he was afraid of him. When he learned that his father had been seduced by the dark side, he probably feared it even more.
In the end, that fear saved him. When he'd cut off the hand of his father and saw that he was becoming a new Vader, he tossed his lightsaber aside, because he was afraid of turning to the dark side.



Fear can be a powerful ally
/LM

 

Luke's difference was Anakin.

He saw what Anakin became.

That, in my mind, was the difference.

 

Luke fought to bring about change. Anakin fought to stop it.

 

Impressive, majin. I think that sentence there could summarize this entire debate.

 

I surprise myself with my own brilliance I really do.

 

What does Luke really fight to change? He's not a revolutionary. He fights Vader/Sidious because he is told it is his destiny. He fights his father to try and bring him back. I guess he does kind of fight to try and change his father, turn him back, but Luke has the same problem as Anakin does...in the end he overcomes it only by recognizing he was becoming more and more like his father; I think it is awesome that in ESB Anakin is fighting what he once was, while Luke is fighting what he may become.

 

I believe that ultimately, Luke had an example in Vader, an example of what not to become. All his life he's heard that his father was a decent and honest man, and then discovers his father is in truth his most feared and hated enemy. Imagine the impact that this must have had on him. It shows him that anybody is capable of becoming evil and shows him just how powerfully the Dark Side can change and warp a person.

And yet the fact that Obi-Wan tells him that Anakin was once the galaxy's most powerful Jedi gives Luke a positive role model at the same time. It's this dual role model that he has in his father that allows him to see what he can become, both in a positive and nagative manner, that allows him to make the right decision and avoid the Dark Side.

 

_dArTh_SoLo posted on 4/11/05 5:22pm

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What does Luke really fight to change? He's not a revolutionary.[hr][/blockquote]


I have to disagree here. In the very beginning of ANH, it is apparent that Luke has an anti-Empire mindset and this is confirmed when he tells Obi-Wan that he hates the Empire but there isn't anything he can do about it at that time.

 

agreed. Luke very much wants to change the way the galaxy works. and he knows that if he would fall to the Dark Side he would only replace Vader. become Vader. he wants to make the galaxy a better place, not continue to make it worse.

 

I was just musing over this last week. Part of the difference is the teachers. Anakin was taught by Obi-Wan, who was far to inexperienced to handle Anakin. Luke was started down the path to be a jedi by Obi, but was really taught by Yoda, who trained jedi's for 800 years.

It really comes down to that Anakin desired power to save those close to him, while Luke just desired to save his father.