Where did Obi go wrong with Anakin?

I disagree - Anakin (read: Lucas) actually explained it rather well when he was speaking with Padme aboard the refugee ship.

The Jedi are taught to feel compassion ("unconditional love") for ALL things, but ATTACHMENT to nothing.

Why do we get emotional? We get attached to things.

And Anakin was attached, to both his mother and Padme.

So I feel Anakin is quite a compassionate person, but his attachments are one big reason he gets into trouble...

that's one big bone I would pick with the EU people who say Luke started a NJO...they say he rejected the Jedi Code and started anew.

I think it's making stuff up because he doesn't know what the Jedi Order was like for thousands of years.

I'm not saying that loving someone is bad, even if you're a Jedi, but surely all must see the danger in strong feelings, especially for someone so powerful.

 

Anakin kept his feelings too bottled up. Obi-Wan was willing to discuss it with him, but Anakin changed the subject.

Regardless of his past, Anakin is the one who wants to be a Jedi, and that means leaving his past behind and adjusting himself to his new life. And the responsibility for that lies squarely on his shoulders.

 

Regardless of his past, Anakin is the one who wants to be a Jedi, and that means leaving his past behind and adjusting himself to his new life. And the responsibility for that lies squarely on his shoulders.

And that Anakin has no one that has had to do and has successfully done such to turn to for advice or to use as a role model is problematic. None of the other Jedi had to leave behind their past because for them the Jedi Order is their past.

 

Which is why they didn't to train him to begin with. If this is what he wants, then he must do the work.

 

The Jedi Order, also bares some responsiblity for the matter though. Beyond the sole fact that they made the decision to admit Anakin into the Jedi Order, they seemingly did so expecting him to be as if he was one of them and had been in the Order his entire life. Anakin is and always would be a different kind of person because of his life experience outside of the Jedi Order, life experience that none of the other Jedi had. Ultimately, they were unequipped to be able properly train Anakin yet chose to do so anyway. They most likely did so out of fear that if he was the Chosen One and they turned him away, then he either wouldn't be there to fulfill the prophecy or that the newly revealed existing Sith would find him instead. Now, I'm not saying that Anakin wasn't responsible, I'm saying he wasn't solely responsible.

 

He made the choice. No matter what else happened, turning to the Dark Side or not turning was entirely in his control. No one forced his hand. No one ripped him away from his mother, he chose to go.

 

He made the choice. No matter what else happened, turning to the Dark Side or not turning was entirely in his control. No one forced his hand. No one ripped him away from his mother, he chose to go. If there is anyone else to blame, it is Palpatine, not the Jedi. They gave him every opportunity he ever wanted, and even bent their own rules to give it to him.

 

I dunno, Obi-Ewan - I'm more with Kosmic. Anakin bears most of the blame, but I'm sure Ben and the Order bear some of it too.


Let's not forget that Mace and Yoda pretty much ignored Ben's pleas that Anakin was becoming dangerously arrogant.

 

Not only did Obi-Wan lack the experience, but he had just been given the level of Jedi Knight when he became Anakin's master. But on the other hand Anakin was the one who went wrong. Obi-Wan shares in the blame of what happened to Anakin, but so does Padme, Qui-Gon, and most of all, Anakin.

 

Ben went wrong by not finishing the little puke face off after he handed Ani his shorts.

 

As with most things, the fault for Anakin's fall does not rest solely on one person or event. Much of the blame lies with Anakin and his inability to separate his emotions from his actions; as shown in AOTC he is constantly reacting to what is happening rather than analyzing the situation, making a decision and then acting. And listening to Palpatine and not realizing that what he is telling Anakin is anathema to the teachings of the Jedi Order certainly doesn't help.

As Anakin's master, Obi-Wan bears responsibility for the fall because he did not find an effective method of teaching his pupil the lessons that a Jedi should learn. He did a fine job when it came to showing Anakin how to use the Force and the lightsaber, but was unable to make Anakin understand what it truly means to be a Jedi. He recognized the fact that Anakin was arrogant and impulsive, but could not find a way to eliminate these traits. The Jedi Council shares blame because they do not listen to Obi-Wan's concerns about Anakin's arrogance and offer Obi-Wan any advice on how to deal with this problem.

Perhaps Obi-Wan should have had a little more experience on his own before he was assigned a padawan, but in the end, would it have really mattered? Anakin is the "Chosen One," according to prophecy he will bring balance to the Force. Presumably this means defeating the Sith that have risen up to take over the galaxy. We know how he does this, and because of that, we know that he had to fall to the darkside to accomplish this; Palpatine was too powerful to defeat in a traditional confrontation. So although it is true that there was a failure to properly train Anakin as a Jedi, everyone involved did their part to ensure that the prophecy was fulfilled and the Sith were defeated.

 

There are many things that "screwed up anakins training that obi-wan had no control over such as all of the things that broke the traditional jedi rules. for example let's not forget that a jedi is supposed to be trained around there first couple of years of life. Anakin was almost ten when they started. Also the attachments that anakin had to his mother and to padme were much stronger feelings to him than that of going by the "Jedi handbook" if you will.

 

I think that although a great deal of Anakin's fall was caused by others, I believe that much of it was caused by his character. Anakin was taken away from his only living relative at a very young age, and almost immediately after that lost Qui-Gon. This probably caused him a great deal of emotional pain.

Shortly after when Obi-Wan became Anakin's mentor, they were both inexperienced at what they were doing, Ben in terms of teaching, and Anakin in terms of learning. They were essentially learning together, and eventually they developed a sort of father-son or brotherly relationship. I think that Anakin, having this relationship with his mentor, began to lose his respect for Ben, and believe he was as powerful as him. The teacher-student relationship was slowly dwindling.

All of these complicated feelings were flying around between them, tension slowly building up, and then Padme arrives. Her presence alone revealed how insecure Anakin really is. He began to clash with Obi-Wan even more, partially to show off. After his mother died, it was quite apparent that this rage that had been building up for years and years was finally released. He blindly killed, without thinking for a second. He was confused, scared, and sad, all of which released his anger. Now he is basically falling apart emotionally, which is the perfect opportunity for Sidious to draw him closer to the dark side. His mind is weak; too many people are pulling him in different directions, though he may not realize it. This will eventually lead to his downfall, and a sad one it will be.

 

The blame lies on all sides,but the lion's share of it is Anakin's and GreenwoodSith is spot on.

 

Here's a basic truth of all Jedi Masters: they all have to have their first student sometime. And someone has to be that first student. If Obi-Wan hadn't trained Anakin, he would have trained someone else first. You only get teaching experience by actually teaching, so saying Obi-Wan is too young doesn't work. It doesn't matter how old he gets, he needs an apprentice. It so happened that it was Anakin, who had emotional problems long before Obi-Wan took him under his wing. He and Qui-Gon had a Family Ties-type relationship: ultra-liberal master with very conservative apprentice, and Obi-Wan was always trying to keep him inline. As GL put it, he does from being the conservative apprentice to a rebellious master to being the conservative master to a rebellious apprentice. Anakin and Qui-Gon are very much alike, and therein lie their flaws.

 

I think it was as much Anakin's fault as Obi Wan's but one mistake I believe Obi made with Anakin was not appreciating him enough. Anakin had come from a very loving hom with Shmi and needed that constant care and appreciation. Qui-Gon would've given him that care I believe but it was just not something that was in Obi-Wan's character. He truly cared for Anakin but he didn't make it known hardly enough.

 

well, I suppose we have to go by what we see in the films - and Obi-Wan was often exasperated, it is true - but Anakin's ego also seemed out of control.

Is Anakin over-compensating because of a lack of praise from his master? It's possible.

I think it's more likely that Anakin is an 18-year-old (or is it 20?), with raging hormones and lots of energy and incredible talent, who thinks he's pretty much invincible AND the shiznitz.

So perhaps Obi-Wan over-compensates by being somewhat overbearing, but what parent wouldn't be?

Edit: my gosh - I just re-read my post and realized I'm siding with the authority figure. Nooooooo! Now I'm old! Soon I'll be listening to "today's" music and saying how crappy it is compared to the music I grew up with. Oh wait! Too late!

 

My view of this is that ultimately Amakin is the one who choose to go to the dark side for reasons not fully clear yet but I believe a couple of things, one his pride and listening to Palpatine syaing he is being held back all the time and the other his love and deep attachement to his wife Padme, I think two major things dealing with those two issues are going to happen that will cause Anakin to lose it and he will make that choice to give into the Dark side but it is ultimately his choice alone.

That said I think that Obi-Wan from what I seen in the two PT movies so far, has a little part in this, in Episode 1 he openly talks of his disapproval of Anakin, one in which was right in front of him when he was talking to Qui-Gon, which is why Anakin said to him afterwards that he doesnt want to be a problem. So at first he wasnt keen on Anakin training to become a Jedi and its only after he promises a dying Qui_Gon tat he agrees to train the boy. Now fast forward 10 years later to AOTC and it obvious that both Obi-Wan and Anakin care about each other more like a father and son relationship instead of master and student, but also obvious that they spent too much time together and are getting on each others nerves big time, Obi-Wan is exasperated that Anakin has to challenge every command he gives to him and also not to make rash decisions and he also feels that Anakin never listens and heeds his advice when given, and Anakin is feeling that Obi-Wan is overly critical, never listens to him and is holding him back from the Jedi trials, he feels he is ready, Obi-Wan doesnt.
So while they love each other, they are at odds with each other too and both of them are strong individuals and wont budge on their positions. Obi_Wan is by the book no questions asked and Anakin likes to question why he have to do something when he feels its not correct.

Qui_Gon it seems understood Anakin a bit more in certain areas that Qbi-Wan does not.

They are close in age somewhat too, like others have said and this was Obi_Wan's first apprentice so its only to be expected that their would be mistakes on his side as he learns to be a Master teaching an apprentice for the first time, Obi_Wan did make an obsevation to Luke that he was wrong when he thought he could train Anakin as well as Yoda trained other Jedi apprentices but that he was wrong, so while its **not** his fault in the least for the choices that Anakin made for all are responsible for the own actions in the end, he does feel some regret it seems when looking back on it when he was talking to Luke about his father. This is just an opinion of mine.

 

true enough about Qui-Gon perhaps being more like Anakin,

but it's quite possible that Qui-Gon would have brooked no nonsense from Anakin - he seemed like the kind of master who could be harsh and stern if he had to be - and with Obi-Wan, generally he didn't. With Anakin it might have been another story.

As a matter of fact, it might have been worse because they are so similar - personality conflict!

 

I think it was as much Anakin's fault as Obi Wan's but one mistake I believe Obi made with Anakin was not appreciating him enough. Anakin had come from a very loving hom with Shmi and needed that constant care and appreciation. Qui-Gon would've given him that care I believe but it was just not something that was in Obi-Wan's character. He truly cared for Anakin but he didn't make it known hardly enough.

That hardly seems like enough to make him turn against his own master of 14 years. I can't imagine him turning against the Jedi, aiding in their destruction, and creating the evil regime that was the Empire, just to hear Palpatine say "You've done well, Lord Vader." That being said, Obi-Wan isn't completely distant from him; he shows concern for him in Padme's apartment. And when has Anakin done something well enough to deserve a fountain of praise?

Obi-Wan was not a fan of Anakin's at first, but that has changed over time, and I can't imagine that Anakin hasn't noticed this. Plenty of older brothers aren't too wild about having a younger sibling at first, but they get used to it, and I've never heard of the younger brother holding it against him years down the line.

And let's not forget the way that Palpatine has already corrupted Anakin, without turning him against the Jedi yet: he has convinced Anakin that a dictatorship is the best form of government to solve the Republic's problems.