Anakin and separation anxiety

I've been thinking about Anakin's pathological emotional attachments, and now I am convinced that he has been suffering from severe separation anxiety. He's been that way ever since he was separated from his mother. The Jedi falsely thought being separated from his mother would help Anakin become detached, but they were completely wrong. Keeping Anakin from his mother for a decade while telling him not to even love or be attached to his mother was obviously psychologically horrible for Anakin. So, am I the only one who thinks that Anakin wasn't just selfish and greedy, but was suffering from severe separation anxiety?

 

Anakin?s failings arise from his natural human qualities. This is what makes Anakin the tragic hero ? he is completely relatable as he has developed the human emotions which the Jedi insist on suppressing.

Ultimately his fatal flaw arises from fear; specifically embodied for Anakin in a fear of loss and the guilt this carries for him. Anakin, like most people, is fearful of loss which develops into attachments. When Anakin is forced to let something or someone go he develops a sense of guilt and responsibility for the loss. This guilt inevitably leads to Anakin?s frustration and anger at the limitations of his power which, as Yoda says, leads to hate then suffering.

Separation anxiety is merely an after-affect of his over-attachment which can all be interconnected with greed and other concepts... not a new concept.

 

Anakin was an idiot. If he had only listened to Yoda's age old wisdom, and attempted to let go of Padme, then everything would have turned out okay. But of course he had to listen to Palpatine's lies and therefore everything turned out horrific.

 

You're right. I sort of misinterperated what separation anxiety meant. Anyways, I'm glad that you don't seem to like the detachment rule. Also, I really hate how people say Anakin should have just let go of Padme. While I don't think he should of went to the Dark Side, I think it's a bit unfair to just expect Anakin to let go of those he loves. It's not like the Jedi trained him to let go or control his feelings---they simply told him to let go of those he loves. It's easier said than done. Also, I agree that Anakin is a tragic hero. In fact, that is why I love his character. He isn't a pure evil villain like Palpatine, nor is he a "perfect" hero like Obi Wan. He's a hero, but he is a very imperfect which makes him human and relatable.

 

You hit the nail right on the head with this thread, I think it is rather shallow of others to accuse Anakin of being a idiot. First off I have always defended the decision of starting Anakin out as a young boy in episode 1 exactly for this reason. First I think it is rather obvious that since he and his mother were slaves and oppressed by Watto he felt a stronger attachment to his mother than most children would, also his separation anxiety was worsen when he was freed and his mother was left behind still under Watto and Anakin knows what kind of things he did to him. It is pretty obvious also that his turn to the dark side was caused by the loss of his mother in Episode 2, I don' think most people would be thinking rationally if they lost their mother and they had a feeling of deja vu with the person he loves so dearly and can't afford to lose especially after his mothers death.

 

Definitely. Anakin's problem was never that he was deep down evil or stupid, but that being separated from his mother caused him to have extreme attachments. Also, he was arrogant but that wasn't completely his fault because everyone, especially Palpatine, kept on telling him how powerful he was. He was also the Chosen One. And, he was a big war hero which must have caused him to get a lot of praise on the Holo Net. If you think about it that way, most of Anakin's problems are from nurture rather than nature. Speaking of that, I think Anakin's violent reaction to his mother's death has to do with the fact that he has been told to supress his anger for years. He tried to "hold it all in" which resulted in him going postal when she died.

 

Yes, I agree with all of this. This all goes back to the scene in EP1 when Yoda and the Jedi Council were extremely hesitant/reluctant to train Anakin because he was "too old", and because of his attachment to his mother. Even Obi-wan protested to Yoda that Anakin was "dangerous".

As mentioned in the EP1 novelization, usually Jedi are taken as infants from their parents to begin the Jedi training so that they won't form any familial/emotional attachments.