Once and for all, WHY did Owen disagree with/not like Anakin?

Ok i have many theories as to why but i would like to have a topic devoted to trying to once and for all, understand the actual cannon reasons as to why he had that "resentment" for Anakin and also how Obi-wan knew about this. Also im talking about in-universe explanations just to be clear.

I'll start it off...

I think it was a mix of feeling bad for Shmi and blaming Anakin for Clegg's lost leg witch probably hurt the farm and made there lives a lot harder. Add to that seeing him carry her dead body back to the farm and you got many solid reasons why he would think Anakin "should have stayed on planet and not gotten involved".

So now the only question is- HOW did obi-wan know of this resentment?

Well i think ether padme told him, or Owen himself made it clear to Obi-wan before or after (i think before) he delivered Luke to them.

But thats just my guess. Whats yours/is there anything official explaining this?

 

I assumed that Obi-Wan told Owen Anakin had died in the Clone Wars(the 'damned-fool idealistic crusade') because, as far as Kenobi knew when he dropped off Luke, that was still literally true. Owen, somewhat understandably, blamed the Jedi for taking Anakin off-world and essentially to his death when Owen and Cliegg could have used him around the farm. It's not official, but that's always been my general take on it.

 

I checked wookieepedia and it explained the reason why he didn't want luke to have his fathers lightsaber witch helped a little as to why he didnt like anakin, it reads a follows...

"Owen refused to allow it because he believed the Jedi path was a destructive one. He told Kenobi he didn't want Luke to make the same mistakes his father did, stating how he felt Anakin should have never left his mother in slavery and gotten involved with the "damned foolish idealistic Jedi crusaders" in the first place. He then vehemently told Kenobi to leave and to stay away."

Here is the link- http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Owen_Lars

That helps a little.

 

I think it was a mix of feeling bad for Shmi and blaming Anakin for Clegg's lost leg witch probably hurt the farm and made there lives a lot harder. Add to that seeing him carry her dead body back to the farm and you got many solid reasons why he would think Anakin "should have stayed on planet and not gotten involved".

Yes, if Anakin had stayed with his mother instead of joining the Jedi, then very likely 1) Shmi would not have been captured by the Tuskens, 2) Cliegg wouldn't have lost the use of his legs, and 3) Owen would have had a lot more help around the farm. Owen selfishly begrudged Anakin's leaving because he was a practical rather than an idealistic man, as his question to Anakin in AOTC indicates: "Where are you going?" -- as though Owen cannot fathom the purpose of risking one's life to save another.

 

Although Obi-Wan would not have felt Anakin's death through the Force, and may have wondered about that to some extent.

 

Clash of ideologies. Owen was a practical man, a down to earth farmer who couldn't see much beyond the small life which he lived. People like that are often very suspicious and resentful of those who want to step outside that mundanity and make their mark on the world / galaxy / universe. In his mind Anakin's duty was to stay on Tatooine and look out for his mother. He would've seen the death of Shmi and the effect that had on his own family as a result of Anakin neglecting that duty.

 

True enough.

 

Unless Owen was a very irrational person, I doubt it had anything to do with Shmi. I think it's more likely that he had no problems with Anakin until Obi-Wan came with Luke, at which point he likely found out that Anakin turned to the dark side, became Darth Vader and helped to destroy the Jedi. As someone alluded to above, he felt that the Jedi way was destructive, and therefore didn't want to go down that path as well. I would be willing to bet that Owen said those "damn fools idealistic crusade" things after Obi-Wan delivered Luke, and that he formed those opinions at that point as well.

 

Obi-Wan lies to Luke.

I like to view that scene in the hut as paralleling the ?Squid-lake? sequence from Sith. Obi-Wan doesn?t engineer the circumstances that bring Luke to his door, but once he?s presented with the opportunity that his formers friend?s son offers he?s quick to manipulate the kid with half truths and flat out lies.

Obi-Wan plays on Luke?s insecurities [that he might spend his whole life on Tatooine, never amounting to anything], his desires [to move on, to become something greater] and on the memory of a dead father, whose mystique clearly consumes Luke.

He wants Luke to come with him, to learn the ways of the Force, so he relates stories of a heroic father and an intransigent Uncle, stories that reinforce Luke?s world view and help to draw him away from that moisture farm and into ?a larger world?.


?? he didn?t hold with your father?s ideals. Thought he should have stayed here, not gotten involved.?


Now who?s to say that Obi-Wan and Owen didn?t have any number of conversations over the years, of the sort that have already been posted in this thread. Conversations in which Owen expressed his opposition to Obi-Wan?s ?Ideals?. Perhaps he voiced an objection to the Clone Wars, a conflict which the Republic enter too easily into, a war fought by idealistic Jedi, a war that saw death and destruction spread across the galaxy, a war that left a little boy, now a man, a boy that he loves, without a mother or father.

Owen might have said many things in the years between Luke?s arrival on Tatooine and his departure, things that Obi-Wan might interpret as the opinions of a man that didn?t hold with Anakin Skywalker?s Ideals [I?m talking about Anakin now, the hero, the person that would fight tooth and nail to insure victory and the security of his fellows, not the thing he allowed himself to be twisted into].

The Clone Wars might be the ?Damn fool, idealistic crusade,? [I?m sure that was always our interpretation] hell, its even possible that Owen used those exact words. At any rate there is likely some truth in all that Obi-Wan tells Luke, he spins and moulds it to his own purposes, just as Palpatine does at the opera, but its probably not entirely fabricated. We know that the description he gives of what happened to Luke?s father is ?true?? from a certain point of view.

Was this the original intent of the scene?

Who knows. Its likely not, but that?s not really relevant.

The great thing about Alec Guinness?s performance is its mercurial nature. It would seem, he saw the character as mysterious, an enigmatic old wizard, and as such there?s a good deal of ambiguity in how he plays the role. This leaves some wiggle for how we might interpret the intent, or meaning behind what he tells Luke.

As for why Owen displays concern over Luke taking after Anakin, that would seem self evident, even if he is unaware of the Darth Vader angle [for the record I don?t believe that he is].

 

It's quite possible that Kenobi told Beru and Owen what happened to Anakin. Yoda had to put Bail's fears to rest about Leia being Anakin's child in the novel 'The Dark Lord', and his fears about her falling to the Dark Side. So it's very possible that Owen and Beru know EXACTLY what went on. Which would make Owen hate both Skywalker and Kenobi even more than the simple things. Just some food for thought

 

It makes more sense to me if Owen knows Anakin turned to the dark side. No wonder he wouldn't let Luke go to the Academy. He's pretty sure that Vader would find him if that happened.

"Clash of ideologies. Owen was a practical man, a down to earth farmer who couldn't see much beyond the small life which he lived. People like that are often very suspicious and resentful of those who want to step outside that mundanity and make their mark on the world / galaxy / universe. In his mind Anakin's duty was to stay on Tatooine and look out for his mother. He would've seen the death of Shmi and the effect that had on his own family as a result of Anakin neglecting that duty."

I'm not sure if his problem with Anakin started out from Shmi's death but I agree that he is practical to the point where he might believe going out there to make your mark on the world is foolish and unrealistic. In other words he's narrow-minded. If he stumbled into a news story about let's say an immigrant model from Tatooine who commits suicide, he would just assume that the misery just came from her leaving home. He wouldn't consider that there are many other factors that went into her depression.

 

Yeah, I don't think it would be as simple a belief as "Anakin's responsible for Shmi's death." It's more a general belief that straying from what you know leads to trouble.

 

From the film, Owen did not really know Anakin other than that of an arrogant, tempermental, aggressive, borderline violent warrior. First impressions last a lifetime.

 

To Owen it would probably make no sense to leave your mother behind in slavery. On that note I am sure that Shmi probably explained that Qui-Gon had only been able to free her son.

Anakin comes to Tatooine and while we don't see it on screen you know he had to be distant and contemptuous around the Lars because they had not done more to save Shmi. Owen also saw what happened to the Tusken Camp after Anakin had had his blood lust fullfilled. This is what Owen has seen of the Jedi. He does not want that for Luke and it probably worries him even more because his blood is the same as Anakin's.

 

devoted to trying to once and for all, understand the actual cannon reasons as to why he had that "resentment" for Anakin
Simple. In AOTC, Anakin broke the shifter on Owens speeder bike and never did fix it. Since it was a Japanese made bike, there were no parts or mechanics on Tatoonine to fix it. It took Owens years and tons of money to have his most valued possesion repaired.

 

One thing i realized, no one can deny that Owen was right in his beliefs. Technically if Anakin said no to Qui-gon and stayed on tatooine he would have ended up getting a better life anyways because his mother would have still met Clegg and got freed to live the happy and safe live of a farmer. Both him and his mother would have had a loving family for the first time in there lives.

Instead he went off with Qui-gon leaving his mother all alone and then ended up turning evil to the point where it destroyed the galaxy and his son has to be hidden from him. This is what Owen sees and he thinks it simply should not/would not have happened if Anakin had not ran off and followed the jedi on some "foolish, idealistic crusade" rather than stay home and take care of his only family.

That right there gives good reason why he would be damned if he was going to let that happen to luke who he loved like a son.

 

Yeah, and the galaxy would've been under Sith rule forever. Owen was wrong; he's placing his own needs ahead of everyone else.

As opposed to the peaceful, non-violent warriors?

 

Even had he stayed on Tatoonine, it seems unlikely to me that Anakin would've just settled down on the moisture farm, had a family and enjoyed the goodness of blue milk for the rest of his days. There were powerful forces of destiny at work on Anakin, and one way or the other, there were things that he was going to do.

 

He would have continued as a successful podracer.

 

I think Owen's take is roughly along those lines, but that doesn't require that Owen knows Anakin became Vader. It would still be the case if he thought Anakin was just dead.

 

Just to point out: If Anakin hadn't left, I doubt Watto would have been nearly as OK with selling Shmi to Cliegg, as Anakin probably would've been winning podraces by that point. So no, their lives wouldn't have gotten appreciably better.

 

In Dark Lord, Obi-Wan considers warning Owen and Beru about Vader, then seems to decide against this after hearing from Qui-Gon.

 

I thought I remembered something along those lines.

 

I disagree here. All the podracers are small, child-sized beings -- the lighter weight to create less drag on the pod. As Anakin grew into manhood, he would have been less and less likely to win races, until by the age of say 15 his weight would have slowed down the pod so drastically that it would no longer make sense for him to race.

 

That makes sense. I guess I was thinking of the Racer Revenge circuit as an alternate Anakin plotline.