Star Wars: The force awakens is the seventh installment produced and the first in line with the new sequel trilogy. The events of Luke Skywalker and the band of the rebels 30 years’ prior, during the return of the Jedi saw the end of Darth Vader and Darth Sidious hence the ultimate fall of the galactic empire setting the tone for this Star Wars installment. At the present time from the ashes of the galactic empire a new evil has risen called the first order whose main intention is to bring about the end of the republic and the reintroduction of a new empire under the leadership of supreme leader Snoke. This band of anarchists with the creation of a new death start seeks to create havoc in the universe through the destruction of all planetary systems that oppose them. Kylo Ren once a Jedi knight and the son of Han Solo and princess Leia but now working for the first order having embraced the dark side of the force is the main villain in this movie installment. However, the one character who captures the minds of all viewers by his absence yet importance in the events of the Force Awakens is Luke Skywalker.
Luke Skywalker is the son of Darth Vader, initially Anakin Skywalker, and Padme Amidala, the senator and queen of Naboo ("Luke Skywalker"). After the events of Revenge of the Sith where Anakin betrays the Jedi order and embraces the dark side. Anakin’s fear of loss makes him unstable and this makes him hurt his pregnant wife and true love Padme. Obi One Kenobi, Anakin’s master, stops him but not with great damage to Anakin. Padme gives birth to Luke and Leia and dies after the childbirth. The twins are separated to avoid the galactic empire, gaining any knowledge of them. Luke Skywalker grows into a fine man in the age where the First Order is creating chaos and all the Jedi knights, whose purpose was maintenance of peace in the galaxy, not affected by clone order 66 living in isolation or hiding.
In the Force Awakens, the Jedi is no longer remembered but the past events of Luke Skywalker cast a mythical shadow on all the events in the movie. Everyone from the rebel alliance in the first order is looking for Luke for different reasons. The first order fears Luke Skywalker since he is the last remaining Jedi and his knowledge of the force hinders their plans of world domination while the rebel alliance under the guidance of his sister General Leia wants Luke to come back and bring order to the republic by helping them fight against the First Order. Luke, however is in a self-imposed exile after one of his students, his own nephew Kylo Ren, brings about destruction by killing all of his Jedi students in training.
The last part of this installment where we actually get to see Legendary Jedi Grandmaster Luke Skywalker as he is handed his lightsaber by Rey, we expect to see a strong inspired and domineering presence common with a Jedi Grandmaster but what we see is a brittle shell of a man battered by his experiences and betrayal in life. Luke, albeit having embraced the path good seems far from what is expected of a Jedi with powers and abilities such as his influence with the force and skillfulness with the lightsaber. The mere fact that Luke still carries so much hope and fear alike all across the new republic faced with the threat of the first order highlights his great importance to this film.
Luke Skywalker having had great teachers possesses great wisdom and knowledge. Unlike his father, Anakin Skywalker, who was driven by his fear of loss and this fear in line with one of Yoda’s most memorable quotes, Fear is the path to the dark sidefear leads to angeranger leads to hatehate leads to suffering, ultimately leads Anakin to choose the Dark side, hence the birth of Darth Vader. Luke rises above all such factors and matures into a man who inspires hope in the face of hope without the need for more power.
The Star Wars film was initially about the conflict between the trade federation and the republic later showed to be the manipulation of Sith Lord, Darth Sidious under the guise of Chancellor Palpatine to change the republic into an empire. It is a story about the struggle of power between good and evil and all through this events, heroes have emerged on both sides. As Darth Vader was the poster boy for everything Dark, characters such as princess Leia, Han Solo, Rey, storm trooper Finn, members of the Jedi order and Luke represented hope for the good side of the force. The Star Wars films act as a great template for society today where as other people are advocating for peace, some are advocating for anarchy with the intention of world supremacy, leading to great wars the modern world has known such as the two world wars. Luke Skywalker acts as a paradigm to those leaders who rise above such injustices and instill hope in people. But just like the first order rose from the ashes of the galactic empire, so do some people today participate in destructive endeavors such as terrorism and only through embracing Luke Skywalker’s ideology will the world be a better place.
Works Cited
"Luke Skywalker". Wookieepedia. N.p., 2016. Web. 1 May 2016.
