Light And Love In Star Wars

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that” (A Testament of Hope, Martin Luther King Jr.). George Lucas is a filmmaker and entrepreneur best known for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. After reading Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Lucas wanted to write a story mixing mythology, science fiction, and archetypes. The trilogy begins in media res, following the story of Luke Skywalker, an orphan on the planet of Tatooine who lives with his aunt and uncle. The story shows how light and love can overpower the darkness and hate in life. In the trilogy Star Wars, Luke Skywalker’s archetypal quest is the path of atonement with his father; first he consciously …show more content…
Luke surrenders to the forces of the empire when he boards the death star and allows himself to be caught. This happens after the first part of the battle of Endor. Luke left the forest moon because he had a feeling his father was near, and that there was a possibility of saving him. On the Death Star, a commander says “This is a Rebel that surrendered to us. Although he denies it, I believe there may be more of them, and I request permission to conduct a further search of the area” (Lucas, Return of the Jedi). Luke surrendered to the empire because he knew it was the best option he had. If he didn’t surrender, he would never get the chance to confront his father and the emperor. During the three battles, Luke surrenders to his anger and fear as the Emperor and Darth Vader taunt him about his family. Darth Vader finds out about Luke’s sister and threatens to turn her to the dark side. “Sister! So... you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her, too... If you will not turn to the dark side, then perhaps she will” (Lucas, Empire Strikes Back). In this moment, Luke is blinded by his anger and begins to attack Vader viciously. The thought of the empire hurting more of his family makes Luke furious. He surrenders to his fear and anger as he feels the need to protect his family. In the end, Luke surrenders to the emperor to save his father. Luke has realized that fighting the emperor and Vader is only giving them what they want. Using his fear and anger is what will turn him to the dark side. Luke doesn’t want to kill his father, which he was about to do before he surrendered. “If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed” (Lucas, Empire Strikes Back) is what the emperor tells Luke