Anakin Skywalker: Destined for Tragedy

The original three Star Wars films- A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Return of the Jedi– gifted us an expansive new galaxy, complete with space battles, breathtaking graphics (for the time), intense action and suspense, an impressive cast of heroes, and most importantly, a menacing villain: Darth Vader, himself. Due to their immense success, Lucasfilm proceeded to capitalize on the venture, and birthed the Prequels. With intentions to lay the foundations for the Galactic Empire, these films have become notorious for their mundane plotlines, inordinate focus on graphical changes, and, above all, for their sorry cast of characters. In these, we are introduced to the young Anakin Skywalker, child slave turned Jedi Knight, as we follow his descent into the Dark Side, completed by his eventual transformation into the Sith Lord Darth Vader. The central focus of these films, Anakin’s transition is one of the few plotlines to persist throughout the course of the trilogy- an amalgamation of otherwise ill-conjoined occurrences and galactic dealings. Yet, even as the most prominent character arc of the series, we are still left with little explanation for Anakin’s downfall. Yoda elaborates succinctly, claiming, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering,” yet, as viewers, we are given little visual evidence of the circumstances driving such a shift in his character (Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace).

Using arguments from Zygmunt Bauman’s Modernity and Ambivalence, Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth, and Albert Camus’ The Rebel to aid me, I will break down Anakin’s shift, filling in for the Prequels’ gaps in time and storyline. In this way I hope to clear up the uncertainties these movies present, concerning Anakin’s incentives for each of his actions, and to make up for Hayden Christensen’s acting, rather explaining Anakin’s emotions outright. This should help future viewers to understand where Anakin’s true beliefs lie- not solely in the Force, or in the Jedi Order, but in his skewed personal views of the galaxy, in his mother, and for a time, in Padmé. With this in mind, the tragedy of Anakin’s descent will ring more tragic and relatable than ever before, and the Prequels may regain some of their intended credibility.

Throughout the course of the Prequels, events entirely out of Anakin’s control left him trapped in an inescapable progression, forcing his rebellion against the Jedi Order in exchange for the dark side’s more readily accessible power and control. As I will show, Anakin illustrated this necessary and unfortunate shift in the form of his many killings, and attempted killings, in the latter two Prequel films. I will explain how, in the style of Camus’ sympathetic rebel slave, Anakin begins his mental rebellion against the Jedi Order on Tatooine, directly upon the realization that Qui-Gon was willing to free him, but not his mother. Qui-Gon, in a way, abducted young Anakin, the more capable of the two, leaving his mother behind: forever enslaved to Tatooine. Opening a schism in the relationship between young Anakin, whose only personal connection to anyone so far has been his love for his mother, and the Jedi Order, whose only emotional tie is their trust in the Force, this permanently alienates the two for the rest of the series. Camus’ theories of the rebel slave will then continue to influence Anakin, as exemplified through his Tusken Raider massacre. Here, his inability to prevent the death of his mother would lead to metaphysical rebellion, extending his discontent to a grander scope- the entire galaxy. Anakin is now left in the difficult position of condensing his definitions of friend and foe, leading to exponentially greater difficulties along his way. Following this, in order with Fanon’s theories, Anakin will massacre the young Jedi padawans, the Jedi Order’s “sector,” and proceed, his arc eventually climaxing with an attempt to kill Padmé, his last true tether to the free people of the galaxy.

Initiating Anakin’s rebellion against the Jedi, one eventually expanding to the whole of the galaxy, we follow the fate of his mother. Her separation from him, and subsequent death sparks Anakin’s transition, highlighting the philosophical distinction between the Jedi and himself, while implanting a seed of overall doubt and disillusionment in his mind. As Camus claims, “… we note that rebellion does not arise only, and necessarily, among the oppressed, but that it can also be caused by the mere spectacle of oppression of which someone else is the victim… it can often happen that we cannot bear to see offenses done to others which we ourselves have accepted without rebelling” (Camus 8). The prospect of freedom in mind, Anakin can do nothing but look back to his mother- his one true attachment- left in chains. In Episode I, Anakin wins his freedom via Qui-Gon’s podrace bet, yet Qui-Gon does not account for the freedom of

Anakin’s mother. In a heart-wrenching scene, Anakin promises to come back and save her as soon as he can, empathizing with her continued oppression while simultaneously exclaiming his first call of rebellion against this foreign order. He has been freed, yet even so, he cannot bear to leave his mother behind, unworthy of such poor conditions. Although he may have accepted such a fate before, only now does he truly see its influence, once wholly removed from this particular sphere of oppression. Most importantly, this realization on Anakin’s part hints him towards the adverse mindset of the Jedi Order- focused on sole dedication to the Force, and one that will further alienate Anakin for years to come.

In the next film, Anakin witnesses his mother’s death in a Tusken Raider hut, leading him to massacre the entire village. Having dreamt up her torturous death days prior, Anakin quickly refocuses his attentions to his mother’s fate, willingly abandoning his Jedi orders to act otherwise. The Force conjured up this dream of his, and, naturally, he pursued a solution to it. Even so, he was too late. By this point, Anakin had been thrust head-first into an unavoidable world, and the actions of this unknown and uncontrollable universe left him alone, dejected: mentally, as the only one seeming to care as much as he does for his mother, and physically, as the last remnant of his slave past. As Camus continues to claim, “the metaphysical rebel declares that he is frustrated by the universe…the most elementary form of rebellion, paradoxically, expresses an aspiration to order” (Camus 12-13). Anakin kills these Tusken Raiders not only in his rage at the universe, but in a desperate flail to regain order and control in a galaxy he no longer views as having any. Now, his anger is directed not only at the Jedi Order, but is extended to the whole of the galaxy- a turbulent, chaotic galaxy, which seemingly no one can control, and that he wishes, more than anything, someone would.

The subsequent step in Anakin’s descent must, then, lead into his massacre of the young Jedi padawans. Anakin’s seemingly quick segue into this massacre follows soon after a rather juxtaposing, calm discussion with Senator Palpatine. Here, he learns of the power he could obtain by continuing his shift towards the Dark side, a power which could help him continue his metaphysical rebellion and bring his desired control to reality. This could also help him with a new connection- Padmé. Having met before the death of his mother, and now pregnant with his child(ren), she is the one other connection for Anakin. Grounding him, yet also leading towards more uncertainties and fears on his part, she’s a present, pressing reason to continue his rebellion, years after the death of his mother. Her influence pushes him on now more so than ever, especially considering the Force’s newest manifestation in a dream of Padmé dying in child birth, paralleling that of Anakin’s own mother. Fearing a repeat of his last dream, and rejecting Yoda’s continued guidance to avoid such emotional connections, he decides to continue his rebellion. With intentions of embracing the Dark side, the only thing standing in his way are now the Jedi, controlling and binding him to the Light. Here, Anakin takes his rightful place as the colonized, expelling those Jedi colonists from his realm. Fanon discusses this concept in The Wretched of the Earth, claiming, “To destroy the colonial world means nothing less than demolishing the colonist’s sector, burying it deep within the earth or banishing it from the territory” (Fanon 6). In this way, Anakin had no other path but to destroy the young padawans, who would grow up to challenge his power. In this way, he secures the fate of his own wife and child(ren), in a way he could not with his mother.

Anakin’s final shift into his status as a full-fledged Sith Lord comes in the form of his redefined concepts of friend and foe, especially with Padmé now showing signs of divergence from his side. Still a present tether for Anakin (now Vader) by the end of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Padmé finds and embraces him on the volcanic planet of Mustafar, exemplifying her continued devotion to him, despite his recent, public alienation from the Jedi and a majority of the galaxy. Here, Vader even admits his strong connection to Padmé, and his intentions upon joining the Dark side, claiming that, “Love
won’t save you, Padmé. Only my new powers can do that… I won’t lose you the way I lost my mother” (Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith).

Confirming our theories about Anakin’s shift, this scene exemplifies how tragically forced his life was, each step an attempt to preserve all he holds dear. This scene goes much further, as it continues, highlighting the final step in Anakin’s transformation, while forcing his hand in a way we haven’t seen before. Soon after Padmé and Vader embrace and discuss their love, Vader discovers Obi-Wan Kenobi aboard Padmé’s ship. Tragically, upon this viewing Vader must reevaluate Padme’s devotion to him- a devotion otherwise unfettered, and even recently reinforced. Obi-Wan, according to Padmé, only wishes the for the best, while Anakin distrusts him, due to his connections to the Jedi and his attempts to subdue Anakin’s transformation. Having considered Obi-Wan an enemy so far, his presence beside any character, friend or foe, must lead to reconsideration of this dichotomy on Vader’s part. Bauman helps to explain this in his book Modernity and Ambivalence. Having displaced the formerly natural state of things, Vader now has the ability, as the designer of the new order of the world, to, “…exercise a monopolistic right to sort out the ‘fitting’ from the ‘unfitting’, the ‘worthy’ from the ‘unworthy’ categories” (Bauman 158). Having declared Obi-Wan a foe, Vader now has the responsibility, upon this viewing, to associate Padmé with Obi-Wan’s cause, this leading directly into his force-choke. Bauman continues this discussion, claiming, “It effectively reinforced this inequality through ascribing the discrimination of the ‘inferior’ sectors of the power structure to their own flaws, imperfections and their very ‘otherness’” (Bauman 158). Obi-Wan has shown his ‘otherness,’ so now in an ironic turn of events, Padmé is also foreign to Vader. It is upon this betrayal, on the part of one of the few connections for which Anakin considered joining the Dark side, that he truly completes his transition.

By this point, Anakin has no one to trust but Palpatine, and only in the sense that he, too, is devoted to the Force- the one thing that is left for Anakin to pursue, after his loss of his mother and Padmé. He is left with no more personal tethers until the recognition that his children, in fact, lived- and it’s only upon his consideration of his own son as a friend that he escapes the Dark side. Following Vader to the end of his development, it’s only upon his own death, in Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, that is he released from this cycle.

By the end of these initial six films, we begin to notice truly how inescapable Anakin’s progression became. Once entered in that fateful podrace, Anakin was no longer capable of attaining true security; of attaining true solace in himself and in the galaxy. The appearance of the Jedi on Tatooine, and Qui-Gon’s invasion into Anakin’s otherwise confined sphere of existence set off a chain of events that would plague Anakin till his death. On multiple occasions- from Yoda’s averse judgement on the prospect of training Anakin Skywalker, all the way back to Qui-Gon’s initial podrace bet- this tragic entrapment could have been avoided, yet Qui-Gon forced it, and both the fates of Anakin and of the Jedi were sealed. So, Anakin’s devolution began, as each step solidified the next. From his starting promise of freeing his mother, binding him to his future rebellions against the Jedi and galaxy, he’s led into witnessing her death- an unavoidable occurrence. Here, he takes a large first step in his progression, through killing the Tusken Raider village in metaphysical rebellion. This, then, gave way towards his furthered connections with Padmé- his sole remaining emotional tie- necessitating his massacre of the Jedi padawans, in response to premonitions of her death, and upon disheartening guidance by the emotionally distant and oppressive Jedi. Forced into this rebellion against the Jedi, Padmé’s apparent trust in them then distances her from Anakin, leading to him force-choking her upon their final confrontation. By this point he is lost: a Sith Lord with the singular intention of attaining ultimate control. Each step forced the next, up until it was too late to turn back.

A sad end to the life of the young slave boy from Tatooine, this whole process emphasizes just how complex and difficult the relationship between the Sith and Jedi truly were. The Star Wars films teach us to trust in the Jedi, and in their philosophy, yet, as Anakin has shown us, they have led to just as much trouble in the galaxy as the Sith have. Through this character arc, the dichotomy of the Force dissolves, and Star Wars becomes a wonderfully deep emotional battle- stronger than any Force, and just as potent in reality as in this galaxy far, far away.

Works Cited

Bauman, Zygmunt. Modernity and Ambivalence. Polity Press, 1993.

Camus, Albert. The Rebel. Vintage International, 1951.

Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. Grove Press, 2004.

Lucas, George, director. Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace. Lucasfilm, 1999.

[1] Ibid.

Lucas, George, director. Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones. Lucasfilm. 2002.

Lucas, George, director. Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith. Lucasfilm, 2005.