This Essay Is Real… or Is It?
Star Wars is filled to the brim with interesting and complex themes when one takes a closer look at the material. One of the most compelling ideas that the series explores is perception versus reality. In the Star Wars universe, nothing is exactly as it appears. Through the events on the planet Dagobah, Lucas reveals facets to Luke’s character that he needs to change to become someone who can save the galaxy. And the truth that lies behind both Darth Vader’s mask and Emperor Palpatine’s persona illustrates just how beneficial the contrast between that truth and their appearance can be for them. This ultimately shows how the contrast between the perception of a person or place and the reality that lies beneath the surface can prove to be very beneficial to those involved.
The idea of perception versus reality is one that gothic literature as a whole is very familiar with. As unknowns cloud the minds of both the readers and characters in the narratives, one questions whether or not we really know what’s there. Looking at Star Wars with this gothic lens can allow us to further explore this idea of perception and reality being beneficial — specifically for the audience. Even though, as the audience, we watch the story unfold from outside of the world it takes place in, the effects of the previously mentioned contrasts spread far enough to create a better and more compelling viewing experience.
I find the largest example of appearance versus reality in Star Wars to be the events on the planet Dagobah. Luke goes to Dagobah after the battle on Hoth because Obi-Wan tells him to meet a wise Jedi warrior named Yoda there. With him, Luke will train to become more knowledgeable in the ways of the Force. When he arrives, it’s clear that this planet is unlike any that Luke had ever been to before — it’s swampy and foggy and overall just a very strange place.
Soon after arriving, Luke meets a small, green creature who acts very mischievous and feisty at first. Luke’s first interactions with it can truly be described as rude and impatient. He wants to meet Yoda so bad that he doesn’t even bother to give this clearly unimportant creature the time of day. Eventually, through a few cryptic hints, Luke realizes that this creature is actually Yoda himself. Once he gains this information, Luke’s attitude drastically changes. He suddenly becomes polite to Yoda and pays great attention to what he has to say. Though Luke’s initial behavior comes off as rude, this is not because he is a bad person at heart. Rather, it stems from Luke’s impatience — his desire to find Yoda overrides everything else in his mind, causing him to forget his manners, especially when speaking to a small, old creature who appears to be no threat to him. This impatience revealed by his interactions with Yoda comes back to harm Luke later in the narrative, when he rushes to Cloud City having not completed his Jedi training only to fall right into a trap set by the Empire. This trait could have even gotten him killed in the events on Cloud City, so it is something that needed to be addressed before Luke could become a true Jedi.
The cave on Dagobah is another aspect of Star Wars that shows the contrast between appearance and reality. From the outside, the cave appears scary and creepy — a place where Luke could be hurt, from his perspective. Yoda, knowing the truth of the cave, tells Luke that he will not need his weapons. However, Luke gives in to the appearance of the cave and brings them anyway. Once inside, he meets the spirit of a familiar face that he did indeed need a weapon to fight — Darth Vader. And after he defeats this Vader, Luke’s own face is revealed beneath Vader’s mask. The reality of the cave is as Yoda mentioned before Luke went inside — when Luke asked Yoda what was in there, Yoda replied by saying: “Only what you take with you.” By not trusting Yoda’s words and taking his weapons inside even after he was told he didn’t need them, Luke revealed the fear and unnecessary aggression that laid within his heart. And taking those feelings into the cave meant that his current fear materialized in the cave as well: a confrontation with Vader. The differences between the truth of the cave and how Luke sees it showcase aspects of Luke’s character that get him into trouble — unnecessary aggression was another component of his choosing to go on the journey to Cloud City that almost got him killed. And these facets to him become even more issues that must be resolved before Luke can truly become a Jedi worthy enough to be Yoda’s successor.
Darth Vader himself is another incredible example of how appearance differs from reality in Star Wars. Until the end of Episode V, he is portrayed as being completely evil — even among the most important people on the Death Star. At the end of Episode V, however, he reveals himself as Luke’s father, giving both Luke and the audience quite a shock. This also comes with inner conflict on both parties: for me personally, I wondered just how bad Vader really was. Throughout Episode VI, he maintains the fact that he is too far gone to return from the dark side, though Luke keeps hold of the idea that his father is still good at heart. Eventually, Luke’s idea is proven to be true — while Emperor Palpatine is electrocuting Luke, Vader sacrifices his own life to kill the Emperor, saving Luke. While it is unclear to me whether or not Vader had this betrayal in mind before speaking with Luke, the fact of the matter is that Vader’s appearance of devotion to the Emperor was what allowed Vader to ultimately defeat him. In this case, the Emperor having a false sense of Vader’s true emotions was vital to Luke and the rebellion’s success.
Another example of the idea that the contrast between appearance and reality is beneficial to the related characters would be Emperor Palpatine in the prequel trilogy. For a large majority of this trilogy, the Emperor hides his true identity as Darth Sidious in order to retain his role as the Chancellor of the Galactic Senate and later as the first Emperor of the new Galactic Empire. The fact that he doesn’t show his true self to those around him allows him to gain their trust, and he takes advantage of this trust to start the Clone Wars and eventually gain unrivaled power over the galaxies. In a sense, this specific case of a difference between appearance and reality is what spawned the evil that would persist for generations until the Rebellion was just barely able to destroy it. While there have been many occasions where the hiding of intentions has revealed crucial truths and created success for those involved, this is one scenario where it caused great despair for many. This is because Palpatine’s intentions were malicious — he did not wish to help the world in the end like Luke and Vader did. So while hiding his true identity was indeed beneficial to him in achieving his goal, its effect on the world reflected his true intentions — similarly to Luke and Vader.
Looking to how gothic literature explores the idea of appearance versus reality can add even more substance to the discussion on how Star Wars handles the topic. In an introduction to gothic literature by Marie Rose Napierkowski, perception in the gothic is related to something like a “dream.” Many gothic texts are written in such a way that appearance is indistinguishable from reality, leading to a “dreamlike atmosphere” where unknowns attack the reader from all sides as they try to figure out what is real and what isn’t. (Napierkowski) While Star Wars isn’t exactly the same in this regard, of course, the aforementioned dream atmosphere can be applied to the conversation around the original trilogy, at the very least. When Vader tells Luke he is his father, for example — on a first viewing, the audience will be shocked by this and reactions will vary heavily. Some will want it to be untrue, as Vader has been only evil up to that point in the narrative — others hope that it is true as it is an incredibly interesting direction for the story to take. The shared aspect of both cases is that neither viewer knows for certain that this piece of information is true, as Vader could be lying. The audience may even leave the theater not knowing for sure what the truth is, at least until it is confirmed in the next film.
Thinking of appearance and reality in Star Wars as a “dreamlike state” can give us a lot of insight on how the audience is impacted by the contrast. Take the previously discussed example with Luke on Dagobah, for instance. Clearly, the audience isn’t going to create insights into Luke’s character based on different juxtapositions between appearance and reality on a first viewing. However, Luke’s attitude towards Yoda will cause the audience to question whether or not he’s really the true hero they may have thought. In the same vein, his defiance of Yoda’s words by bringing his lightsaber into the cave achieves the same affect. This questioning of whether or not the Luke they see on the screen is real when they may have a different idea of his character in their heads creates suspense and anticipation as they can’t wait to see what Luke does next. The same applies to Vader, as his words to Luke about being his father and wishing for the two of them to defeat the emperor together clearly contradict his actions of staying as the emperor’s right-hand man. This causes the audience to wonder about the truth behind his words up until the very moment that he betrays Palpatine and shows his true intentions. Both of these examples show how these contrasts can affect the audience in either subtle or more direct ways. By leaving the audience in a dreamlike state of not knowing the truth from the fiction — an effect similar to what the gothic can provide — Star Wars can impact the viewer on a more intense level than what would be possible otherwise. Ultimately, this creates even more support for the idea that clouding the truth is beneficial, even from the standpoint of creating a compelling narrative.
The way in which Luke perceives both Yoda and the cave on Dagobah differ wildly from their respective realities. In the same way, the true character of both Vader and Palpatine contrasts with how they present themselves. This is not a bad thing at all, however. For Luke, the differences reveal to himself the truth that he must confront. And with Vader and Palpatine, these differences assist them greatly in achieving their respective goals. Even for the audience, the lens of the gothic illuminates how we benefit from this classic contrast by experiencing more compelling narratives. In the real world, many people lie all the time. People wear figurative masks to hide their true feelings and intentions often — one could even argue that our world is built on this foundation of lying. However, as shown in Star Wars, this is not inherently a bad thing — the contrast between what one sees and what is really there can oftentimes lead someone to the most important revelations, or perhaps even to becoming a hero in the eyes of many. But only if the one utilizing this power has a good heart, of course.
Works Cited
Lucas, George, director. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Lucasfilm LTD, 2004.
Used to discuss the scenes on Dagobah and the finale at Cloud City.
Lucas, George, director. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Lucasfilm LTD, 2004
Used to discuss the scene with Luke, the Emperor, and Vader.
Lucas, George, director. Star Wars, Episode III, Revenge of the Sith. Lucasfilm LTD, 2005
Used to discuss Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine.
“Palpatine/Legends.” Wookieepedia,
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Palpatine/Legends.
Used for information on Palpatine’s character before he became the Emperor.
Napierkowski, Marie Rose. “PDF.” http://teachers.parklandsd.org/smith/files/2013/02/Overview-of-Gothic-Literature.pdf
Used to connect the gothic to my topic of appearance vs. reality in Star Wars.
I agree with Jonathan’s claim that perception versus reality is an important thematic aspect of the Star Wars universe. He focuses on the scene where Luke enters the cave on Dagobah, which is definitely one of the most important scenes in the Original Trilogy and extremely relevant to the theme he identified. The fact that Luke literally sees himself in Vader when, in reality, Vader isn’t there not only serves to show that everything is not always as it seems but also significantly develops Luke’s character and changes the direction of the narrative. Jonathan mentions the Gothic throughout his paper, bringing up its relevance to the theme of perception versus reality and how the “dreamlike atmosphere” present in Gothic works is carried over to Star Wars. I think this also ties into the Gothic’s notion of transgression because false perceptions violate the natural law set forth by reality.
I also agree with Jonathan’s claim that Darth Vader is not completely evil. I think he covers the intricacies of Vader’s character well and does so in a way that is relevant to his argument. The reality that Vader has redeemable and human characteristics is starkly opposed with the perception that he is “more man than machine” (as Obi Wan states in Return of the Jedi) and incapable of having good within his heart. This line of reasoning also plays into the discussion of Luke’s character by showing one of the perceptions Luke had to break as his character arc progressed. Mrin’s paper, The Strange Case of Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader, ties neatly into Jonathan’s discussion of Darth Vader because she delves into the intricacies of Vader’s character as well. She discusses how Darth Vader’s roots were “noble” given his position as a Jedi and how Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader represent two sides of the same character. By delving into the prequels, Mrin was able to provide more context for the character and support Jonathan with specific details that could not be found in the Original Trilogy.
I found Jonathan’s conclusion interesting, and I believe it points toward ideas which could provide a foundation for an entirely new paper in their own right. He claims that “people wear figurative masks to hide their true feelings and intentions often,” which could potentially be spun in a new direction if we were to analyze how characters view themselves. Perhaps characters could be lying to themselves about their own nature, or simply do not know what they are like or what they want to do moving forward. By ending the paper with this idea, I believe Jonathan opens up significant new directions for discussion about Star Wars. Introspection is an important aspect of our everyday lives, and it might be interesting to analyze characters and see if we could get a sense for how they view themselves or the roles they believe they currently fulfill or will fulfill in the future.
Jonathan’s essay explores the ideas of perception vs reality within the Star Wars universe. This is an interesting concept given how many examples there are within the Star Wars universe. Throughout the different movies within Star Wars many characters can be seen to bend the reality mask their true intentions. This was a really interesting concept because many audience members may have missed this fact while watching the movies. I think that Jonathan did a good job in analyzing the idea of perception versus reality within the Star Wars universe. However, there are some areas that were left out that I think could have been added.
One area I thought Jonathan could have touched on was that of the Death Star. In the Film Rogue One it appears that many of the commanding officers thought that the Death Star was indestructible. This, however, was not the case. Instead of the Death Star being indestructible, it had one very subtle flaw, and it could destroy the entire station. The auro that the Death Star exudes is that this is a space station that can never be destroyed. Most of the time that the Death Star is shown on screen is to show just how much power it can wield. However, this is just a facade for how ignorant the Empire is to the fact that there is a problem with this station. There is a weakness so great that the blasts of a single ship can destroy a massive war station. They idea that the Death Star was perceived as invincible is what ultimately lead to its demise (Star Wars).
After reading Jonathan’s paper, there are many parallels that can be seen with Mrin’s paper. The idea of perception versus reality is a topic that is covered in her essay. However, she breaks it down by using Jekyll and Hyde. She uses this to demonstrate the dueling personalities within Annakin Skywalker. However, this can apply to many of the characters within the Star Wars universe. Most specifically I saw parallels to the way that Palpatine is portrayed within the prequels to the original trilogy. It was as if he was a different person when he was the chancellor to when he was the Emperor. This reminded me of Mrin’s paper because it seems almost as if there is a clashing personality that the Emperor has. However, the Jekyll and Hyde role is reversed for Palpatine. This is because he is the monstrous character more than he is the heroic character. I thought that Jonathan’s paper could have used a similar analogy to explain the way that the character of Palpatine changed reality for everyone around him.
Finally I agree with Jonathan that the idea behind his paper carries many gothic themes. The idea of perception versus reality is a main theme within the Gothic genre. I agree with the fact that Dagobah represents a gothic theme. This is a sentiment shared in Fred Bottin’s Gothic. In it he says “direct frights and shocks that lead to screams, flight or fainting, or make the heart beat faster, the skin crawl or hair rise, but the macabre repertoire of terror is designed to have disturbing effects on characters’ – and readers’ – imaginations, prolonging the interplay of anticipation and apprehension: the darkness and decay of ruins”(Botting, pg.5). This shows what Dagobah is in Star Wars as it was a place where Luke felt a great sense of fear. Dagobah also is perceived to be a desolate wasteland, but it was one of the most important places for Luke to be during his training. This once again shows how reality is different from percepcion.
Works Cited
Botting, Fred. Gothic. Routledge, 2014.
“Rogue One: a Star Wars Story.” Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2017.