Hoo, Luke: The Campbellian Hero

It is clear that the Luke Skywalker was the character George Lucas had in mind when paying homage to Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey. While one could make the argument that Han Solo is the Campbell Hero of the film, Luke explicitly experiences each of the stages of the hero’s journey. However, this is not to say that Han Solo does not deserve the title of hero whatsoever. I will explore this idea later in the blog.

            The first major Campbell stage that Luke goes through is the Call to Adventure. The Campbell reading states, “The initiate may go willingly or may be forced by circumstance to go on the quest. The Call is a realization of an imbalance or injustice. The Call often comes when something has been taken away from the potential hero’s family or society.” In the Star Wars trilogy the scene that best exhibits this Call to Adventure is Luke’s first meeting with Obi Wan Kenobi in A New Hope. Obi Wan explains to Luke that Darth Vader killed his father and hands him his father’s old light saber. R2-D2 then plays back Princess Leia’s distress message in full. At this point Obi Wan requests that Luke join him on the journey to get the Death Star plans back to the Rebels. Also, Luke later finds out that he lost his Aunt and Uncle and did not have any reason to stay on his home planet, so he reluctantly agrees to go on this quest.

            Another one of Campbell’s stages that Luke experiences is the Road of Trials. This stage is best exhibited by his time on Dagobah. He his “aided by the advice, amulets and secrets of the supernatural helper.” In this film Yoda plays the part of the supernatural helper. Yoda helps Luke hone in on his skills as a Jedi Knight. The training that he receives from Yoda allows him to better use The Force for good.

            The Atonement with the Father stage is another stage the Luke goes through. The iconic scene of Luke unmasking his father best demonstrates this stage. This is a quite literal display of Luke “beholding the face of his father.” The camera angle during this sequence is neutral. This is the first interaction between them where this happens. This signifies that they are equals and are finally atoned.

            As Luke can be scene as going through the hero’s journey, Han can be seen as a different type of hero. Luke is more of a contemplative hero as he is bringing salvation to his community or wasteland (Tatooine). Obi Wan can be seen as a contemplative hero who trained Luke to be one as well. Han is better described as a civic hero. He is “content in the world he lives,” and does not seek higher spiritual powers, as Luke does. Both Luke and Han are heroes but they simply play different roles in the Star Wars Trilogy.