O'Connell: Star Wars Trilogy

Try as I might, I cannot help but see Luke as the traditional hero as per Campbell’s archetype. Han, while certainly heroic, doesn’t follow the format closely enough to be interpreted the same way, instead fulfilling a more modern concept of the hero, complete with flaws and some less-than-heroic traits. Though I’m sure a convincing argument could be made for his fulfillment of the role, I personally don’t believe Han has enough backstory or motivation to make a complete claim to the position as a Campbell Hero. Han is much too earthly in his journey to consider it akin to Luke’s spiritual journey. Han is instead a realist, the civic hero to contrast with Luke’s otherworldly priorities of the struggle between good and evil, more concerned with the here and now, the lives of the common people, and his own human concerns.

However, Luke’s claim to the role as Campbell’s hero is glaringly obvious, as the format of the trilogy so directly utilizes the format of The Hero With a Thousand Faces. He fills all four characteristics of the hero, in that he is male, of lowly birth, orphaned, and bears a nobility of purpose. As we’ve already looked at in the past, Luke’s Departure for his journey has a distinct Call to Adventure in A New Hope as Obi-Wan informs him of his potential, and begins the journey after Luke’s refusal, and subsequent resolve to defeat the Empire. His Initiation also takes place in A New Hope, as he progresses on the Road of Trials in his first encounters with the Empire on the Death Star, and discovers his true powers of the Force as his Supernatural Aid and succeeds in destroying the Death Star. From a narrative perspective of the entire trilogy, the climax of The Empire Strikes Back acts as The Belly of the Whale. Luke is almost defeated, and things are looking their darkest as he loses to Vader, but it is also the point of rebirth as Luke finally learns the truth about his father, and is physically altered with his new robotic hand.

Return of the Jedi finally gives us a true conclusion, wherein many of the loose ends the previous films have left us with are resolved. Most importantly is the Atonement of the Father, as good triumphs over evil in Vader’s final hours, redeeming both he himself, and by extension Luke as his son, struggling to come to terms with the dark inside his heart, granting both Skywalkers clarity they were previously missing. As the reading states in startlingly appropriate terms, “[The Hero] beholds the face of the father, understands -- and the two are atoned” (Campbell 147). Finally, Luke has his Return, perhaps slightly morose, but spiritually fulfilled and gratified by the end of his journey, finally awarded the enlightenment and self actualization pursued by the contemplative hero.