Smith - Star Wars Trilogy

Heroic Luke

Luke Skywalker is the character that George Lucas wanted to represent the contemplative hero in the Star Wars Trilogy. During the trilogy, the development of Luke’s character has brought me to understand Joseph Campbell’s definition of a hero. A hero is someone who has given his life to something bigger than himself.  Joseph Campbell states in The Hero With a Thousand Faces that there are three phases of a hero’s journey, which are the Departure, Initiation and Return. According the Campbell, Luke is the perfect definition of a hero because, as an initiate, he has gone through all of the three phases and has not turn back. Luke is a male who puts the needs of others before his own. Heroes seem to have a lowly station in life and usually have a secret origin that causes their status to rise. Heroes often are orphans that people have sympathy for and don’t seem to have a past that would have made them feel entitled and not care about others.

The first step of Luke’s journey is the Call to Adventure in the Departure Phase, which occurs when Obi-Wan talks to Luke about the force, Luke’s father and their mission to destroy the Empire. After Luke’s Refusal of the Call, Obi-Wan and Luke leave Tatooine on their adventure into the unknown. Campbell states, “The journey requires a separation from the comfortable, known world, and an initiation into a new level of awareness, skill, and responsibility, and then a return home.”

The second step of Luke’s Journey to become a hero is the Road of Trials in the Initiation Phase. I want to emphasize the scene in where Luke aids Han in destroying the empire fleets after their escape from the death star. This is the scene that occurs directly after Luke witnessed Obi-Wan’s death. By seeing this tragic scene, he understood the importance of sacrifice and is now on a journey greater than himself.

The third step of Luke’s journey that deserves emphasis is his final battle against Darth Vader in the final movie. Yoda and Pfieffer agree that, "by strictly adhering to the code of the Jedi, so that he may finally earn his place as the last of the Jedi Knights." (Pfieffer 130) This is important because it is the final step in the Return Phase and it occurs when Luke realizes he has completed his journey by defeating the Empire and has become a full-blown hero. 

Lucas recognized that if Luke was the only hero in this series of movies, it wasn’t going to be enough for the viewer. People need to see a hero that is more human and does not have the help of the supernatural. This hero is the civic hero and is represented by Han Solo. We appreciate Luke and we suffer with him during his trials, but I think that his goal is something that most people would not be able to relate to. Luke is very isolated and he does not have a place in the community, which is a big factor of the contemplative hero. We understand Luke’s spiritual struggle and we sympathize with it. Luke is the contemplative hero because Leia is the only part of Luke’s life that brings him back to the present and keeps him from going into exile. The main realization that I came to at the end of these movies was to recognize that 99% of the population is not equipped to handle the task and journey that Luke was sent on.

 Han Solo is the bad boy, confident, reckless, and dangerous, which is exciting for the viewer. Because he is willing to be dangerous, he is able to protect those who are not able to protect themselves. The movies taught Han to recognize the value of community, which is new to him, because before he did not respect community values and was not able to fit into a community. The civic hero is imbedded in the community, which is where Han Solo is now that he has become a hero.