[Campbell] talked about how Lucas "has put the newest and most powerful spin" to the classic story of the hero…"the message that technology is not going to save us...We have to rely on our intuition, our true being."1
[Star Wars]...asks, "Is the machine going to crush humanity or serve humanity?
Humanity comes not from the machine but from the heart."2
George Lucas once said, "Star Wars is made up of many themes...One is our relationship to machines, which are fearful, but also benign."3 Indeed, the subject of humanity's eventual triumph over technology -- and over the uniformity, oppression, and evil that the technology-bound Galactic Empire symbolizes -- is one of the core messages of the saga. Literature is replete with warnings about the dangers of becoming over-reliant on the technology we have created; it is equally full of praise for the uniqueness of the human spirit, which can be lost as we become more strongly correlated with soulless machines. The Star Wars saga reflects this dichotomy between man and machine through the story's main protagonist, Anakin Skywalker, who provides a more personal window to the major conflict between the Republic-Empire-Rebellion and the Jedi-Sith. Anakin's own humanity, goodness, and connection to the Force are shown to be in tension with his link to and reliance on technology throughout his life. His struggle is that of the forces of good in the galaxy, and through six episodes the audience sees the fall and eventual triumph of good over evil, and humanity over technology.
The Phantom Menace begins the saga and introduces us to Anakin, showing his connection to the Force, and to technology. It also reveals a galaxy in turmoil, displayed through the rise of machines used for evil purposes.
Anakin is shown to be the Chosen One of prophecy -- a young boy who is essentially the human embodiment of the spiritual energy of the Star Wars galaxy, the Force. Before he is even seen onscreen, Anakin's presence is felt by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi; upon meeting Anakin, Qui-Gon is quickly taken with his Force strength and potential. His midi-chlorian count is perhaps the highest ever recorded. When he is later brought before the Jedi Council, he is able to perform the Jedi's tests on command.
Anakin is also introduced through a relationship with various kinds of technology. The audience first sees him in Watto's shop, surrounded by machinery, explaining rather bitterly to Padmé that he "wouldn't have lasted so long if I wasn't so good at fixing things." He offers those skills to Qui-Gon's group to help repair their ship, claming, "I can fix anything!" He is equally good at building things, as he has secretly created a protocol droid and podracer. Later on in the film, Anakin's flying skills are highlighted during both the podrace and the Battle of Naboo. His exceptional abilities seem to blend innate skills, advanced technical knowledge, and the advantages of being Force sensitive. Thus, the audience sees the important, competing aspects of Anakin's character.
With regard to the galaxy at large, Episode I chronicles the beginning of the end of both the Republic and the Jedi by focusing on the blockade, invasion, and eventual freeing of the planet Naboo. The Sith, who represent evil in this story, are shown to be in control of large, automated droid forces bent on controlling and subjugating the peoples of Naboo -- creating enough chaos in the Republic to allow the Sith to begin to gain control. Many visuals of The Phantom Menace play on the theme of technology rising against the human spirit: a fleet of ships blockade the planet, a seemingly endless row of droids march on its plains and cities. Though Naboo is freed from the Trade Federation's grasp by the end of the movie, the Republic and the Jedi have unwittingly begun to lose the larger war. Anakin, the Republic, and the Jedi are all set up for a conflict between humanity and machines, between good and evil, through this introductory chapter.
In Attack of the Clones, Anakin moves closer to his ultimate fall -- as do the Republic and Jedi. The relationship between Anakin and technology becomes more central, and more complex. The audience sees a great deal of Anakin's humanity and his connection to the Force, as he struggles to find his place as a man and Jedi. He falls in love with Padmé and chafes against the parental guidance of his mentor, Obi-Wan, as many young men his age are wont to do. He speaks about feeling strong in the Force, about coming along in his training, and about his desire to no longer be held back. He makes it clear that he wants to become "the most powerful Jedi ever." A nearly-fully trained adult, Anakin uses the Force in impressive ways to fight and fly, eventually losing control with both the Tuskens and in his initial attack on Count Dooku.
Anakin's connection to technology is also stronger in this second film. He is recognized by his former slave owner, Watto, after ten years away, for fixing a droid. After his first slide to the Dark Side -- the Tusken slaughter -- Padmé finds Anakin in the Lars' garage echoing sentiments from Episode I, about how good he is at fixing things, and how much easier life seems when he's able to do so. Most importantly, when Count Dooku severs his right arm during a lightsaber duel, Anakin literally loses his first piece of his humanity and replaces it with a machine.
As the galaxy moves toward war, we once again have the "bad guys" -- the Separatists, who are ultimately controlled by the Sith -- leading a mechanical army of droids against the Republic. Ostensibly, the army of the "good guys" is not filled with machines; the clones are living, human beings. However, technology is used extensively to artificially create, grow, and replenish this army. The Republic's forces are corrupted as they were procured under false pretenses by the Sith -- this corruption is symbolized by the use of technology to create artificial life for the army of the "good guys." For Anakin and the galaxy, the decline and fall is beginning to take shape, and technology is figuratively beginning to take over.
The last piece of the prequel trilogy has yet to be seen -- and there will undoubtedly be surprises in store -- but there are several easy avenues of speculation with regard to Revenge of the Sith that fit the theme of humanity's struggle with the technology it has created. Anakin will of course fall to the Dark Side and become Darth Vader, a shell of a man trapped inside monstrous machinery. The details of why Anakin fell are still open to debate, but there is a line of thought that argues that Anakin wants power -- power to do a variety of things from protecting and controlling the people he loves, to ending the war that is engulfing the galaxy. In The Power of Myth, Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell discuss how technology can fit in with these desires: "Machines help us to fulfill the idea that we want the world to be made in our image, and we want it to be what we think it ought to be...But then there comes a time when the machine begins to dictate to you."4 Anakin loses his morality and loses his humanity in both body and soul, and therefore becomes, for all intents and purposes, a complete machine, reliant on bionic lungs and limbs in order to live.
The Republic and the Jedi face similar destruction at the hands of the Empire. In the original trilogy, the Empire is marked by massive and deadly technology. Weapons such as the Death Star ensure that oppression is the new order of the day, and the individuality of the human spirit is ruthlessly stamped out by Palpatine and his new armed forces. Both Anakin and the galaxy have failed Campbell's test -- the machines have crushed humanity.
With the original trilogy, the story enters a pattern reverse that of prequels. Technology has won, and the human spirit has been defeated -- but the audience finds that humanity is not entirely lost. The saga reaches its conclusion after a trend of the human spirit reasserting itself in the face of the soulless Empire.
Darth Vader, from the first time we see him in A New Hope, is defined by his machinery; his trademark mask and his breathing introduce him to the audience. He is almost always seen surrounded by technology -- a Super Star Destroyer, the Death Star, a TIE Fighter. However, the Force is still a strong part of Darth Vader's character. As George Lucas once explained, "He has mechanical legs. He has mechanical arms. He's hooked up to a breathing machine...but I wanted him to be human enough that we could identify with him."5 Ironically, Vader himself provides reminders of his own humanity as he pointedly tells the Imperial rank that he is unimpressed with the Death Star's power; he remains an adherent of the Force. He is referred to more than once as the last remnant of the Jedi "religion." Through the Force, he senses both Obi-Wan's and Luke's presence. He is still a skilled flier and fighter, as evidence by the battle at the end of the film. While these hints may not seem like much in the face of what Anakin has become, they form a glimmer of hope to carry the audience through the rest of the trilogy.
When looking beyond Darth Vader, there is the Empire, fully in control -- but with the first Rebel victory appearing as a chink in the armor after the destruction of the Death Star. The Jedi are assumed to be extinct, but Obi-Wan Kenobi has survived and set Anakin's son on the path to becoming a Jedi. Luke, in his first real test, chooses not to rely on the computers of his X-Wing. Instead, he trusts in Obi-Wan, the Force, and himself. Despite everything, it is clear in Episode IV that all is not lost.
The ascendancy of the forces of good and humanity continues in The Empire Strikes Back, despite continued dark times overall. Darth Vader is at his worst behavior of the entire trilogy, killing his subordinates, torturing Han Solo and Chewbacca, carbon-freezing Han, and so on. Yet the main drive of his irrational rage is his obsessive pursuit of his son, Luke. This obsession echoes his very human need for family that the audience saw in the prequels. Vader is also revealed under his mask for the first time; the pod he needs in order to survive is shown, and he is briefly seen from the back without his mask. The tension between the dual sides of his character has reached a crescendo. The philosopher Descartes once pondered this duality, and decided that "[t]he body is purely mechanical, a machine...An animal possessed a body but nothing more...True, man had a body, but he also had a mind that housed the soul."6 The fact that the audience still has evidence of Vader's soul in Episode V will be critical to the saga's final chapter.
On a broader scale, Empire features an ongoing plot thread related to the workings of technology -- Han, Leia, Chewbacca and C-3PO (and eventually Lando and R2-D2) are continually trying to evade Darth Vader and can barely stay ahead of him because of the constant failures of the Millennium Falcon's hyperdrive. Also importantly, Luke loses his hand in this movie and it is replaced with a mechanical one. The question of Luke's ultimate fate, of whether or not he will follow in his father's footsteps, is raised by this technological hand.
Return of the Jedi ends the saga with the final redemption of Anakin Skywalker, the defeat of the Empire, and the rise of a new Jedi Order. Vader is initially shown in connection with the Death Star and in subservience to Emperor Palpatine. However, Vader still senses Luke through the Force (even when the Emperor cannot), and is clearly giving Luke signs of his innate goodness, whether intentionally or not. The original piece of Vader's mechanical body, his right arm, becomes an instrument for good, as does Luke's mechanical arm. Both serve as powerful warnings to Luke of the dangers of the Dark Side to which he has tread so perilously close, and he makes a conscious choice not to sacrifice his own humanity even if it means his death.
The part of Darth Vader that is still Anakin Skywalker recognizes the choice his son has made. As his final redemptive, soul-restoring act, he saves the galaxy and his son by killing the Emperor in a manner he knew would destroy the technology that keeps him alive. Just before Anakin dies, his face is revealed and the mask of Vader is removed for the last time. Joseph Campbell says, "when Luke Skywalker unmasks his father, he is taking off the machine role that the father has played."7 When Luke burns Vader's suit in a traditional Jedi funeral, it seems to symbolize the end of the technological being Anakin Skywalker became. Finally, Anakin's spirit is seen at the end of the movie, with the spirits of Obi-Wan and Yoda, and the audience sees that his journey back to the light, back to humanity, is complete.
For the rest, Han is freed from his carbonite prison and learns to let go of the Falcon, his own tie to technology, in pursuit of the greater good. The Rebellion takes on the Impirical fleet and destroys the second Death Star, spelling the end of the Empire. On the ground, the Empire's forces are defeated by the Rebels working in concert with the primitive Ewoks of the Endor moon. The Emperor, Empire and Dark Side are all defeated, while both literally and symbolically the technology that gave them power goes with them.
The Star Wars saga, both through the character of Anakin Skywalker and through the general plot, tells an old story about man's relationship with his machines. The triumph of the human spirit is an inspirational tale for all audiences and generations.
Works Cited:
1. Campbell, Joseph. The Power of Myth. New York, New York: Anchor Books (Random House, Inc.), 1988, xiii.
2. Campbell, 23-24.
3. Bill Moyers and George Lucas. "Of Myth and Men," Time. Volume 153, Number 16. April 26, 1999.
4. Campbell, 24.
5. Time.
6. Jean-Charles Seigneuret, ed. Dictionary of Literary Themes and Motifs L – Z. New York, New York: Greenwood Press, 1988, 1083.
7. Campbell, 24.
