“Better to rule
in hell than to serve in heaven” - Satan (Paradise Lost,
John Milton). Power is one of the factors that can either build us or
break us. It is something that can keep us on a route of progress, or
it can make us lose sight of much that is important to us, like
friends, causes, and ideas. An enemy that was once a friend was not
likely to have been coerced by fate into changing their ways. One's
journey to the dark side is often one enacted by his/her own hand, in
gradual increments. Destiny or fate, in my opinion, is just a label
that removes the blame of a fallen hero. Anakin Skywalker, later to
be retitled as Darth Vader, is a perfect example of a hero whom falls
victim to his own lust for power. He was lured into the traps of
Chancellor's influential lies, but he made the conscious decisions to
betray the Jedis and to aid the dark side for his own personal gain.
Anakin's greed and insatiable whims for power is one of the main
characters that pushed him along his path towards evil, along with
the Chancellor's manipulation, and if he had caught himself before
falling far too deep into the Sith state of mind, he could have
remained a hero.
Every person in the
world walks along the path of a hero and are bombarded with obstacles
and situations which require tough decisions to be made, even if
there is no possible outcome that is truly beneficial. Our strengths
and mentalities are influenced by people such as mentors, goddesses,
supernatural aids, and even the tests themselves. From the beginning,
Anakin is enangered by the lack of faith that the others have in him,
and takes this as being considered inferior by his fellow Jedi. Along
with this, he is puzzled and disturbed by a recurring dream he has of
the death of his wife, Padme. He slowly gives into the chancellor's
promises of strength and power in trade for Anakin going to the dark
side. However, before he is sure whether or not to go through with
crossing over to the dark side, he tells Mace Windu of the
Chancellor's disloyalty, which leads to an unsuccessful confrontation
of the Jedi to the Chancellor. The biggest mistake that Anakin made
was showing up right after Mace Windu had overtook the Chancellor in
a battle, and had already practically won. Not surprisingly, the
Chancellor once again sweet-talked his way into getting Anakin on his
side, and Anakin kills Mace Windu, becomes an ally to the Chancellor,
and is now dubbed “Darth Vader”.
Furthermore, it is
during this point that Anakin has crossed the threshold into the
dark side and is now working hand in hand with the Sith. His whole
perspective on good and evil is now warped by the point of view he
now sees, which is from the Sith side and not the Jedi's. However, he
proves to have much more power on this side, and is treated much
differently. He notably loses sight of anything that was important to
him when he was simply “Anakin” and not “Darth Vader”. His
wife, Although it wasn't necessarily intentional, Padame, whom was
one of the reasons he decided to joined the Sith, ends up dying by
Anakin's hand. This is ironic because Anakin pursued the power to
bring others back to life in order to revive Padame when the time of
her death were to come, but he instead kills her after obtaining
power. Along with this, Obi Wan Kenobi, who only shortly before was
considered Anakin's mentor and friend, is now simply viewed as
another battle that he must face. While battling Obi Wan Kenobi,
Anakin makes the argument that “from my point of view, the Jedi are
evil”, showing that his view of justice is now warped. This also
provides a parallel example to wars in real life, displaying how
different countries view each other, and are less likely to be
empathetic to their opposing side.
Moreover, there
were many changes that Anakin could have made in order to return back
to the Jedi he started out as. However, he is far too stubborn and
blinded by the benefits for power to even wish to return. The battle
between two enemies who once fought for the same side is a bitter
one. Obi Wan, Anakin's unchanged opposer, is more emotionally damaged
that confused by the change of circumstances. He puts into question
why Anakin decided to become a traitor, and is angered by this
because Anakin was supposedly destined to do great things for the
opposing forces, rather than defying the Jedi. Darth Vader, Anakin's
new identity, is not only a symbol of this broken destiny, but it
also shows that destiny in its entirety can fail us. If one destiny
can be broken, others should be disregarded from the beginning. While
it was assumed that Anakin had only one choice to follow, which was
his supposed destiny of great success, it is by fact that he had
multiple choices to make, because he evidently chose the wrong ones,
ultimately making him a fallen hero.
All in all, the
young man that embarked on his hero's journey in the beginning of
this movie ended up becoming the villain at the end of it. Once
expected to do great things for his people and to create peace
between the Sith and Jedi, his impatience overcame his wishes for
prosperity and welfare of others, and he chose the venture for power
over the venture for overall goodness. Anakin's judgment was clouded
with the dream of becoming strong and powerful, and also having the
ability to save his wife from death, but he also lost sight of the
goodness that the Jedi's were falling for. He broke the supposed
prediction that he would help the Jedi prosper, and turned to the
dark side all by conscious decisions.
