Essay, Research Paper: Luke Skywalker- Typical Hero

Rebecca Mitcham
Mrs. Sleek
Senior English
24 July 1999
Luke Skywalker- Typical Hero
“I want to come with you to Alderaan. There's nothing here for me now. I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father.” With this statement, Luke Skywalker is already on his way towards a story that is both familiar and different to all heroes.
He identifies with several reoccurring traits that many heroes are cast with. Luke is estranged from his natural parents and, as he gets older, finds himself anxious to pull away from his loving foster parents and become a man of his own.
After Luke’s foster parents are killed, he decides to help former Jedi warrior, Obi Wan Kenobi, aid the Rebel Alliance in restoring freedom to the galaxy, to learn the ways of the Force, and become a Jedi. Odi Wan becomes Luke’s teacher and is later replaced by Yoda, who has trained Jedi warriors for eight hundred years.
Many heroes have to defeat a threshold guardian. In Luke Skywalker’s case, Darth Vador is that threshold guardian. When the Rebels are trying to destroy the death star, Luke is faced with the difficulty of choosing between trusting the Force or a machine to help him dodge Darth Vador’s laser blasts. Han Solo and his sidekick, Chewbacca, play a role in helping Luke here. They surprisingly reappear in their junky pirate ship and shoot down one of Vador’s wingmen. Vador’s other wingman is startled by the oncoming ship and swerves into Darth Vador’s ship damaging one of his wings and sending him spinning out into space.
Skywalker’s real training begins after the demise of the Death Star when he goes to the Dagobah system to be trained by Yoda. Here, Luke travel’s into the Star Wars version of a netherworld, a place where both sides of the Force exist. Although it isn’t specified how long Luke is in the Dagobah system, but it appears to be three days. On his second day, Yoda instructs Luke to go into a cave where the dark side of the force is especially strong. Inside, Luke is put to the test mentally when Darth Vador emerges from the darkness. They partake in a light saber fight and Luke slices off Vador’s head. The mask cracks open and reveals Luke’s face. I is an extremely shocking experience for Luke and it also foreshadows Luke Skywalker’s origins.
Another skill Luke learns is how to see the future, to an extent. On his third day in the Dagobah system, Luke has a vision of his two friends in pain. Going against Yoda’s oppositions, he rushes off to save his friends. After finding them, he soon finds out that it is a trap. Darth Vador traps him and Luke finds that this battle will not be as easy with the real Vador. In the end, Luke escapes from Vador with one less hand and his inexperience shows when Leia and Lando rescue him from falling to his death. This is one of many trials that Luke has to face.
Finally, Luke and the Rebel Alliance meet their goal. The Emperor has been killed and the galaxy is free, but Luke achieved another goal. He succeeded in saving his father, Darth Vador, from the Dark Side. At the end of Luke’s story, at a party with Han Solo, Chewbacca, Leia, and other members of the Rebel Alliance, Luke pulls to the side to see something no one else is able to see. Obi Wan, Yoda, and his father are smiling back at him and he is forever changed by his experiences, like all true heroes.


Word Count: 610