Skip to main content

star wars - What upset Luke more: the death of his family or the death of Kenobi?



Why does Luke Skywalker seem as upset by Obi-Wan's death, as he is by the death of his uncle and aunt?


Especially considering he found them burnt to the bone (the people that raised him all his life to that point) as opposed to Kenobi (up until recently regarded as "the hermit that lives across the Dune Sea") vanishing and becoming one with the Force (possibly not completely dying).



Answer



We don't know which deaths affected Luke more.


However, as to your suggestion that Luke seems to be more upset about Obi Wan's death, I think there are a few possible explanations:





  • Luke saw the mission to save Leia as a way to avenge Owen and Beru. Being able to do something makes the grief more bearable: "Those imperial scum killed my family - let's get 'em!" Contrast this with "That Vader bastard killed Obi Wan - RUN AWAY!"




  • In a similar way, rescuing Leia and learning about the Force on the way gave Luke something to keep himself occupied. He had less time to dwell on the past. After it was over, he was finally able to absorb and process everything that had happened over the past week or two. This is when the deaths of Owen and Beru finally sunk in. His bereavement at this point is about Obi Wan and Beru and Owen.




  • When Owen and Beru were killed, Luke still had a tie to his former life - Obi Wan, who knew him, his dad, and his aunt and uncle, and who had been (unbeknownst to Luke) watching over him his whole life. After Obi Wan died, Luke was totally alone, with no ties to his former life, which must have been crushing. Luke's link to Tatooine was totally severed. He was on his own, and he had no idea what to do next. The future was a complete unknown.





  • We don't see every moment of every day, and much of Luke's grieving may have taken place off camera. The movie would be less enjoyable if it consisted of scene after scene of Luke moping. He's already whiny enough, any more griping and moaning - however understandable it might be - would run the risk of making Luke an unlikable protagonist.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more