Dark Father #AtoZChallenge

Day four and I finally have a male baddie. And how wonderful that the imagery behind this most famous of villains is that of the father. You know who I’m talking about — Darth Vader.

The scourge of the Star Wars galaxy, the pawn of the evil emperor. Yet its not temptation that transformed Anakin to Darth but soul deep anger, that led to an act that was unforgivable and yet, relatable.

With the murder of his mother, his only relative who loved him dearly, Annakin responded with the unthinkable. He destroyed the entire race of those that killed her. In that act, he succumbed to the dark side after years of being what we would have considered a hero. Only in the end, when faced with watching his son die, did the father resurface and beat back the darkness.  And for this and the voice of James Earl Jones, Darth Vader owns a piece of our hearts as well as our hate. Enough that his back story got three movies.  That rarely happens to the villain.

Its no surprise that Luke’s life parallels Vader’s, yet he ultimately makes a different choice.  In this story, we are reminded that the quality of the villain determines the quality of the hero. Where this truth is most effectively revealed is when the antagonist and protagonist lives do resemble each other, which makes choices, especially the difficult moral ones so central what makes a hero/heroine.  As I write this, I can hear Dumbledore talking to Harry  in my head (Yes I know different movie but this line captures it all) “Its not how you are the same, but how you are different.”

How do you feel about Vader?  How did Vader influence’s Luke’s trajectory as a hero?

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