A New Hope Hero's Journey

“ The force will be with you, always.” This is advice given to Luke Skywalker by his mentor Obi Wan Kenobi. In the archetypal hero’s journey a wise and experienced mentor such as Obi Wan will often help guide or offer advice to the youthful and budding hero. Throughout time and across different cultures there are certain symbols, events and characters which can be found in literature and Star Wars IV: A New Hope follows this trend step by step. During the film Star Wars IV: A New Hope, the main protagonist Luke undergoes a stereotypical, or in literary terms an archetypal hero’s journey. Luke starts from humble beginnings and when he is called upon to save the galaxy; he then faces various tests which help him hone skills that he will need for the final life or death battle.

Luke Skywalker chooses to join Obi Wan Kenobi, and through their journey Luke was changed from a parentless boy to a Jedi in training (Star Wars IV). One of the biggest parts in a Hero’s Journey is the life changing event that causes the hero to leave his home in the first place. When Luke’s aunt and uncle are killed, he is alone and has no reason to stay on his home planet of Tatooine so goes with Obi Wan. He changes his whole life around in a very short period of time, like his master, all he has left is his training. Both Romeo and Juliet changed their lives around for each other, even though it resulted in death (Shakespeare). The feuding families could never know about their children’s relationship because they hadn’t adjusted to the idea of ending their fighting and still hated each other. Romeo went first and Juliet followed behind and the death toll went up, if the families had changed their views toward each other , no one would have lost their lives. Those who are open to change, will be introduced to many life altering

Despite being the main character, in A New Hope, Luke Skywalker is neither mentioned nor seen on screen until the setting of the film has already been established. He is first seen with his uncle Owen buying droids from the Jawas on Tatooine. Luke is first portrayed as an annoying and immature kid. As the film’s plot follow him, we learn more about his character. Skywalker is an orphan living with his aunt and uncle on the desert planet Tatooine. At this point in the story, his main goal is to escape his boring life on Tatooine and explore the galaxy. However, his aunt and uncle force him to stay and help tend the family’s farm. In the beginning of A New Hope, Luke’s character represents the average teenager who just wants to break away from his or her mundane life.

The Force Awakens is the newest episode of Star Wars that has been released in theatres, and takes place many years after the fall of the Galactic Empire. The Resistance, the new Rebel Alliance, now faces a new threat, the First Order. In the hopes of defeating this threat, they look to Luke Skywalker, who’s whereabouts are unknown. Rey, the capable and independent protagonist, rescues a BB-8 unit and discovers it holds the missing piece of the map that leads to Luke. Together, along with Finn, Han Solo, and Chewbacca, they must find a way to deliver the piece of the map to The Resistance and stop the First Order’s plans of annihilation.

On May 25, 1977, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope was released. George Lucas created the science fiction series using Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey plot structure. Campbell created the plot structure by expanding on psychologist Carl Jung’s idea of the archetype. Archetypes are reoccurring symbols that can be found in literature, music, and art. Lucas found that Campbell’s Hero’s Journey was the perfect structure for the plot of Star Wars. The Hero’s Journey consists of ten steps which the protagonist, usually the hero, has to complete. Throughout the movie, George Lucas perfectly orchestrated all ten steps of the Hero’s Journey, and also used dozens of the archetypes that Campbell created.

The night air was heavy with silence. Clouds drifted across a calm sky, and a full moon shone in the distance. In a small hut on the outskirts of the valley, an old man lay in bed, awake in the peaceful slumber of the village. His breaths came in rattling gasps, his forehead burned, and his joints felt stiff with pain. He shifted on the blankets, his withered hands clenched in fists as he tried to suppress the wave of bitter memories coming to him. His life had been nothing more than work, loss, tragedy. He remembered all of his hope, his ambition, in his youth, and he smiled bitterly. No one would remember him as the man that he had once hoped he would become. Now, as his breathing became heavier and he felt himself fading on the brink of

Luke Skywalker, a modern epic hero in George Lucas’ film Star Wars, portrays many of the same traits as those of an epic hero during the Anglo-Saxon era. He embarks on many quests and shows bravery as well as courage throughout his journey. Luke Skywalker is not your average hero; he is not the strongest nor is he the biggest, not by a long shot. He does however have a strong will power, and when he wants to get something done, he will not let anyone or anything get in his way. He may not look like the hero, but he has the heart and mind of one and does not let anyone tell him otherwise.

The creator and director of Star Wars, George Lucas, was incredibly successful for his movie series, but even more successful for its overall purpose: to sell toys to ten-year old boys. The use of ethos, pathos, and logos are very abundant in this movie. Ethos, Greek for “character”, is anything referring to or relying on the author’s credibility. Pathos, Greek for “emotional”, is anything that makes you feel emotion. Logos, Greek for “word”, is anything that makes you think. By using these he was able to persuade the audience into thinking, feeling, and loving Star Wars, making the audience want to purchase figurines.

Star Wars: A New Hope directed by George Lucas was produced in 1997 and has many examples of archetypal patterns. Joseph Campbell was an american mythologist and he believed in something called a monomyth or “a hero’s journey” which was a theory that all stories are fundamentally the same. Campbell believed that these patterns were found in all stories and wrote a story called “A Hero with a Thousand Faces” he talks about these types of archetypal patterns found in all stories. The idea of a heros stages of their journey and how the hero goes through stages of transformation. The movie Star Wars: A New Hope fits into Campbell’s archetypal pattern and in doing so provides a certain truth about being separated from Luke’s old life and being

Everyone has their own adventure(s) in life and so everyone obviously has their own definition of what a Hero's Journey is. All journeys, however, include a majority of the same stages; from slaying dragons, both literally and figuratively, following one's bliss and going into the belly of the beast. Before we go any further, let me explain what the Hero's Journey even is. The Hero's Journey is a series of events that Joseph Campbell studied and first identified as a journey that all people go though. The pattern of the events appears in not only works from all ends of the literary spectrum including drama and myths, but is also linked to psychological development and self-growth. This journey applies to fictional characters, of course,

Heroes are seen all around us, in life, literature, and movies. Heroes like Superman, Captain America, and Thor are common, but have you ever thought of Luke Skywalker as an archetypal hero? Luke Skywalker is an aspiring young Jedi Knight, who is called to the quest of defeating the empire in the movie Star Wars IV: A New Hope, written and directed by George Lucas. Luke Skywalker demonstrates certain characteristics before, during, and after his quest that makes him an archetypal hero.

Furthermore, the character archetypes of father-son and allies develop a hopeful tone and present the theme that good triumphs over evil in Star Wars. In Episode VI, Luke struggles with the realization that Darth Vader, one of the cruelest villains in the galaxy, is his father. Due to Obi-wan hiding Luke from Darth Vader when he was a baby, there is a tension between the two becausewhen Luke is grown up as they do not understand each other and holdave completely different ideologies. Luke ongoingly attempts to turn Darth Vader away from the dark side and back into the courageous Jedi he was before. Eventually, Luke succeeds in changing Darth Vader back into Anakin, the Jedi he once was, and convinces him to fight against the emperor. The

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi is final chapter in an epic story of good versus evil. The script was written by George Lucas and was released in theatres on May 25, 1983 (IMDb.com). It was the third film released in the Star Wars saga, following Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (IMDb.com). At the time, Episode VI concluded the story of Luke Skywalker and his Rebel friends fighting against Darth Vader and the evil Empire.

Thankfully, one of the areas this movie is better than The Phantom Menace is the acting. McGregor is much better here, although he has yet to really shine the role of Obi-Wan. Nevertheless, he breathes some life in the character and makes him feel human. His sarcasm and banter with his impetuous apprentice can be amusing and is a welcome addition to his character.

He races home to find his family dead and nothing left but becoming a jedi (A New Hope Scene-by-scene. Web. 2010). In an effort to get to the Princesses planet they go to the Cantina, a bar filled with scam artist, where the find Han Solo and his co-pilot Chewbacca. Once they’ve settled on a payment their journey begins. What Obi-Wan and Luke don’t know is that in an effort to get Leia to talk Darth threatens and then follow through with blowing up her home planet.(Web. SparkNotes.com. Star Wars Episodes iv-vi. 2014) Eventually Han’s ship is pulled up by Darth’s and then they are forced to fight their way out. Obi-Wan encounters and allows Darth to defeat him, meanwhile Leia is rescued by Han, Luke, and the others. Without Obi-Wan but the rescue of the Princess the only thing left to do is defeat Darth’s ship, the Death Star. Against all odds and the discovery of the force Luke blows it up and is later awarded for heroic nature, as is Han and Chewbacca, ending the first of the epic series.