‘Return of the Jedi’: How Luke restored his family and renounced hatred

Editor’s Note: This article continues themes sketched out in the previous articles Star Wars: A New Hope – A look at Joseph Campbell and The Search for the Holy Grail and How ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ added to the Star Wars mythology.

In spring of 1983, my mother took me to the theater to see Return of the Jedi. I was five years old. My mother wasn’t happy with the experience (Leia’s bikini, Jabba the Hutt’s lechery, and the Rancor’s consumption of several people were a bit much).  I remember enjoying it, but also feeling a bit confused and sad.  The action sequences were fun, but RotJ gets a bit “talky” and philosophical at the end, not to mention that at the time it was the end of all things Star Wars.

Five-year-old me expected Luke to valiantly defeat the villain, who in my mind, was Darth Vader. The Emperor was too new. At the time viewers hadn’t seen him before this film, as only Darth Vader had been present.  Also, while I knew Darth Vader was Luke’s father going in, I still thought Darth Vader had to lose because he was evil (He’d chopped off Luke’s hand, after all!). Furthermore, Luke does not defeat the Emperor, Darth Vader does. Even Luke doesn’t beat Darth Vader either-the Emperor and Vader destroy one another, and Luke reconciles with his father at the last moment. Luke didn’t really do anything in the final confrontation other than chop off Vader’s hand and get kicked around a lot. Luke wasn’t the heroic figure I expected, and that’s a good thing.

Why?

Because in doing so, Luke achieves his grail.

In the previous articles, I’ve charted the parallels between Parzival’s quest for the Holy Grail and Luke’s quest to defeat the Empire. I’ve pointed out some of the deficiencies in the theological structure behind Star Wars, and suggested that the grail myth provides a better framework for Christians who want to shape their relationship with God via Star Wars.  But there’s still a problem.

Parzival seeks an object- a touchpoint between God and humanity. At the very end of Von Eschenbach’s epic, Parzival corrects the mistakes he made earlier, attains the grail, and fulfills his purpose in life.

But Luke isn’t after an object, and he never talks about God. So what’s Luke’s grail?

Family

This whole time, Luke has been seeking the redemption and restoration of his family.  In Star Wars, his surrogate family is threatened by the Empire and works with a team to protect it. The threat continues in Empire, with a twist. Luke learns that the villain is the central pillar of his family.  Then, in Return of the Jedi, Luke strives to save his father from the dark side and reunite him with Leia and himself.  Darth Vader dies, but he does so redeemed, free from the dark side.

Note the central conflict during Luke’s fight with Darth Vader and the Emperor. It wasn’t with Vader or the Emperor, it was with hate. We all know hate’s corrosive power, how it destroys relationships. Hate is one of the few things that can totally undo families. In my years in Christian ministry, hate in various forms was at the center of all lasting family separations and estrangements. People can forgive and overcome all types of pain and embarrassment- but hate…The person who holds hate can’t be healed and reconciled until he or she lets go. True, God can heal anything and anyone, but how can a person be healed if they hate the healing? Think of hate as a burning branch. It will burn the holder for as long as their grip endures.

Holy Mother Church denounces murderous anger and hate in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Deliberate hatred is contrary to charity. Hatred of the neighbor is a sin when one deliberately wishes him evil. Hatred of the neighbor is a grave sin when one deliberately desires him grave harm. “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” (CCC 2303)

Regular levels of anger are a normal and natural response to hurt and adversity. Hate and murderous anger take it up another level and there’s nothing good or redeeming found within.

In the final fight the Emperor encourages Luke to embrace hate and murder his enemies. Luke starts to do so, and begins turning into Vader. That’s why Luke can’t strike down the Emperor or Vader. Hate is entirely wrong, and the hero can have no part in it. Instead, the hero must allow hate to consume itself. Thus, Vader and the Emperor destroy one another. It’s important to note that Vader, even though he has been motivated by hate up to this final moment, is finally acting out of love and fulfilling his fatherly role. Vader puts love into action, saves Luke, and is reconciled to his family. The conclusion where we see his force-ghost confirms his salvation.

This lesson is especially important for us today. Hate besieges us on all sides: conservative, liberal, moderate, Protestant, Catholic, secular, etc… It seems like everyone is calling for us to pick up the hate and strike down our enemies.

Jesus’ opponents called for Him to come down from the cross and redeem Himself.  Through the centuries, persecutors have exhorted countless martyrs to call down their god and save themselves.  Jesus returned love for hate, as did the martyrs.  And that’s what we’re called to do now.

How?

Remember that God loves your opponent. Refuse to strike, and if they choose to hit, turn the cheek.  Yes, it’s painful, but who do we become when we do as the world does? When we take up the hate, and lash out?  I’ll give you a hint: it’s not Jesus.

Be like Jesus. Be like Luke. Refuse to hate. And follow Parzival’s example. Seek God wherever and whenever He is and attain your grail- we all have one.  Every one of us can attain it, with God’s help.