The Virtues of Fatherhood in “The Mandalorian”

The modern world has a rather poor outlook on the traditional view of the family: a mother, father, and children. It specifically targets fatherhood, however, as being unimportant in the life of children. Many television programs have the father out of the picture altogether, or he is depicted as being incapable of doing anything right and is demonized for trying to be a good father. Such a view is, of course, anti-Christian as well as anti-family. Numerous studies have shown the importance of fathers in the lives of their children. A simple search on the World Wide Web will confirm this assertion.

There are few programs on television nowadays that project fatherhood as something to be desired and especially as a fulfilling vocation. One of these rare shows is The Mandalorian. Oddly enough, it paints fatherhood in a very Christian way. Its depiction of fatherhood is in fact very similar to the fatherhood of St. Joseph.

In The Mandalorian TV show, Din Djarin is himself a “foundling” or in other words, an orphan who is raised and trained to be a Mandalorian. During a mission, he meets Grogu, a creature of the same species as the great Jedi, Master Yoda. He decides to take the creature into his care. In the first season, the Mandalorian Armorer tells Djarin: “A foundling is in your care. By Creed, until it is of age or reunited with its own kind, you are as its father.” Though not biologically related, Djarin takes on the responsibility of protecting and providing for Grogu until he is reunited with his kind.

As the series progresses, and as The Book of Boba Fett shows, Djarin finds Luke Skywalker and leaves Grogu with him to be trained as a Jedi. Skywalker, however, makes Grogu decide whether he wants to be a Jedi or whether he wants to live with the Mandalorian, who up to this point, has been what one could call his “foster father.” Grogu decides to return to the Mandalorian because of the strong paternal bond he has developed with him. When reunited, both are exceedingly happy to be together again thus showing the importance of fatherhood in the life of a child.

This “foster fathership” that the Mandalorian has over Grogu is very similar to that of St. Joseph and Jesus. In Sacred Scripture, the child Jesus is born from the Virgin Mary. He is conceived by the Holy Spirit. St. Joseph is not Jesus’ biological father – indeed Christ has no biological father. Rather in the Christian understanding of Joseph’s role, he is considered the “foster father” or adoptive father of Jesus. Yet Jesus is not known as the “adopted” son of Joseph. Scripture attests to the view that Jesus is indeed the son of Joseph: “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?” (John 6:42)

When a child is adopted into a family, they become a part of that family. Even though they are not biologically related (or they are biologically related to one of the parents) they are still considered true children of the parents. The Biblical concept of a covenant makes this idea clear. When a tribe made a covenant with another tribe, they became incorporated into each other’s family. Djarin adopts Grogu who is incorporated into his family – the Mandalorian family. Thus, when Grogu becomes a foundling, he becomes a Mandalorian. Another parallel, although not very religious is that Din Djarin is also a man of few words. He rarely speaks unless he has to. St. Joseph too is a man of few words. Indeed, Sacred Scripture never records any of St. Joseph’s spoken words.

As Jesus’ earthly father, St. Joseph’s job was to protect and provide for Him and his wife Mary. When Herod threatens the safety of the Christ Child, St. Joseph is quick to act and retreats to the exile of Eygpt until Herod’s death:

When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my
son.” (NAB, Matthew 2:13-15)

In the same way, Din Djarin protects Grodu from countless bounty hunters trying to capture him and sell him to the remnants of the Empire. Djarin also provides food and shelter for Grogu as well.

Two lessons on what fatherhood requires can be gained by examing St. Joseph and the Mandalorian. The first is sacrifice. Both St. Joseph and Din Djarin must make sacrifices in order to protect their child. St. Joseph must leave his home and travel to a foreign country and start a business from the ground up. The Mandalorian must abandon the home he knew and constantly travel through the galaxy in order to protect Grogu from bounty hunters. The second lesson is surrender. Surrender is defined as doing the will of another rather than one’s own will. St. Joseph must surrender to the will of the Father communicated to him by an angel. Din Djarin must obey the creed of the Mandalorians to protect the foundlings entrusted to their care.

St. Joseph, Din Djarin, and many others represent what it means to be a good father. One who is willing to sacrifice themselves, provide for, and protect their children. Ultimately, all fatherhood stems from the First Person of the Trinity as the Catechism states: “The divine fatherhood is the source of human fatherhood…” (CCC, 2214.) The greatest representative of the Father, however, is Jesus Christ Himself: “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing; for what he does, his son will do also.’” (John 5:19) And “The Father and I are one.” (John 10:30) Since He is the Son, He is the perfect image of the Father and the perfect example of fatherhood for all men; whether they be husbands, priests, or religious brothers.

The Mandalorian gives us a glimpse, though imperfect, of what fatherhood is about. It can act as a stepping stone for bringing people to see true fatherhood as expressed by St. Joseph and His own Son, Jesus the perfect image of the Father.