Mythology in Star Wars Trilogy
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Mythology is a way of trying to make sense of life by telling stories which impart certain values, ideas, beliefs, or attitudes. In the ancient world, such stories were told about aspects of the natural world, with the stars in the sky becoming constellations representing stories about the gods, and with natural processes explained in terms of the interplay of those gods. Today, the movies are one of our primary sources of stories aspiring to mythology, and in a case such as the Star Wars trilogy, the filmmaker consciously sought to create a new mythology and to embody in it certain mythic elements. These elements are also evident in the novelization of the first film, Star Wars: A New Hope, by George Lucas. The sense of myth is tied up with the idea of the Force and with the way the young man must train and develop in order to use the Force, an accomplishment that shows both ability and a sense of responsibility such as every young person must develop as they grow to adulthood. The story therefore creates a mythic, science fiction structure to teach a lesson about life.The film begins as if in the middle of a series of films, with this being chapter four. The book begins with a Prologue that explains the background. Still, the book largely follows the course of the screenplay. Lucas based the film and the novel on two primary sources. One was Joseph Campbell's work mythology and its larger social meaning, centering on the way stories create heroes and reflect the
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cent who is being taught the importance of courage, wisdom, discipline, and ultimately justice. The training of Luke Skywalker begins in this film and continues into the next in the series. This training is intended to develop the discipline in this individual so he will be one with the Force. He will be a leader, and as such he must have the wisdom, courage, and discipline to achieve justice. Accomplishing this task is the purpose of the Force. His uncle tells him of the importance of the Force and of the need for him to develop his virtues in order to accomplish all that he can. There is something very Eastern in the way these matters are described and treated in this film. The Force can be seen as an ideal that the individual is able to tap into once he achieves a level of discipline that allows him to connect with this cosmic power. This idea is also a reflection of the view that there is a proper form to the universe and that our task is always to attempt to achieve that ideal. Similarly, Luke will seek to redress the imbalance in the universe brought about by the advent of the Empire and restore the ideal that existed before they came. For Luke, to achieve the proper mixture of the virtues is to become a Jedi knigh
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Approximate Word count = 1701
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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