To all the father's out there, I wish you a happy Father's Day. And as I slowly prepare to get ready for the long trek across the state (and the world's most boring bridge to drive over), I started thinking about how my dad introduced me to Star Wars as a kid, bought me countless toys until I could afford to buy them myself, and had many lightsaber duels with me using those old plastic sabers they made that had no electronics but made sounds when you swung them, paid for fencing and martial arts lessons so I could learn to "fight like a Jedi." and so on and so forth.

I also started to think about how GL says that SW is really the story of Anakin and his twins - father and kids. If we take Star Wars as modern myth, then we have to recognize that Joseph Campbell was right: myths teach us how to live. So what can we learn from Star Wars about fatherhood? Well, I'm not a father yet, but I think if we examine the many father figures we see, we'll all learn something.

(Starting with Episode IV).

1. Owen Lars: Owen and Beru adopted and raised their young nephew Luke as their own son. He cared for Luke and tried his best to keep him from the same fate as his father. Sure he lied and told Luke that Anakin was a navigator on a spice freightor; however, if he knew the whole story (and I've no hard evidence to prove one over another), which would you rather tell a young boy who wants to know about his father? "Your dad died doing something illegal." or "Your dad is that amoral man in the black suit standing by the evil Emperor." He tried everything to keep his nephew from going to the Academy, which would later embroil him in the Civil War, which could lead to either his death or him finding out about dad. He protected him at the cost of his own life when Imperial troops came to ask about a certain pair of droids.

Lesson: A father's love sacrifices for his children, and it even extends to those adopted.

2. Obi-Wan/Ben Kenobi: Obi-Wan served as a father figure to both Anakin and Luke. With Luke, his role was brief, but he did help Luke take baby steps on his road to becoming a Jedi, learning about his father, and reconciling with his father. He told Luke more of the truth regarding Anakin, but not more than the boy's fragile understanding of his father could handle at that point.
With Anakin, he did his best to train him as a Jedi. He taught him all that Qui-Gon had taught him, and he showed him infinite amounts of patience when Anakin needed it - whether the often ungrateful brat deserved it or not. Even when Anakin turned, Kenobi begged to be sent to fight the Emperor; he would rather face certain death than kill the boy he grew to love as a brother...and I'd say as a father. He probably also did not want to see the truth "in the flesh." But when he did go, he tried again to bring his "son" back to the right path, but when words failed, he had to use tough love on Anakin, closing off his heart and leaving a one-armed torso to fend for itself amidst the fires of Mustafar. On a brighter note, when Anakin did turn back in ROTJ, the scene with the Force ghosts shows Kenobi smiling briefly at Anakin...perhaps in the netherworld of the Force, the two made amends. I would like to think so.

Lesson: When gentleness fails to steer the wayward child back home, sometimes tough love (though hopefully not physically tough love) must be used.

3. Yoda: Yoda was a father figure to many, as he trained younglings. We see there that he has a soft spot for children, and throughout the PT, we see that his heart overflows with compassion for all living things. His role as a father to Luke shows him further testing the boy - not only in his Force skills but also in his patience and discipline (two things both father and son lack). The physicality of Yoda's training is much more demanding than that of Kenobi's, and the spiritual lessons he teaches Luke require much more discipline than the basics he had learned so for; in fact, they demanded that he unlearn what he had learned. When Luke rushes off to fight Vader, Yoda begs him to stay and finish his training, but ultimately, Yoda - who if he could lift an X-wing out of the swamp could have lifted Luke from its cockpit and prevented him from leaving - ultimately let him go to learn his lessons the hard way.

Lesson: If a child is to grow up, they need (and I agree with pyschologists, want) discipline. However, ultimately they must be allowed to choose their own path, and a father must let go, even when he knows the dangers that lie ahead.

4. Qui-Gon Jinn: Qui-Gon's role as a father is left largely to EU and fanfiction, but we catch a brief glimpse of this in his dealings with young Anakin. He has faith that the boy can help them, and he is certain - beyond John MacLauglin's "metaphysical certitude" - that young Skywalker is the Chosen One. He defends this boy before the Council, defying its will to train him if necessary, and with his dying breath, he pronounces the child to be special.

Lesson: A father believes in his children when no one else does, and he sees things about them that even they may not see about themselves.

5. Palpatine: Senator/Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine begins his career in TPM by displaying what appears to be genuine humility and concern for others. Throughout the PT, we see him showing deferrence to Anakin, praising him as a father should - as a son desires from his father - when he earned it. Obi-Wan did this as well, but we see him both praise and correct, we never see Palpatine correct (very telling). And while we know his praise is insincere flattery aimed at finally corrupting and turning Anakin to the Dark Side, he is the semblence of a caring, proud father...and that greatly helps him turn Anakin. His ends, however, have nothing to do with love and compassion, but with the megalomaniac greed and powerlust he has sought all along. He uses Anakin to get what he wants, and when he sees the opportunity to dispose of him for someone better, he does so without care - trying to turn Luke in front of Anakin.

Lesson: A father does not manipulate and use his child for selfish purposes.

6. Anakin Skywalker: Skywalker doesn't get much of a chance to be a dad, and that is because of the choices he made in his life. However, the will of the Force does offer him a chance to make amends by pushing father and son together as enemies in the struggle for the Galaxy. Vader tries to destroy Luke as he races to blow up the Death Star; he sense that the Force is strong with the boy but knows nothing more. Intelligence later reveals that this boy is a Skywalker...and later...the son of Anakin Skywalker. Something happens, and Vader/Anakin bargains for Luke's life in a corrupted way with the Emperor. Later, we see this dysfunctional family physically hash out their problems, with only one knowing their true relationship Vader/Anakin cuts off Luke's hand and then reveals the truth, shattering the boy's entire worldview. Later, Luke comes to terms with this reality and goes to face his father - to try and turn him back to the Light Side. Anakin's pride in his son is revealed as he inspects the boy's first attempt at making a lightsaber, and his slowly growing love for him is wounded when Luke says, "Then my father is truly dead." There had to be a mixture of pride and self-hate in Anakin when he saw Luke stand up to the Emperor before the father and son dueled; here was young Luke standing up to a man no one had dared stand up to since Yoda did thirty years ago. We all know what happens as Luke beats down dad. The Emperor's cackling allowed Luke to see how he had started down the path that destroyed his father; he made the connection Anakin did not get to make earlier in his own life, and he turned back at his own peril - willing to sacrifice his life for his father. After mental deliberation, Anakin makes the choice to sacrifice himself for his son...and we all know the rest of the story.

Lesson: A father is willing to give his own life for his child, and sometimes, it is the son who can save the father. Also we learn that no future is set in stone until it becomes the past; the choices made in the present can change whatever visions one has of the future.

And I'm sure I'm missing some other father figures in the saga, and I've not included any in the EU as that would take up all the remaining blog space I have. And while these lessons apply to more than just father and son relationships, Star Wars, like many myths, is ultimately about the father/son or at least father/child relationship - especially that of reconciliation with the father.

Thank you to all the fathers out there, especially to my own.

Happy Father's Day.

May the Force be with you all.