If you've read any of my previous entries, you might know that I'm a big fan of Pink Floyd and I've drawn comparisons to Floyd's amazing song base with our beloved Star Wars saga. Another idea struck me as I was listening to my favourite band and thinking about SW at the same time. And that is the idea of putting up walls.

Of course, you may know of Floyd's very famous "The Wall" album and its accompanying movie (both fantastic of course), which is a story that is summed up best from this line from the website "the wallanalysis.com":

"Aureally explosive on record and visually explosive on the screen, the Wall traces the life of the fictional protagonist, Pink Floyd, from his boyhood days in war-torn England to his self-imposed isolation as a world-renowned rock star, leading to a climax that is as questionably cathartic as it is destructive."

The character is a combination of Roger Waters' imagination and his own personal life experience, feeling a growing alienation to his fan base amidst his growing stardom. And the character of Pink goes through a tough life and gradually builds a wall in his heart and mind that separates him from all that has plagued him resulting in total mental isolation that culminates with him realizing the effects on his psyche that this wall has produced, right as the last brick is placed. The story is certainly in the realm of Rock Opera and masterfully details the slow-building wall of isolation Pink has built up.

Much like Anakin.

Anakin gradually built a wall around himself almost from the beginning. Being born into slavery and not having a father figure (much like Pink, who only had an overprotective mother as a result of his father being killed during WWII) he had to depend upon his own gifts to get his mother and himself by on Tatooine. This would have started his wall, his isolation of himself against the galaxy. The song "Mother" can relate to Anakin in that he looked up to his mother for protection and guidance because she was his only parent. It was she who could help him and answer his questions and love him and when he was whisked off to Coruscant he missed that and longed for it. It became a brick in his wall.

Padme also became a brick in Anakin's wall. At first she was someone who he came to care for and love very deeply and would literally do anything for. He wouldn't let anything stand in their way of living the life he imagined and wanted, a life he couldn't really have. Except their forbidden love became more bricks in his wall which would stand in their way. By being overprotective and silent about their relationship he was adding bricks to his wall that stood against the Jedi and a life of happiness. And that wall only further encouraged Palpatine to exploit Anakin's fears of losing Padme and the bricks of isolation only continued to build in his mind. He couldn't handle keeping it secret and was becoming mentally isolated, not even letting Padme in. The song, "Nobody Home" sums it up in a few words:

I've got electric light.
And I've got second sight.
I've got amazing powers of observation.
And that is how I know
When I try to get through
On the telephone to you
There will be nobody home.

Anakin is trying to get through to Padme and to the Jedi in his most desperate hour. Like Pink who is sitting alone in his hotel room at this point, realizing he needs help but not sure how to get it, Anakin turns to the only source he knows will help him ... Palpatine.

I've got wild staring eyes.
And I've got a strong urge to fly.
But I've got nowhere to fly to.
Ooooh, Babe when I pick up the phone
There's still nobody home.
I've got a pair of Gohills boots
And I've got fading roots.

Anakin's got wild staring eyes by the time he puts the last brick in place on his wall, his descent into the darkside of the Force and turning to the Sith. He's tried to get through on the "telephone" to his friends, his wife and himself but he got no answer. He finally sealed his mental state behind a brick wall of isolation that would in short time also see him behind a dark suit and dark mask that nothing could penetrate. He said goodbye to his world and his previous life. And much like Pink, Anakin is in a comatose state as the quintessential song of the album "Comfortably Numb" alludes to. Everything that Anakin was is firmly hidden behind his wall and his mask, and Darth Vader was the numb result of his decision.

When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown, the dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.

Anakin had a fleeting glimpse of a dream he had as a child, to be a Jedi and live the life of a hero traveling amongst the stars. But the wall he built up encased that in a life of isolation and insecurity. He allowed the wall to destroy his dreams and allowed himself to become comfortably numb as Darth Vader.

Until he went through his own trial in his mind, much as Pink did at the end. He made up his mind, with the help of his son Luke, that he didn't need his wall any longer, that he wanted to take off the suit and the mask and he destroyed the wall he so selfishly built up. And I think many of us do build up walls around us to protect us. Maybe not to the same degree of these two characters, but it teaches me that the walls aren't always good and that in the end, they'll only come crashing down anyway.