Recently while Ryan Kaufman was offering some commentary, he noted some of the many central themes posed by the Star Wars saga - themes that were best expressed as questions the story had you ask yourself. Though in many cases Star Wars does not go so far as to answer these questions, it does a fine job of pointing out some important moral issues both for individuals and for national conscience.

These questions are often leveraged heavily against some of the most important action and drama in all 6 films. Once he pointed these out, I began to realize that there were central questions the saga asked of me as well. In most every instance, the saga demonstrates what happens when the different approaches of good and evil are applied.

Ryan pointed out a handful as samples of these weighty issues. Here are some of Ryan's questions, denoted with an "RK", and in addition some of mine, denoted with a "DM"...

Is it wrong to do something harmful to help someone you love?
--RK

Does an unelected elite have the right to rule the common majority?
--RK

How can we find common ground with people who are "alien" to us?
--RK

What is the value of mentors, and should we question their own moral quality, or can we learn from their teachings alone?
--RK

Does old age bring wisdom?
--RK

What does attachment really mean and how does it affect our lives, our happiness, and our spiritual well-being?
--RK

Can fear for your loved ones become a quest for control?
--DM

Is it possible to love something or someone so much, so selfishly, that you destroy what or who you love?
--DM

How do good and innocent people become evil?
--DM

Is morality merely a point of view?
--DM

Does advanced technology always mean social progress?
--DM

Does one person truly have the ability to change everything?
--DM

Is it your responsibility to help change everything for the better if you could?
--DM

What is more important - Loyalty to the State, Loyalty to the Regime, or Loyalty to the Ideals on which the State was founded?
--DM

What happens when these loyalties are in conflict with each other? What is the right thing to do?
--DM

Do democracies turn into dictatorships?
--DM

Are there times when fighting means losing, but understanding means winning?
--DM

Is compassion ever more powerful than anger?
--DM

What happens if you believe in yourself? What happens if you don't?
--DM

Do all heroes "look" or "act" like you would expect?
--DM

Are heroes always good people, on the "right" side?
--DM

Is it ever too late to change?
--DM

I'll not do the saga a disservice and be so glib as to answer these in 25 words or less. They are clearly important and in some cases ancient questions that are at the core of civilization, and of being human.

There are certainly other questions it asks us, and I'm sure you may have recognized a few yourself. That's what's beautiful about this story - each of us finds something slightly different, something that feels like the very bones of civilization and it's long-suffered story of human strife.

The fact that the Star Wars saga asks these of us, and offers us the opportunity to find the answers ourselves, reveals the saga for what it truly is and always was - a first step into a larger world.

DM out