Author's note: I was hesitant to publish this entry because I wasn't sure how many readers would be familiar with Dostoevsky's work. In the end, I decided to do this because this serves as yet another example of the timeless nature of the themes of Star Wars. It is my opinion that these timeless themes are what have helped make Star Wars so enduring since it first debuted on screens almost 30 years ago. The themes are part of why Star Wars continues to endure while many other blockbuster films have become not much more than a memory.

As I have referenced here, I spent two years of my life serving as a missionary in Russia. During that time in addition to learning Russian, I also had the experience to immerse myself in Russian culture. One of my church leaders over in Russian had spent his career as a professor of Russian. He would make occasional references to great Russian literature, and my love of reading led me to a desire to read Russian literature. Upon returning home, I enrolled in Russian literature courses in college, and there became familiar with the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky. As I think about the theme of redemption as developed in Star Wars, I can't help but think of some of the similarities between George Lucas' space opera and the ideas of redemption in the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Like most authors, Dostoevsky has certain themes running throughout his works. A key theme running throuhout Dostoevsky's work is suffering and the idea of how suffering can eventually lead to redemption. Doestoevsky also focuses on characters, who appear to be very one dimensional. What I mean here is how a Dostoevsky character will often appear to only have certain traits, positive or negative. You rarely find a complex character with both good and bad traits in his works, but when you look at all the characters in a specific novel, you find that together they form a complex whole. One character may appear to be completely bad, but that character is really only partially developed. When looked at in conjunction with the other characters present in the novel, then the whole character is seen.

I find this dichotomy clearly present in Darth Vader. When viewed solely as the Dark Lord of the Sith, Vader is an evil menace, a monster who deserves death and should be punished for the crimes he has committed throughout the galaxy. Yet at the same time, there is Anakin Skywalker, a hero, perhaps even a fulfillment of prophecy. Anakin is kind to others. He gives with no thought of reward. In and of themselves, Anakin Skwyalker and Darth Vader appear to be two separate characters, one good and one evil. Taken as the whole of who Anakin became, we see a very complex character, which dovetails with the next Dostoevskian idea present in Star Wars.

In Crime and Punishment the main character is named Raskolnikov. The name in and of itself is interesting because it comes from the Russain word raskol, which means split or schism. In the novel, Raskolnikov is a poor student who is frustrated by his landlord and her constant requests of money from him. Eventually he hatches a plot to kill her and executes his crime. Raskolnikov prides himself especially early on at feeling no remorse for what he has done. He thinks he's gotten away with the crime, yet it always haunts him. As the story progresses, Raskolnikov meets Sofia, a prostitute who is looking to turn away from the life she leads. Sofia sees suffering as a way of finding redemption. In her efforts to turn away from her bad life, she must suffer from the consequences of her actions so that she can begin to become cleansed from the things she has done. Raskolnikov also begins to understand what is going on. He begins to feel remorse for his actions, and eventually turns himself into the authorities. As the novel ends, Raskolnikov is in prison out in Siberia, Sofia with him, as the two hope to find redemption from their past, in part through suffering for the wrongs they have committed.

Like Raskolnikov, Darth Vader is also split. He is torn between the man he once was and the monster he has become. There are times when he embraces the totality of his darkness and yet there are also times when he is haunted by the decisions he has made and suffers deeply for the crimes he committed, a suffering made worse by the fact that if he was to destroy the Sith, he has made matters far worse by actually joining them and leaving the Force in chaos. Anakin must endure two kinds of punishment for his crime. The emotional punishment comes from the loss of Padme while physical punishment comes in the form of weakened Force abilities due to the injuries suffered in the battle with Obi-Wan.

Because of the punishment which he has received, Vader now begins to suffer for his crimes. And this suffering is the key to Vader's eventual redemption. In commenting on this blog, anakinside1 notes that Vader has "become too violent and confused to be reasoned with." This is why Vader must now suffer. Obi-Wan and Padme have tried everything they can possibly think of to try and turn him back, but Anakin wants nothing to do with it. In order for him to have any chance at returning to the light, he must see what he has become.

Vader will not be able to find happiness without first knowing what it is like to experience misery. Since his actions in joining Palpatine caused so much heartbreak, he must know what it is like to have a broken heart. Vader's decision made it possible for Palpatine to rule the galaxy. Palpatine thinks nothing of enslaving others or killing innocents for his own gain, so now Vader must again experience slavery this time without a mother who loves him. As Vader has taken life from the innocent, so must Padme's innocent life be taken from him. Before Vader can find redemption, he must suffer the same things that his victims did, the loss of life, a broken heart, and the loss of loved ones. Vader begins to learn just what he has done. He seeks relief from his crimes, yet no relief is in sight. He must continue to suffer. And then, someone must come forth to offer Vader a chance at redemption. Someone must attempt to judge Vader. That someone is Luke.

In The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky tells the story of five brothers and the death of their father. In typical Dostoevsky fashion, four of the brothers are all bad. They have varying vices and are generally up to no good. Yet one brother is different. He wants to be good and so he goes off to join a monastery and become a priest. In his priestly studies he is taught by a respected and wise priest who tells him that before you can pass judgment on another, you must walk in his shoes and face the decisions that he faced before you can judge him. The more the brother learns, the more and more he comes face to face with a disturbing realilty. But for different choices, he is just like his brothers. He too could do some of the bad things they've done. He begins to see his brothers not as rotten creatures, but as troubled beings in search of redemption.

In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker takes the role of the brother. Luke goes off to study the ways of the Force and become a Jedi learning from the wise Jedi Master Yoda. In the course of that study, Luke learns that the dark monster he is trying to defeat is really his father. In the second confrontation with his father, Luke learns that he is perilously close to becoming the very thing he hated, a Sith Lord. And yet walking in his father's shoes has taught Luke how easily he could have gone down the same path his father did. And this helps Luke to avoid making the mistakes his father made. And his final defiant act against the Emperor invokes his father. "I am a Jedi, like my father before me." Luke has seen the darkness that consumed his father inside himself. He now pities his father, in a way he didn't before. He now begins to really seek out the good man that his father was. Luke is passing judgment on his father and is giving him a second chance. You don't have to be a monster. You've suffered for all these long years. Here is a chance to end that suffering. Come back to the light. Join me and be my father again, work on being the father that you once wanted to be those many years ago.

And just like in Dostovesky, Darth Vader begins to find redemption through suffering. He knows what so many of his victims feel like. He has been all alone for all these years. He knows what it's like to lose a loved one, to have a broken heart. He has suffered tremendously for all these crimes and now, given the opportunity, he will take it. He will begin to work on finding redemption. The first step of finding that redemption is a final act of suffering. He must lose his life, but in so doing, his path to redemption can begin. Luke has shown him the first step. Old friends such as Yoda, Obi-Wan, and yes, even Padme, are waiting in the netherworld of the Force to take him into the next phase. The final act of Darth Vader was not the end of his redemption, but rather the beginning of it. After all the long years of suffering, Anakin Skywalker was finally ready to begin to work on his redemption. Death was not an end, but instead a new beginning.