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 | OMG OMG OMG - Anakin! |
 Got your attention, huh?
Well, this isn't anything to write home about BUT... I had a revelation when typing a response to someone about an issue here at work and another to describe my daughter's eyes last night when they turned the color of A/DV's ....
ANYWAY!
I have always been quoted here as saying that the Jedi freed Anakin from slavery and that Palpatine brought him right back into the Slave role as his #2 guy.
As I was typing the above referenced responses, and thinking about Anakin's March on the Jedi Temple, I thought..... he was never really free now, was he?
These last couple of years I have been blind. Blind to the fact that the Jedi Order is indeed another form of slavery. Just, instead of being a slave to one person as a Sith or as a small boy on Tatooine, they are slaves to the ideals of the Jedi ways.
They are told what to do, how to do it, what to study, what they have to give up, what they have to let go of .... in order to be a true Jedi.
It's proposterous! ![]:)](http://blogs.starwars.com/share/img/emoticons/devil.gif)
So, now I am questioning whether or not Anakin was ever really free during his lifetime or if he was born and lived as a slave.
Was Anakin finally tired of being a slave all his life when he threw Palpatine over the railing?
Perhaps it wasn't until he died that he was truly freed.
Rambling thoughts, I know. Still.... it was a revelation, I swear!
I am looking forward to this conversation.... 
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http://blogs.starwars.com/wifeofvader_blog/20 |
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ketal13
HanAnWan
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 10:10 AM
he was never really free now, was he
No, he wasn't. That's why (you probably aren't going to like this) I don't think Anakin was whinny! He was never allowed to be who he really wanted to be. The Jedi placed extreme demands on every part of his life, and so did his love, Padme. He just wanted to be free and have a normal life like Padme's parents did, but no, she didn't want him to give up being a Jedi. He was constantly being pushed around by other people and never allowed to be just Anakin. The poor guy. 
I'll be back....
Loved the blog btw!
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jyer
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 10:25 AM
I disagree. I think that though you may right to a degree, Anakin CHOSE to follow the ideals of the Jedi Order. He had the CHOICE to leave at any time. The Force would be with him in whatever choice he made. He could have become another member that the order had "lost", but rather chose to follow those principles.
cont.
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jyer
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 10:26 AM
Cont.
If he had truly wanted to be free, he could have walked the path of other Jedi and distanced himself from the Order without going to the Dark Side. He may have challenged the 'normal' ways of the Order, but as has been said before in blogs, perhaps the Order needed a small push so that it could evolve. As seen in the EU, Luke's Jedi Order is far more accomodating, yet still holds true to what many consider to be true 'Jedi principles'.
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nob01
Oil Bath Bubbles
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 10:26 AM
Excellent points!
Nope - IMHO Anakin was always trapped in one situation or another, never free to pursue his own dreams - oh, I'm sure he thought he was master of his own domain in the jedi temple, but there would be Mace and the council, always ready to knock him down a few rungs...
He is indeed the great tragic character of the modern age.
I hope I'm reincarnated a thousand years from now so that I can enjoy this myth
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jedilily1026
Years Matter Not (Gone Crazy...Be Back Soon)
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 11:58 AM
Although the Jedi Order is a commitment not easily broken as Obi-Wan stated, I have always felt Anakin was a slave to his passions, fears, greed, etc. which he slowly let take control of his life therefore he himself was never free until he died and became one with The Force.
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vadersgirl33
vadersgirl_reflections
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 12:20 PM
I agree with you. Anakin spent his life as a slave, one way or another. When he died on Death Star 2, he was truly free. I kinda felt sorry for him, being a slave on Tatooine. When you think about it seriously, he was also a "slave" to the Jedi order. He had to do what they said the way they wanted, whether he agreed with them or not. More often not. Then as Sidious' apprentice (as DV). The Dark Side enslaved him and he did whatever Sidious wanted him to do. He'd finally had enough of it all when he killed the emperor. He didn't want his son to follow and be a slave, too.
Great thoughts!!!
vadersgirl33
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LUKEBOY62
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 1:01 PM
You are right that is a lot of weight for a person to carry
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LUKEBOY62
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 1:01 PM
You are right that is a lot of weight for a person to carry
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Captain Peabody
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 1:30 PM
Meh....I agree with jyer; the Jedi Order did not 'enslave' him any more than Obi-wan did, and if he had let go of his arrogance and self-pity and truly followed the ideals he claimed to represent, he would have understood this. Instead, he became puffed up by his own self-importance and started believing that the entire Jedi Order was somehow hemming him in, keeping him from his rightful place in the Galaxy, when all they were really doing was helping him mature enough so that he could use his powers. By doing this, by giving into his self-pity, Anakin did indeed become a slave, but to his own bloated ego.
And yeah, as some of you may have guessed, I'm not a huge fan of little Anakin..... 
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Bob'ika Vhett
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 1:53 PM
What a great blog. It brings up some deep thoughts:
Are any of us truly free to do what we want to do? We're all bound and shackled to some degree. We're slaves to the rules of the world, many of the rules being impossible to break away from. But I'm getting so far off topic ...
The only moments in which Anakin were free were his period of time in the womb and the brief minutes in which his son had convinced him that the Emporer didn't have a hold over him. His is truly a life of pain, misery, and agony. Poor Ani.
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kyle228
Truly Wonderful, the Mind of a Child Is...
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 2:01 PM
I do agree. The Jedi Order was deeply, deeply flawes, and what you pointed out was just one of them.
I disagree. I think that though you may right to a degree, Anakin CHOSE to follow the ideals of the Jedi Order. He had the CHOICE to leave at any time.
Yes, but what kind of life would he have gone back to? Pretty much nothing. Without the order, he'd be just another farm boy on Tatooine. No matter how enslaved he was (because I think he was, partly, as well), he never would have left except for a chance at more power (like he eventually did). MTFBWY!
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jkthunder
Seven Pieces
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 6:38 PM
Nah - He was totally free when he was a Jedi. He could've left the order at any time. He could have also left the Emperor at any time. He was just a prisoner of his own mind 
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Fish1941
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 6:39 PM
In one way, you do have a point. I don't think that the Jedi Order had really allowed any of its initiates to be themselves. Their entire philosophy seemed to be wrapped around following a series of codes. And when you think about it, their idea of learning how to let go of attachments was following a rule in which you are not allowed to have attachments. That just all seemed wrong to me.
However . . . if Anakin had been that unhappy with the Order, he should have taken the initiative and left. Just as Dooku and nineteen others had done. In that regard, he had failed himself . . . and eventually set himself on the road to becoming a Sith Lord.
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Fish1941
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 6:41 PM
oh, I'm sure he thought he was master of his own domain in the jedi temple, but there would be Mace and the council, always ready to knock him down a few rungs...
Mace? Don't you mean Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was the main person in Anakin's life who was always ready to knock him down a few rung even more than Mace, Yoda or any other Jedi Master. You do remember that . . . don't you?
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Darth_Hiram
A Journey into The Force
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 6:43 PM
I also think that Anakin / Vader was a slave throughout his whole life. He was born into it, freed for a moment (that moment being told he was freed from it), then brought back into slavery within his own rights in the Jedi Order, only to be turned into a slave of Palpatine's and trapped within his suit. He never really enjoyed the taste of freedom as he envisioned it, until the end whence he became one with the Force.
Great blog!
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The Stooge
Star Wars Joke-A-Day
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date Posted: Sep 06, 2007 9:46 PM
I'm reminded of an interesting idea... that some define "freedom" as a discipline which would free us from our bodily, physical desires. Through submission -- the kind that the Jedi Order would require -- the mind/spirit/soul could be freed.
Just a thought.
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Sarlacc-Pitt
Slowly Digested Over A Thousand Blogs
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date Posted: Sep 07, 2007 9:34 AM
Very interesting thoughts here WoV! I totally understand what you are saying, and aside from the fact that Anakin as a child was, of course, a slave, an actual slave, I believe that (and jkthunder also said this) later on he was trapped in his mind. And his soul, or what was left of it. He could have left the Jedi Order willingly (and I think that he would have, if things had turned out differently) if he had wanted to, or disposed of the Emperor (sooner than he did) if he really wanted to... but he didn't do any of those things, perhaps because in his own mind he was still a slave, that the mentality he had as a slave child never really went away.
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Sarlacc-Pitt
Slowly Digested Over A Thousand Blogs
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date Posted: Sep 07, 2007 9:34 AM
I sorta think that Anakin really felt like a piece of crap his whole life. People who feel that way allow others to use them. Maybe it's the only way they feel any sort of... love.
Nice blog!
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WifeofVader
Tales from the Death Star
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date Posted: Sep 07, 2007 10:11 AM
Great input by everyone.
I actually fell asleep last night thinking about the lives of the SW characters and so-called "real life" and whether or not ANY one of us is not a slave in one way or another.
There's so many options and possibilities with regard to Anakin and his mind. When or if he could have left the order... how and why.
I wonder though why when he was displeased with the Jedi Order, he DIDN'T leave and run away with Padme.
Some things we may never know!
Have a great weekend all....
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Jade Sabre777
A luminous being, I am...
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date Posted: Sep 07, 2007 11:31 AM
Okay, my opinion? See Sarlaac Pitt's comments (great thoughts, SP!). BUT I would add that leaving those who Anakin was "enslaved to" would be extremely difficult. With the Jedi, he'd be severing close friendships and the future he'd always dreamed of. He also might have felt guilty, like he was letting Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan down - and that's not something Anakin likes to do. The Emperor was the only friend/family Anakin/DV really had in the OT, so leaving/overthrowing him would have left him all alone. The Emperor was probly the only man that didn't hate him, at least in Vader's mind.
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Jade Sabre777
A luminous being, I am...
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date Posted: Sep 07, 2007 11:35 AM
Oh, and nice blog!!
Perhaps it wasn't until he died that he was truly freed.
Yep!
that some define "freedom" as a discipline which would free us from our bodily, physical desires. Through submission -- the kind that the Jedi Order would require -- the mind/spirit/soul could be freed.
Hmmm. . . .that sounds familiar. . . .
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starhorsepax
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date Posted: Sep 08, 2007 4:19 PM
This possibility actually pops into Anakin's head in one of the Jedi Quest books too. I think he was a slave to his emotions and the situation and maybe even to his power. He wasn't a true slave as a jedi, he could have left and he knew it. But the self control of the jedi was needed to control himself with all that power. He couldn't walk away from it if he lost his temper, it always would be there tempting him. He was also a slave to indecision, since total commitment to the order demanded he couldn't commit to family. And in retrospect, Palpatine would never have left him alone even if he chose to leave the order!
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Darth Med8
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date Posted: Sep 08, 2007 8:32 PM
He was born a slave, and he died as a slave. His only true freedom was his death.
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Fish1941
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date Posted: Sep 09, 2007 10:05 AM
[iI'm reminded of an interesting idea... that some define "freedom" as a discipline which would free us from our bodily, physical desires. Through submission -- the kind that the Jedi Order would require -- the mind/spirit/soul could be freed.]
The problem is that the Jedi Council thought that submission to their Code would free the mind/spirit/soul. And they were wrong . . . as Qui-Gon eventually proved.
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Fish1941
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date Posted: Sep 09, 2007 10:07 AM
He was born a slave, and he died as a slave. His only true freedom was his death.
Actually, that is the situation for everyone. Only death brings about any kind of true freedom.
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