The Hero's Journey in Star Wars


    The way Luke is depicted crossing the threshold in George Lucas's Star Wars, a New Hope is a bit unusual since it's not so much of a willing decision as it is Luke being forced across the threshold out of necessity. This is much different from how the belly of the whale is represented, which is more in line with Campbell's description of it. However, the way Campbell describes the crossing of the threshold is as the transition from the known world into the unknown world which in a way is represented by Luke's parents and Obi Wan respectively. Obi Wan is pretty much the only reason Luke didn't have the same fate as his parents since he was distracting Luke, which essentially left his only choice being to go with Obi Wan. It was also a bit of a necessity since otherwise Luke would never have gone with him. Really the only decision Luke made was to buy R2-D2 and C-3PO even though he didn't really know what that would lead to. And that also wasn't entirely his decision.

    Campbell also mentions a threshold guardian as part of crossing the threshold which represents the current limits of the hero. One possibility for the threshold guardian are the storm troopers they encounter while going to the cantina. It show's Luke's limits in his reliance on Obi Wan to deal with them, while Obi Wan could be representing the future version of Luke. The storm troopers are also quite literally guardians of the empire and are trying to stop people like Luke from becoming a Jedi. One final reason they are likely the threshold guardian is that Campbell mentions that they are at the barrier separating known and the unknown, and the storm troopers are standing in the way of Luke and Obi Wan getting into the cantina which in this case is the unknown.

    Another element of the hero's journey which is closely tied to crossing the threshold is the belly of the whale, which Campbell describes as the final separation from the the known into the unknown. It often has some kind of minor setback as well, and instead of easily overcoming it the hero is swallowed into the unknown. In Star Wars the cantina scene fits the belly of the whale pretty well, working as the final separation into the unknown since it's filled with aliens, but is still on Luke's home planet. It also has that minor setback since Luke gets into a fight there, and it seems to help acclimate Luke in to the unknown since fighting some aliens is less dangerous than fighting the empire. Obi Wan is also still helping Luke as a sort of guide throughout the cantina as he does the negotiating and stops the fight. All of the immediate problems Luke encounters, getting into a fight and being attacked by the empire, also represent the hero being swallowed into the unknown instead of just being able to walk into it. 

Another scene that could be part of the belly of the whale is the escape from Tatooine. They get attacked by the same storm troopers from earlier as well as a star destroyer, which is another small setback and again shows how Luke is getting wrapped up in the unknown instead of easily conquering it. That is also showed by the fact that it was the same storm troopers from earlier as they were only able to deter them for a short time. Campbell also notes how the hero would appear to have died after entering the belly of the whale, and in this case Luke would seem to have disappeared since he is now fleeing from the empire. It seems that the belly of the whale is meant to help emphasize the current limits of the hero as that is how it's used here, though it doesn't entirely stop Luke. While it does blend together with crossing the threshold a bit, the belly of whale has some distinctions, and is very important in Star Wars as, it's essentially what sets up the rest of the story and the movie.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey


Comments

  1. AnkitaSeptember 21, 2022 at 9:29 PM

    Nice post! I like how you describe the belly of the whale step, and how you explain that many different scenes could count. I also like how you describe Luke's lack of autonomy in the story- you're right, he doesn't make very many decisions for almost the first half of the movie.

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  2. Mason MiaoOctober 2, 2022 at 7:23 PM

    It was interesting how you thought that Luke gets wrapped up in the unknown. In the hero's journey, I would expect that the ending be that he finally conquers the unknown but in reality he still has much more to go. This is evident in that Darth Vader still escapes and though Luke is hailed a hero, the Empire is still lurking.

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  3. Stella YouseOctober 11, 2022 at 10:13 PM

    I love that you start with acknowledging that Luke is forced into this out of necessity, I always wondered about that when watching. I also think it's great that you acknowledge that there could be different parts of the belly of the whale that are equally applicable. I like how you connect the hero supposedly dying in the belly of the whale to Luke’s disappearance.

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  4. Grace W-KOctober 13, 2022 at 8:24 AM

    I liked how you tied distinct parts of the hero’s journey to the essential components of Luke’s adventure. It seems that a lot of the important moments in the episode are connected to the crossing of the threshold. Since Star Wars is a series, maybe this episode is only a part of his hero’s journey instead of encompassing the whole cycle.

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  5. NathanielOctober 14, 2022 at 12:10 PM

    Your comment about how Luke *had* to leave stood out to me. It is very different than in Siddhartha, where Siddhartha chose to leave. I agree that the crossing of the threshold seemed a little rushed, but I still think George Lucas executed it well. As for the threshold guardian, which Campbell mentions in the Hero's Journey, it doesn't seem to appear in anything we've looked at so far, so maybe it's a bit outdated?

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