Yoda sure does seem wise, doesn’t he? A lot of the things he says do make good sense. However, there’s one instruction he gives to Luke that we just can’t tolerate. Much to our relief, Luke can’t either, so he decides to ignore the sage, old Jedi Master’s advice, and set off on a quest to rescue his friends and fight Darth Vader.
Did Luke make the correct choice by rushing out on this ill-advised rescue mission? In spite of Yoda’s statements, The Empire Strikes Back presents several examples of the deadly folly of individualism.
Early in the film, at the beginning of the battle on Hoth, Luke’s co-pilot, declares that he feels like he could take on the Empire single-handedly. This overconfident attitude does not serve him well, as he is killed soon afterwards.
Later, in what is probably the most iconic light saber battle in all of Star Wars, Luke takes on Darth Vader by himself,(without even the companionship of his faithful droid R2-D2). Though Luke develops his skills with the force, and is enlightened as to the true fate of his father; he loses his hand, and is nearly killed in the fall from Cloud City.
In the end, he discovers that one of the most important things a force-sensitive person can learn is to reach out to others around him. The only way he is saved from certain death is by calling out to Leia, who directs Lando and Chewbacca to go back to the city and rescue him.
It seems that while Yoda may offer decent life advice when he says “do or do not, there is no try”, he doesn’t have it all worked out. People need to be able to rely on each other, and to help each other. We can’t make it on our own...That’s not how the Force works! (Or real life, for that matter).
No comments:
Post a Comment