February 2017 ~ The 1400 Bulbs

Case Study: Luke Skywalker

The subject is Luke Skywalker. He was raised by his uncle and aunt. His biological parents are Anakin Skywalker (later Darth Vader), and Padme Amidala. After many years of being a moisture farmer, Luke became a fighter pilot in the resistance against the Galactic Empire. He then went on to become a practitioner of the Jedi Arts. His best friends are robots C3PO and R2D2, pilots Han Solo and Lando Calrissian, and his sister and Rebel Alliance General, Leia Organa. His mentors are Jedi Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Luke’s Big Five Personality Traits

Luke is Open. He has a fondness for new experiences. He shows no reservations and but is interested in a great many things. Whether it be flying to the far reaches of the galaxy at the bequest of a wraith of his reclusive neighbor, or fully-immersing in a stoic religious practice, Luke becomes very familiar with the unknown and uncertainty. He even dabbles in the darker arts of his religion in order to gain a more well-rounded understanding of it. Though his openness drops slightly for being a more conventional personality with nere many creative outlets or expression of culturalism. This does not necessarily mean he is uncultured, rather we have no proof otherwise.

At first, Luke is neurotic. This is indicated with his propensity to argue with his uncle on the farm and agitation with Yoda and egotistical friend, Han Solo. Later, his neuroticism drops, as he is inexplicably able to handle stressful situations such as being able to go toe-to-toe with the empire in all forms of battle while outnumbered. The call to arms we see from him later is when his friends or family are in danger or threats are made against them. Even after his aunt, uncle and mentor, Obi-Wan, are killed, he does not blame himself, being pragmatic in his actions to avenge their deaths. His other bout with neuroticism is in the cave on Dagobah, but this is necessary for his personal development (more on this later).

Luke also ranks high on conscientiousness. He does a thorough job, such as completing his Jedi training even when Yoda says he is told to do so. He even completes this training in far less time than it takes many other Jedi. His Jedi powers also makes him efficient at what he does, assuming he has no qualms with using them. Though he loses a few points on this scale for hatching a very convoluted plan to rescue his friend, Han Solo, from notorious gangster, Jabba the Hutt. Otherwise, he is dependable in all situations, as he has clairvoyance and telepathy, making him handy as a friend, fighter and strategist. His dedication to his stoic religion and the rebellion gives him an especially big boost in conscientiousness. He is the last Jedi, thus is duty-bound to honor the sacred, dying practice and simultaneously fight against injustice.

At first, Luke is moderately extroverted, as one has to be in order to take on a leadership role in the rebellion and can work in a team. Yet when he becomes a more seasoned Jedi, he becomes equally reticent though not necessarily melancholy. He puts aside his self-doubts and becomes more pragmatic and secure with himself, flowing with the world around him. He ultimately ranks low on extroversion for retreating to a remote, uninhabited part of the Galaxy for meditation and self-reflection. This is after one of his students (spoiler) turns against Luke and murders the rest of Luke’s pupils.

Being a Jedi and having compassion for all walks of life and putting others needs ahead of his own gives him strength in the area of agreeableness. He gets an especially big boost for forgiving (Potter, 2000) his father being a genocidal Dark Lord. After all the anguish that Darth Vader causes Luke and the rest of the galaxy, Luke spares him.

Freud on Luke Skywalker

Luke is a unique case. His stoic lifestyle and allegiance to religion and political cause would lead Freud to think that he is sublimating and is denying any gratification to the Id. But this would be inaccurate.

As we witness in the Empire Strikes Back, psychoanalysis plays a vital role in evaluating Luke while he is on Dagobah training with Yoda. Up to this point, we know nothing about what kind of internal demons Luke faces. It mostly stems from the vengeance that he seeks for Vader murdering his father and the Empire his surrogate parents. Luke is duty-bound to avenging both and it consumes him. He was robbed of knowing his parents, meaning he has an unfulfilled attachment process, lacking all phases of development, having been raised on the farm with his aunt and uncle. He had no formal schooling that we know of and the only women close to him are his aunt and sister. His early forms of sexual frustration are displaced in his shooting of “womprats” on the family property and later his desire to destroy enemies in combat.

His manhood is an identity foreclosure: he goes straight from a boy to man in order to help his family on the farm. From the farm he skips the Academy and goes right into the rebellion and then his Jedi training, which is solitary. It is also quite apparent that his incomplete or even missing phallic stage of development had the most profound impact on him. This is why he develops a fixation on his lightsaber, a hyperbolic phallus. And the way for him to reach a reconciliation of his absent father is to go saber-to-saber with him. It is quite clear that his absence of a male role model makes Luke want to destroy his father with the metaphorical extension that he was denied at an early age.

Luke also suffers from an Oedipus Complex. Before he comes to accept this, he is also an example of the defense mechanisms of repression, denial, reaction formation and sublimation.

The repression is in the form of his innate knowledge of his familial ties to Vader and Leia. They are known to his unconscious but he has subdued them so that it is easier to find a mate with the only woman he has ever known other than his aunt. Repressing that notion that Vader is his father makes it easier for Luke to kill Vader. There are no family ties for him to satisfy his Id’s hunger for vengeance just as it is easier to deny that Leia is his sister so that he may form a romance with her.

Denial is here since at first Luke refuses to believe that Vader is his father. It only becomes easier for him to accept Leia as his sister because it is only after he makes a commitment to the practice of The Force. Another identity foreclosure. Admitting Leia is his sister is a also defense mechanism, knowing that if he fails to confront Vader, Leia will have the ability to do so. Denial that she is his sister and he has romantic feelings for her are voided.

Finally, sublimation and reaction formation is at play in Luke’s psyche; he knows that killing his father and sleeping with his sister are socially unacceptable forms of behavior. He becomes a Jedi, who are known for chastity and austerity. Because he also knows that he has elements of his father (Vader) in him, he goes the complete opposite direction as a Jedi rather than a Sith like his father. This is so Luke can deny the darker side of himself. It isn’t until Luke practices some of the Sith teachings and spares Vader that he has a catharsis and is able to completely eradicate his Id or darker unconscious. Luke does reconcile the attraction to his sister and urges to kill his father. Thus he has his catharsis in sparing his father. This is what completes his personality and Jedi training. From then on, Luke is a Jedi Master.

In essence, Luke becomes the ubermensch, transcended of all personal interest and concerned with that of others’ needs only. His Id no longer controls his surface behavior, actions or personality. This is better than having a balancing act between all three aspects of personality. It is merely Luke’s Ego and some Superego for the sake of selflessness and pragmatism. It is in Freud’s opinion that sublimation is the morally superior defense mechanism, as one is “willing to risk all for the sake of enhancement of humanity,” just as the ubermensch (Magnus and Higgins, 1990). This is what makes Luke different but superior.

The Social-Cognitive Theorists on Luke Skywalker

Luke’s environment dictates what kind of person he becomes. He lives in a barren wasteland as a moisture farmer, living with his aunt and uncle. Most of his friends have gone off to the Starfleet Academy, putting him in a state of arrested development. He yearns to get off of the farm and join his peers. His stubborn nature, openness and higher aspirations makes him want to join something bigger than himself, even if it costs him his life.

Tangential to this is luke’s situation: his perception of his environment (Glanz et al., 2002). He sees no opportunity or future in his current occupation as a farmer. He also finds out that his father was a Jedi Master and that few of them remain in the galaxy. To carry on his father’s legacy and that of the Jedi, he perceives this as an opportunity carry on the legacy of his father. The Empire is also an oppressive entity on his planet that he hates and substantially more so when they murder his family. Once all restraints in his environment are gone, he makes the conscious decision to become a pilot in the rebellion. He also goes on to fulfill the expectations he predicts his father would have had of Luke becoming a Jedi.

Tied to environment and Luke’s behavioral capability is his knowledge and skills to perform a given behavior (Glanz, 2002). He has been a self-taught pilot for most of his life and has a strong command of The Force. This makes him an asset to the rebellion. That he is one of the last remaining individuals with the Force gives urgency to not letting this tradition die with him.

Luke’s expectations (Maddux, 1982) to the outcome (or “outcome expectancies”) of his behavior have bearings on his decisions. Becoming a Jedi is a risky endeavor, as the Empire has all the Jedi marked for death. The Rebellion is also an oppositional force to a greater, mightier and more resourced Empire. Both decisions for Luke are value-based. The outcomes and incentives are little to none. This makes Luke less practical and more idealistic and honor-bound. The means are more significant to him than the chances of success for the outcomes. However, Luke always aspired to something greater than living on the family farm as a farmer. Once he finds out that he holds the power of the force and that there are expectations for him, he seizes the opportunity because it is his nature to do so and were his lifelong aspirations to begin with. He never wanted an idyllic life - he wanted challenge and adventure. That his father was a fighter and Jedi makes Luke evermore invigorated to take on these responsibilities.

What sets Luke apart from others is his self-control (Social Cognitive Theory), his personal regulation of goal-directed behavior or performance. He self-monitors, sets goals and is a problem-solver. Though he is distinct in that he has no self-reward mechanism. Again, this is because of his sense of duty and honor but also because he fully adopts the Jedi mind set: altruism and selflessness.

Observational learning applies to Luke’s behavior. He sees the atrocities of the Empire firsthand. This is his negative reinforcement to fight against it. This is limited, however, as there is only a few select people in his life who decide to join the Rebellion. More pertinent than this is Luke’s father’s legacy as pilot and warrior that he must live up to. Luke has a preconceived notion of what kind of man his father was and aspires to become that ideal. Since there is a lack of role models for Luke to turn to in terms of his Jedi training, the legend of the Jedi and witnessed powers of The Force are all influential in his conversion. Yoda, Obi-Wan and Vader’s wielding of the Force is what motivates Luke: seeing what kind of potential The Force has inspires Luke’s faith and practice.

The reinforcements in place for Luke are many. The first is a negative reinforcement in that of the atrocities of the Empire. To prevent further human rights violations against humanity, Luke must fight against the Empire’s tyranny. The positive reinforcement is that of his completion of Jedi training. The final obstacle is confronting his father, Lord Vader. Yet he must also find a way to do this and not give into the Dark Side to do so. His obligation is also to his friends and family. He does whatever he must in order to protect them at Cloud City when they are ambushed. His incompletion of training and knowing fully well that this is a trap set by Lord Vader indicates a high level of commitment but momentary low self-control. It is explained by the loss of his aunt and uncle and his friends on the Battle of Yavin (A New Hope). Again, negative reinforcement. He acts even with minimal planning and preparation so that he prevents the loss of more of close connections.

Initially, Luke has no sense of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1995). He is doubtful of his abilities in The Force as we see on Dagobah. He is also apprehensive about joining the rebellion, making excuses for why he cannot take the risk. After the loss of his family and persistence with training (another example of his self-control), he makes behavioral changes in small steps. This leads him reaching full potential as a Jedi Master and leader against tyranny.

As the Big Five interpretation points out, Luke is very high in coping strategies (low neuroticism). We see his progression from being impatient and petulant to developing strong equanimity. His later developed strategies and tactics allow him to deal with many emotional pitfalls as well as battle. Even knowing that Vader is far more powerful than he is, he attempts in more than one occasion to defeat him in close combat.

He progressively becomes more harmonious with his reciprocal determinism, affected by but caring about both his internal and external struggles. Yet he regulates the emotional responses to these struggles. He has multiple upbringings and influences on this: he is a seasoned soldier and a survivor to trauma and war. But, he is spiritually centered, making him more emotionally and mentally prepared than others.

Carl Jung on Luke Skywalker

As mentioned with Bo’s Case Study, an extrovert has an outward flow of libido and is interested in events, people and things, having a symbiosis with them. They are motivated by the external world. Objects have an affect on them. Introverts, however, have an internalized libido and do not concentrate so much on the subjective world around them. The object does not control them, rather they control how they perceive objects (Smith, 2013). They are happy to be alone and prefer introspection.

Luke, as a Jedi, is an extrovert despite seeming contradictions to this. Even though Luke is comfortable with himself in solitude, he is also a leader. He also gets his energy from controlling life energy around him and letting it simultaneously control him. In other words, others’ energy is his energy. This allows him to manipulate his environment and the people and objects within it. Even if he were to die, his spirit’s power and presence is only relevant in a material world. These concepts of Luke’s spirituality and personality are also indicative of a high tuning to the collective conscious and unconscious. This harmony indicates a higher connection to the world around him, making him more extrovert.

Finally, the Jedi way gravitates towards the common good and being inspired by others. Jedi are selfless. Their passions and power come from being connected to all living things. The Sith, on the other hand, have internal passion and are motivated by the cultivation of higher abilities, independent of others (Taylor, 2014). This ultimately makes Luke an extrovert, albeit a more reticent one. This reticence is attributed to Luke’s “Shadow.”

The Shadow concept refers to the unconscious psychology that our conscious self denies the existence of. Jung says that the less of a shadow one projects externally, the darker it is internally (Jung, 1938). This is where Freud’s psychoanalysis of Luke has legitimacy. Luke’s prerogative is to be a Jedi, not a Sith Lord. Yet we know from his premonition in the cave on Dagobah that there is darkness, fear and anger in Luke just like his father, Anakin Skywalker. This same darkness is what lead Anakin to become the evil Lord Vader.

At first, the denial of this dark self is a struggle. Resistance to it leads to its persistence. This is why acknowledging Vader as his father is paramount to Luke’s training. Without it, there is no ability to confront this Shadow, leading it to grow stronger (Johnson, 1989). As we hear from Emperor Palpatine when Luke is taken aboard Death Star II, the Emperor “feels (Luke’s) anger” and “the dark side,” just as the Emperor had in Anakin a.k.a. Darth Vader. Confronting this Shadow leads Luke to a balance in himself and the Force. The similarities between Luke and Darth Vader are another indicator that Luke is highly-attuned to the the collective unconscious, the experiences and structures of the mind shared among all people (Corbett, 2012).

Luke’s alter ego is manifested in two ways, as he carries both his dark side and his light side. It is not just expressed in his premonition but also with what two figures he holds close: Yoda and Obi-Wan. But these connections are motivated by the drive to avenge his father’s death by killing Darth Vader. This becomes a metaphor for how both the light and the dark are drivers and the dark side has a tendency to be stronger. As mentioned before, Luke needs to embrace the dark side’s teachings in order to be powerful enough to defeat his father, Vader. Hence, he claims that “he’ll never turn to the dark side... I am a Jedi.” This is when his training is complete, giving Luke a “body” (Fordham, 1985). This is an embrace of the lighter side and the dark side. Luke values mercy and compassion over the shadow’s compulsion for vengeance and aggression. The darkness does not consume him yet he embraces it to complete himself.

Citations

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