The Empire Strikes Back
MonoMyth Request: The Empire Strikes Back
Posted by: ovid on 03/15/2007 02:20 PM
Title: Empire Strikes Back
ReasonforRequest: I am using this movie to teach archetypes to my 9th grade classes and I would appreciate some help.
Title: Epic of Gilgamesh
ReasonforRequest: I am trying to use this to teach archetypes to my 9th grade students.
Hello Rob,
I’d be happy to help you chart out the MonoMyths for both the Empire Strikes Back and the Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is one I’ve been meaning to do for a long while now.
As far as the Empire Strikes Back goes, here are the steps I’d take to look at it:
1) Draw a circle (CCW) to represent the story.
2) Draw a line in half through (horizontally) representing the two worlds. Now we need to identify the two worlds in the story. A very simple argument might be the rebellion versus the empire but that’s just surface symbolism for a deeper struggle. Furthermore, you’re going to want to take the assumption that this is Luke’s Hero’s Journey so what are the two worlds in him? Once that is said, it would have more to do with Luke as a pilot in the Rebellion and Luke as a Jedi. This is the movie which acts as the crossing for him in that respect. That is not to say that this is the only two worlds scenario and looking at the movie in other ways can yield wonderful insights further. Another way to look at Star Wars is using Organic versus Mechanic.
3) But since we’re sticking with Luke’s Hero’s Journey, we’ll stay in that idea by asking what is his first Threshold Crossing into the Jedi world (due West on the chart)? Well it must be somewhere around or after he lands in Dagobah. Threshold Guardians and Threshold Crossings have a lot to do with refusing to let you continue on your journey, a test which is certain to verify your dedication to these aims even if you don’t know what they are. I’d say that comes when Yoda gives arguments as to why Luke cannot be a Jedi.
4) Now we can look at the points of what is the Home aspect and what is the Ordeal? The Home would be atop the Circle
(due North) and the Ordeal is due South. Home comes from where the Hero begins so I’d say that it is Hoth. That tells us a little bit about what life as a rebel pilot is doing for Luke. Here comes an interpretive leap on my part, but when you’re in your Hero’s Journey, sometimes you might get “frozen.” Compare the life on Hoth to the life on Dagobah symbolically. Which place “should” Luke thrive, if they represent stages of his development?
The Ordeal would be the where the Hero fails. Many times there is death involved, symbolically or otherwise. This is indicative of dreams where if one dreams of death, it is symbolic for change (i.e. a death of some aspect or another causing the change.) Now if you are to argue that this is the scene at the end with the hand cutting off (that is a key symbolism in Star Wars which mirrors symbolism of the Handless Maiden, machinists (including the movie the machinist) and makes for a wonderful archetypal discussion later.) However, that leaves nothing for the final threshold crossing, though it does have the stuff if you were to tack the first three Star Wars movies together as one Hero’s Journey, and it does act as his Ordeal there.
The Ordeal in the Empire Strikes Back is the failure in the cave. That scene really tells you symbolically what this movie is about. If you don’t keep that scene in mind while watching the Return of the Jedi, its hard to understand Luke’s motives.
5) Now as I said, that leaves the confrontation with Darth Vader (dutch for Dark Father) to be the final threshold crossing. Once you have those points filled in, ask the kids what scene they think is the call to adventure, what scene do they think is the meeting with the mentor?
Now you also want to do some archetypal study as you said. That’s a whole other bag of worms but since we’ve broken this all down, it makes it much easier indeed. However, in order to understand what Han and Leia represent, you’re going to have to pin them as different aspects of Luke. Han’s sacrifice of himself is particularly potent in these scenes as being the sacrifice (death and rebirth) needed for the Final Threshold Crossing.
Furthermore, it might help to point out that there is a distinct correlation between Han Solo’s role in Star Wars and Jack Sparrow’s role in Pirates of the Caribbean. You even have the play between the three heroes at work, the roles are different as Orlando Bloom’s character has the girl this time around, (or does he?) but that movie, especially the second one will shed huge amounts of light onto the Star Wars archetypals.
So I’ll let you write me back with what you think on all of this and let me know what archetypal studies you want to have as far as Star Wars goes. I’ll also work on Gilgamesh but there are no promises that I’ll get that accomplished as it is a very busy world isn’t it?
Be well.
~Ovid
