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Personality Traits Paper

“Fear is the path to Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering … I sense much fear in you.”

-Yoda, Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Anakin Skywalker, later to be known as the iconic villain, Darth Vader, is considered one of the main characters in the Star Wars movie saga. Over the course of six films,Anakin’s entire life is laid out on screen. Through this broad scope, the audience is able to observe the development of specific personality traits that are essential to his individual personality. Anakin Skywalker’s outstanding personality trait is fearfulness, which is manifested in a variety of ways.
To understand Anakin’s fearfulness, two questions must be asked: What he is afraid of and how does that fear manifest itself (and change) over time? Firstly, Anakin’s specific fear is the loss of significant others. Significant others are defined, by Harry Stack Sullivan, as “people who are meaningful in our lives.” Examples of such people are primary caretakers (mothering one), good friends, or sexual partners. In Episode I: The Phantom Menace, when Anakin was around eight years old, he left his mother rather abruptly to begin Jedi training, which could be understood as a child entering a sort of secular priesthood at a very young age. Anakin’s initial Jedi instructor, Qui-Gon Jinn, became his new significant other, or parental figure, after he left his mother. Unfortunately, Qui-Gon died quickly after taking on the role as Anakin’s new parent figure and so another Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi, began training him. Obi-Wan guided and parented Anakin for over 10 years, yet Anakin still longed to see and be with his mother. At this stage, fear and anxiety began to settle in, as his thoughts were dwelling on his mother. Also around this time, Anakin began to take a romantic interest in a slightly older woman named Padme. Sadly, as the events in the movie Episode II: Attack of the Clones unfold, Anakin’s fears are realized when he goes back home, finds his mother, and witnesses her death. This is shattering for Anakin, but as a result he becomes closer to his romantic significant other, Padme. However, the closer he gets to Padme, the more fearful he becomes and begins to fear her death. In Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Anakin gains a new significant other mentor figure, like that of Obi-Wan Kenobi. This new mentor, named Chancellor Palpatine, plays off of Anakin’s fear of loss by telling him there is a power that can stop people from dying. In order to gain this power, Anakin gives himself to evil and commits heinous acts of murder and destruction. It is this outstanding trait of ‘fear of losing significant others’ that allows Anakin to rationalize killing in order to save the ones he loves; in this essence, he ceases to Anakin Skywalker and becomes Darth Vader, the well known popular culture icon of evil.
Anakin’s fear of loss manifests itself in a few different of ways. Nightmares play a significant role in Anakin’s fearfulness. In Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Anakin described nightmares to both Obi-Wan and Padme about how his mother was suffering. These premonitions were proven to be true, as Anakin discovered his dying mother held against her will. Immediately following his mother’s death, he slaughtered her captors in cold blood. In Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Anakin dreamed about Padme dying in childbirth. This premonition shook Anakin to his core, knowing the situation could result in death, just like in his mother’s situation. For Anakin, the fear of losing his romantic interest allowed him to believe the seductions of Chancellor Palpatine. The promise of eternal life for Padme gave the Anakin the rationale to follow any dark order given by Palpatine. Thus, Anakin’s fear drove him to murder many individuals only to save one person for him.
After critically looking at Anakin Skywalker’s life, an important theory about significant others can be extrapolated. As Harry Stack Sullivan theorized, personality does not exist without significant others. However, this also does not mean that significant others automatically ensure personality: more specifically, a healthy personality. My theory suggests that significant others, present in early childhood, need to be consistently present through in a person’s life in order for a healthy development of personality. If this consistency is compromised, one may become maladjusted later in life, especially in developing anxieties and fearfulness in intimate or romantic relationships.

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