Christopher Vogler The Writers Journey
figures leads him to rebel against positive role models like Obi-Wan and Yoda and to
seek the twisted counsel of negative father possibilities like Senator Palpatine/Darth
Sidious.
T h a t m o s t h u m a n element, love, is a w a k e n e d in the y o u n g A n a k i n by his
secret r o m a n c e a n d m a r r i a g e w i t h P r i n c e s s A m i d a l a . However, his c a p a c i t y to
love becomes d i s t o r t e d by the death o f his mother at the hand of Tusken raiders.
In a sequence that recalls the Western movie universe of John Ford's The Searchers,
288
EPILOGUE: LOOKING BACK ON THE JOURNEY
A n a k i n finds his mother horribly tortured by the savages and overreacts to her
death, unleashing a tide of bloody revenge that makes h i m almost unredeemable in
an audience's eyes.