Anakin Skywalker Th Tragic Hero Essay Example

Anakin Skywalker was given a terrible fate, but his actions and hamartia might have contributed to his downfall. Anakin’s poor past, loss of family and friends, and an incapable teacher that was Obi-Wan Kenobi had also contributed to his downfall to the Sith. Pride, poor judgement, and weakness. These are the hamartia of the tragic hero, and Anakin not only holds all these attributes, but he lets them overtake himself. I will discuss certain events that have shown Anakin as prideful, weak, and a poor judge of character. 

Anakin Skywalker was a slave, a pod racer, a Jedi, and eventually a Sith Lord. His rough past may have been a big contribution to his downfall, but I feel like the contents of his time as a Jedi in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith had the most impact on his downfall. Anakin was a prideful Jedi, who ignored the law of the Order, “Attachment is forbidden”. Anakin was attached to Padme Amidala, his wife, and this was one important piece of his story that led to his downfall. Once Anakin saw that Padme was going to die in childbirth, Anakin tried everything he could to prevent it, even going so far as to join the Sith with the help of Emperor Palpatine, otherwise known as Darth Sidious. This ties into Anakin’s poor judgement, which I will be getting into right now. 

Anakin Skywalker’s poor judgement of Palpatine’s character and motives were a big part of his downfall into the dark side of the force. When asked if Anakin could prevent the deaths of those he loves, Palpatine responds with, “The Dark Side of the force is a path to many abilities some consider to be... unnatural.” Anakin also fails to read Darth Sidious’ manipulative speech when he states, “It’s not a story the Jedi would tell you.”, Trying to manipulate Anakin into thinking that The Jedi Order are keeping secrets from him. Anakin’s poor judgement led him to the dark side of the force, and eventually to becoming Darth Vader.  

One of Anakin’s biggest weaknesses was most definitely his pride, but I feel like I could delve deeper into his character than just that, considering I’ve already covered that subject. I firmly believe that Anakin’s true weakness lies in his attachment to others and his emotions. Time and time again, Anakin Skywalker has been ruled by his emotions, ignoring rationality and instead choosing to wildly decide based on his feelings. In Attack of the Clones, Anakin finds out that his mother was brutally tortured and killed by Tusken Raiders. To exact his revenge, Anakin Skywalker slaughtered an entire village worth of Tusken Raiders.