Star Wars: A New Hope Movie Analysis

The question is asking us to identify and describe the structure of a written or performed text and explain how it impacts our enjoyment and understanding of the narrative itself. The idea that Wallis and Shepherd imply is that it doesn’t matter the shape or size of a plot, it is always significant to the story the writer is trying to demonstrate and that the arrangement of the plot the writer chooses conveys what they want their audience to see and feel. The film that I have chosen to identify the plot structure of is Star Wars: A New Hope. This film is in the three-act structure which is when the story is ‘divided into three distinct sections, each anchored around one or more plot points that drive the overall action.’ (Masterclass, 2020) As well as being in the three-act structure, Star Wars is also and adaption of the hero’s journey which ‘involves a hero who goes on an adventure… and returns home transformed.’ (Masterclass, 2021) 

Manfred Jahn stated that the plot is the ‘logical and causal structure of a story’ (Jahn, 2021), and in terms of Star Wars, the structure is the hero’s journey which consists of “the hero going on an adventure, learning a lesson, winning a victory with that newfound knowledge, and returning home transformed.” (Masterclass, 2021) Our protagonist, Luke Skywalker goes on a journey with Obi Wan Kenobi to save Princess Leia. They meet Chewbacca and Han Solo on their way who help them get to the Death Star. They enter the Death Star only to be compromised but eventually they all escape, apart from Obi Wan who sacrifices himself. Following the escape, the group meet with the Rebel Alliance and plan to destroy the Death Star by blowing it up. They succeed in doing this and Luke and Han are awarded medals for their victory. 

In my experience of Star Wars, the hero’s journey was the perfect structure as it clearly depicted the main character’s wants and needs and the struggles that he had to overcome to achieve those wants and needs. In terms of the hero’s journey structure, Star Wars was very straightforward in this approach as it had a clear beginning, middle, and end thus reinforcing the three-act structure. 

Within the hero’s journey, there are twelve stages of the hero’s character arc, and three acts. Going back to the three-act structure, the hero’s journey is laid out in this way through act one: setup, act two: confrontation, and act three: resolution. Act one is where the plot is set up and we meet our characters and understand the world they live in. This normally consists of the ordinary world, the call to adventure, refusal of the call and meeting the mentor. The ordinary world of the hero being “where the hero exists before his present story begins”, the world they know before the call to adventure. In the case of Star Wars, Luke’s ordinary world is living on the farm with his aunt and uncle. Next, comes the call to adventure in which the hero’s adventure begins. In Star Wars, this is shown when Luke triggers the distress message from Princess Leia through R2-D2 and is fascinated by the message and Leia herself. After this, comes the refusal of the call in which Luke refuses to accept his part in the mission because he doesn’t want to leave his aunt and uncle behind to do all the farm work by themselves. This then brings us into the second act, the confrontation, which starts with the crossing of the threshold in which the hero accepts his call to adventure and sets off on their heroic journey. In Star Wars, this is when Luke finds his aunt and uncle dead due to the Empire and decides to learn the methods of the force to avenge his family’s death. The tests, allies, and enemies are next in this sequence and in Star Wars, one of the tests include evading shots by blocking with a lightsabre, the allies he meets are Han Solo and Chewbacca, and the enemies so far are the Empire and Stormtroopers. Following this, we see the approach in which Luke and his allies arrive at the Death Star only to be consumed right into the lion’s den. The ordeal is next, in which the hero is faced with a crisis either physical or mental which they must overcome to advance to the next chapter of their journey.

In Star Wars, this is when Obi Wan Kenobi sacrifices himself and Luke has to make the choice to avenge Obi Wan’s death so that it was not in vain, thus displaying his heroic qualities. We are then led into the final act of the three-act structure, which is the resolution in which the hero’s journey has ended and they return a changed person. This usually consists of the road back, the resurrection, and the return. The road back is normally when the hero returns home but is not quite done their journey yet as there is usually one final hurdle to overcome. In the case of Luke Skywalker, this is when he and his allies are returning to the Rebel Alliance’s base with the plans to the Death Star when they are hit by an attack from TIE-Fighters which Luke and Han then have to fight off. This then leads into the resurrection which is where the hero has their final and usually most dangerous battle with the antagonistic forces. In Star Wars, this is when Luke, along with the Rebel Alliance, launch an attack on the Death Star in which Luke uses his newfound ability to use the force to help him win the battle and destroy the Death Star for good. Finally, we have the return, in which the hero returns to their lives but as a changed person. Luke Skywalker returns to the Rebel Alliance’s base as a victor and receives a medal for his victory, along with Han Solo. 

When considering all previous points discussed, it is clear to see why the hero’s journey was the perfect plot structure for the film Star Wars. The twelve stages of the hero’s character arc effortlessly captures Luke Skywalker’s journey and his reasoning for his actions. It allows us to see the entirety of his journey and how he becomes a changed person by the end of it.