Revenge of the Sith

In class we have been studying John Gardner’s Grendel and analyzing a lot of the different existential and philosophical aspects of the novel, looking at how the brutal monster from the Old English classic, Beowulf, is actually an intelligent, insightful, and angst-filled creature who has a lot to say about criticizing both society and the universe itself. As part of a chapter project we were assigned a specific chapter of the book, in my case Chapter 6, where Grendel has just accepted his role that the dragon has given to him as a terror to Hrothgar’s people and also torments the want-to-be hero Unferth, leaving him embittered and angry. The other night, while watching Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith for the first time in years, I immediately saw and realized I could make a connection between Anakin’s turn to the dark side and what he does following his fall to Grendel’s own transformation and what the creatures turns into as well. The film chronicles the birth of the most iconic villain in film history, Darth Vader, but explores how a good man like Anakin could fall from grace into the world of brutality, lies, and deceit. Like Grendel and the Shaper, Anakin has his own belief of what his role in life is and what gives him purpose, which is to be a Jedi Knight who guards and protects others for the better good of the galaxy. This is the role that he has had his whole life, just like Grendel, but he longs for the discovery of more truth and knowledge which could help him to assure the safety of his wife Padme. To find the answer, Anakin seeks out his own “dragon”, which is Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine for answers, who forces him to question all that he thought to be true. In a slithery tone he tells him, “All who gain power are afraid to lose it. Even the Jedi…good is a point of view Anakin, the Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power”. Both Grendel and Anakin go to the character who is representative of the devil and are offered a Faustian-deal with them. For Grendel, it was to accept his role that the dragon gave him as a vicious mead-hall wrecker without a conscious because of the lack of meaning that the world really has to offer compared to what the people think. For Anakin, the Emperor makes him a deal that if he accepts his teachings he can help save his wife. He entices him, saying, “You have much wisdom, Anakin. But if I were to die, all the knowledge you seek about the true nature of the Force will be lost with me. Learn the power of the Dark Side, Anakin. The power to save Padmé”. To this, Anakin and Grendel both sign their deals with the Devil and selfishly consume their new power. For Grendel it was to pointlessly decapitate a soldier. For Anakin, it means storming through the Temple and killing every Jedi knight and child all to satisfy his ferocious desire to prevent Padme’s death. As democracy collapses with the rise of the Galactic Empire, along with the violent death of the Jedi order, Obi Wan finally confronts Anakin, but finds that he is not the same boy that he once trained. As Yoda noted, “Twisted by the Dark Side, young Skywalker has become. The boy you trained, gone he is... Consumed by Darth Vader”. Grendel also found himself to be transformed, or “born again” as he so ironically put it, by his deal with the Devil. Anakin is “born again” as well, with the new name of Darth Vader as evidence of it. Each of their pacts seemed to have led to a transformation that superficially satisfied their quests, as Grendel found himself to be existentially enlightened and Anakin felt himself to be advancing in his knowledge to work to save Padme. When confronted by Obi-Wan, he boldly declares, “I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the dark side as you do. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire”.  But it is ultimately the nature of Faustian deals to never turn out as they initially planned. For Grendel, that meant him immediately realizing just how alone in the world he really was. For Anakin, it meant inadvertently destroying the love that he was trying so hard to keep intact. When Padme finally sees what Anakin has become, so says, “You're going down a path I cannot follow… because of what you've done... what you plan to do” With this, Anakin chokes his wife to the point of death, and following this ultimately loses in his confrontation with his old master, Obi Wan. While by this point it has already become clear that both Grendel and Anakin have been born again as a result of their selfish quests, for Anakin the idea is not solidified until the very end of the movie, as Anakin is literally reconstructed from what remains of his burnt body. And as the mask is slowly placed on top his charred face, the audience gets chills as the terrorizing villain slowly breathes through his mask for the very first time.