The Father's Dilemma
In The Golden Bough, his influential study of comparative religion, Sir James George Frazer writes about the practice of child sacrifice in certain primitive cultures:
In some cases the death of the child appears to be definitely regarded as a substitute for the death of the father, who obtains a new lease on life by the sacrifice of his offspring. But in some cases it would seem that the child has been killed, not so much as a substitute for the father, as because it is supposed to endanger his life by absorbing his spiritual essence or vital energy... The Hindoos are of opinion that a man is literally reborn in the person of his son. Thus in the Laws of Manu we read that 'the husband, after conception by his wife, becomes an embryo and is born again of her; for that is the wifehood of a wife, that he is born again by her'. Hence after the birth of a son the father is clearly in a very delicate position. Since he is his own son, can he himself, apart from his son, be said to exist? Does he not rather die in his own person as soon as he comes to life in the person of his son?
Now to people who thus conceive of the relation of father and son it is plain that fatherhood must appear a very dubious privilege; for if you die in begetting a son, can you be quite sure of coming to life again? His existence is at the best a menace to yours, and at the worst it may involve your extinction... In fact, it comes to this, Are you to live? or is he? It is a painful dilemma. Parental affection urges you to die that he may live. Self-love whispers, 'Live and let him die.'
Anakin Skywalker faces the "painful dilemma" of fatherhood in the third installment of the Prequel Trilogy and the Original Trilogy and chooses a different option each time.
In Revenge of the Sith, fatherhood threatens to end Anakin's life not literally or physically, but in almost every other meaningful way: it will expose his marriage to Padmé Amidala, causing him to be expelled from the Jedi Order, and will also (if his visions are correct) cause Padmé's death. It is no coincidence that, in his attempt to avoid this fate, Anakin becomes a killer of children. Faced with the "painful dilemma" of fatherhood, he chooses what Frazer defines as "self-love," trying to cling to his own life at the expense of his son's life and the lives of the children under his care (the Jedi younglings). However, Anakin still loses the very life he was trying to preserve. Anakin "dies" and is born again as Darth Vader, severed from the son who (as far as he knows) he killed when he killed his mother.
In Return of the Jedi, however, Anakin chooses "parental affection" over self-love. Darth Vader dies so that Luke may live.
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Characters: Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader / Luke Skywalker
Films: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith / Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
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Concepts: fathers
Influences: The Golden Bough
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