Left Hanging
In each act of The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker is on a different planet, and on each planet, he gets turned upside down. In the first act, his legs are frozen to the roof of the Wampa’s cave on Hoth. In the second act, Yoda has him do handstands on Dagobah. And in the third act, he dangles from an antenna underneath Cloud City on Bespin.
In each case, getting turned upside down leads to Luke strengthening his connection to the Force. On Hoth, he reaches out to retrieve his lightsaber with the Force, helping him to escape from the Wampa. On Dagobah, he practices lifting rocks with the Force while balancing on one hand. And on Bespin, he makes a psychic connection with Leia through the Force.
In each case, getting turned upside down also precedes Luke receiving help from others. Although he becomes stronger in the Force each time, he still can’t solve his problems alone. He can get away from the wampa, but he can’t survive the cold without Han coming to rescue him. He can lift rocks, but he can’t leave Dagobah without Yoda lifting his X-Wing out of the swamp. And he can call out to Leia, but she has to come find him.
In each act and on each planet, Luke finds himself stuck and learns he cannot get unstuck without the help of the Force and of his friends. Whenever his body gets disoriented, his spirit gets reoriented, moving away from a materialistic and individualistic view of reality.
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Characters: Luke Skywalker
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Concepts: faith / friendship / power and weakness / skill
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