In the first act of Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker encounters the monstrous Rancor in a pit beneath the throne of Jabba the Hutt. Just as the names of Jabba's other minions (such as Salacious Crumb and Bib Fortuna) point to the vicious appetites of their master, the name "Rancor" carries an explicit moral meaning: "rancor" is deeply held anger, usually manifesting as continued bitterness over time. Jabba's grudge against Han Solo is one indication of his rancorous nature. The Rancor is representative of Jabba's anger in a very literal way: when Jabba is angry with a person, he feeds that person to his Rancor, slaking his appetite for revenge.
More subtly, Luke's confrontation with the Rancor in the first act of Return of the Jedi foreshadows his reckoning with his own internal rancor in the film’s third act. Just as Luke faces Jabba's Rancor underneath Jabba's throne, he faces Darth Vader below the throne of Emperor Palpatine – and just as he defeated Jabba's Rancor, he overcomes his own rancor when he restrains himself from lashing out at Darth Vader in bitter anger.
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Characters: Bib Fortuna / Jabba the Hutt / Luke Skywalker / Salacious Crumb
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