3) Trans-Generational Trauma
The element of father-child conflict leads to the element of trans-generational trauma, as each successive generation is tasked with dealing with the consequences of the lives of those that went before. This ‘trickle-down’ effect is what builds to create each battle between the Rebel Alliance and The Empire.
The original trilogy (Episodes IV, V, and VI) focuses on the Skywalker twins and their rebellious team trying to prevent the man that is revealed to be their father from using the Death Star to destroy planets. The prequel trilogy sees the young Anakin trained by Jedi because his mother is a slave – and then turn to the Dark Side when he becomes enraged by his mother’s murder. In his descent into darkness, Anakin slaughters many Jedi – a catastrophic event which informs the eventual choices of his grandson, Kylo Ren.
Even in Rogue One, Jyn Erso is shaped by the choices of her father, Galen, who was forced to build the original Death Star for Director Krennic of the Empire. She initially rejects the idea of both Empire and Rebellion, because her father’s involvement in both has essentially ruined her life. In The Force Awakens, when hero Rey and villain Kylo Ren fight in the forest, they both bring their trans-generational trauma to the battlefield. Kylo Ren is allied with the memory of his grandfather, while Rey is trying to process the memories of her long lost family, brought to the fore by the Skywalker lightsaber.
This use of trans-generational trauma is one of the most beautiful – if rather obvious – aspects of the Star Wars universe. It brings into stark relief the way in which our own societies work on both a local and global scale – something which has never been more relevant, given the current political climate.
