From Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader: an attempted character study Part One.

"The fear of loss is a path to the Dark Side.

Rejoice for those around us who transform into the Force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not.

Attachment leads to jealousy, the shadow of greed, that is.

Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose."

- Master Yoda, in an attempt to bring abandonment sensitivities and their dangers to an increasingly fragile Anakin Skywalker.

In this post which betrays my inherent geekiness, I will begin an attempt to bring a psychodynamic lens to Anakin's character assessment in order to better understand the process by which Anakin's tragic transformation to Darth Vader occurred, and to conclude that given his life circumstances, it would have been difficult to avoid if this occurred to any of us perhaps.

Firstly, I am going to start with a GENETIC and EPIGENETIC framework.

It is mentioned that Anakin was born with an unusually high "Midi-chlorian count...over 20 000 per cell". In the Lucas Universe, what this means is that Anakin was born with a heightened innate sensitivity to the ways of 'The Force'; the dynamic and holotropic energy field that connects, forms and is the background of all things. This is not the place to plunge the depths of detail regarding this concept; however I would invite readers to reflect on obvious comparisons to similar concepts described in various world wisdom traditions and natural sciences ('Brahman' in Hindusim, 'Tao' in taoism, the Buddhist notion of 'Ground luminosity', Anaximander’s ‘Aperion’, Immanuel Kant’s ‘Noumenon’, Quantum physicist David Bohm's idea of holo-movement, and biologist Rupert Sheldrake's 'morphic fields'). While they disagree on details, all appear to describe a background potentiality that may develop and manifest in protean solid and non-solid forms.

In our own world and reality, this high midichlorian activity may be reflected in Anakin possessing certain gene polymorphisms that predispose him to high levels of empathy, attunement to the distress of self and others, and a sensitive awareness of distress and emotions in general. Studies over the last several decades imply two genes in particular regarding these domains: The Serotonin Transporter and the Oxytocin Receptor gene. Other known contributing genes include those that are correlated with emotion regulation and attenuation of aggressive impulses such as the monoamine oxidase gene, the dopamine transporter and the catechol-O-methyl transferase gene.

These may be the 'organelles' making up the Midichlorians in the Lucas Universe! (not to mention also our gut micro-organisms, increasingly being referred to as 'psycho-biota' which I will not comment on in this note). Roger Penrose’s Orchestrated Objective Reduction theory, whereby consciousness is ‘generated’ within the microtubules of our neurons, may also be considered here.

Consensus among researchers and clinicians is increasingly reached regarding the significance of these gene polymorphisms: children born with so called short alleles of the Serotonin transporter gene for example, carry the traits mentioned above. This also makes them more vulnerable to depression, anxiety and aggression in response to stressful and traumatic life events. However, there is now evidence to show that the opposite is also true: and that is, these same children, if exposed to enriched and nurturing environments, are more likely to develop resilience, exhibit creativity and thrive at a rate that is more rapid and higher than others.

This is the basis of the 'Orchid' (highly sensitive to environmental influences: regardless of their positive or negative valence, their developmental influences are amplified) and 'Dandelion' (those who will survive at a basic level as long as they receive 'good enough' care and influence) children hypothesis.

Extrapolating from this, we can see that Anakin may be conceptualized to have been born with a high predisposition to 'do good', and to 'connect with the world' in a very influential and powerful way. He was clearly an "Orchid' Child, teeming with midichlorians, or perhaps, short serotonin transporter alleles. This is his genetic heritage, something Jedi Master Qui Gonn Jinn 'felt' (perhaps with his exquisitely attuned mirror neurons) on first contact, leading to his insistence that Anakin is the prophesized 'Chosen One'.

However, Anakin's subsequent life course, and the influence of his environment upon his genetic template (epigenetics) perhaps was less favourable than fate had planned for him.

He was born into a life of slavery, to a devoted mother who nonetheless, had little time to respond to his emotional needs. Anakin, already without a father figure, then has his bonds torn asunder from his mother at the age of 9 years. A discussion around ATTACHMENT THEORY and ATTACHMENT STYLES hence is the necessary next step, which I will explore in the subsequent few paragraphs.

It is likely that young Anakin, in the absence of a father and doing his best with a rarely available enslaved mother, implicitly and precociously learnt to value self-reliance, efficacy and competence. Given this orientation, and the impressive mechanical and practical skillset developed as a repair-boy and champion pod-racer, early seeds were planted that carried the quality of an omnipotent sense of self-importance, and a highly elevated ideal self. This pre-dated his recognition and further labelling as 'The Chosen One' by the Jedi Order, and was enabled unwittingly by a secure sense of attachment to his loving mother, Shmi Skywalker.

Attachment bonds are primary; all else is impossible, or at least, difficult to attain, without at least one secure attachment figure in one's life. Additionally, given the unshakeable fact that Shmi was Anakin’s only genuine, nurturing presence, he may well have idealised her as an ominopotent, all-available and always providing, never disappointing mother archetype. She became an inner embodiment of perfection in phantasy, and as we shall see later, this would carry a major effect into his adult relationship with Princess Amidala.

The unfolding tragedy for Anakin sadly, was that again that Shmi was his only source of emotional regulation, attunement and nurturance. The young boy was otherwise only valued not for his core being, but for his INSTRUMENTAL USEFULNESS. Anakin was given a workplace by his slave master Watto (the fly-reptilian hybrid of a Toydarian junk dealer) only for his ability to fix objects and subsequent ability to bring in an income, as he was by his various peers (including a young Greedo, who was tragically blasted through the chest by Hans Solo in his later years).

Even the Jedi were guilty of valuing young Anakin in an instrumental manner, conditionally taking him into the embrace of their order as the purported Saviour of the Galaxy. This role also only served to fuel the early developing seeds of a self-idealization and narcissism.

It is not unusual that people related to in this manner subsequently internalise a particular object-relation pattern. Here, they may feel a sense of relief that at least one source of connection to others is through the vehicle of their utility to serve others' practical needs. However, this can cover up a deep sense of abandonment, with the associated affects of sadness, rage, despair and even a cosmic alone-ness. Given Anakin's 'midichlorian' predisposition to sensing and feeling these potential affects, and his developmental lack of capacity to self-regulate them, it is no wonder then that he invested in a self-exile of sorts: repressing his emotions at an early age with narcissistic self-evaluations and ideals that were supported by his very real set of skills and competencies.

I also find it very intriguing that initially, despite protestations from Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi Council were very reluctant to welcome the young, innocent appearing Anakin Skywalker into their circle. In particular, Master Yoda sensed a deep-seated fear in the boy.

In the great Jedi’s own words: “….Fear is the path of the dark side. Fear leads to Anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering... I sense much fear in you.”

As a psychotherapist, one doesn’t need to be a Freud or Kernberg to know that this fear is fear of further abandonment and loss, which can be hidden and defending against with a character armour built from anger. Belief systems and cognitions then decorate this armor with schemas pervading hatred and envy. And when this is enacted on the self and others, destruction results. Sadly as many of you who have embraced the Star Wars Universe know, Master Yoda’s words proved prophetic indeed. As in Yoda's quote at the beginning of this post, fear of loss is a potential path to the Dark Side.

To be continued.