Death Star: Darth Vader

Death Star by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry

Chapter(s): 11

 

 I almost feel I should have waited on the last essay and finish chapter 11, though I didn't have much to say up to page 200 so maybe it is for the best that I didn't. The extra time gave me some ideas though. My thoughts on Vader have changed. I’m sure most think of him as having turned evil. To me, now at least, it feels almost like he hasn’t and is using his own force powers to do so. There is also an allegory to a phoenix within the first paragraph. Yes it is meant to show how he died, came back, and changed. The thing to remember is the phoenix is still the same bird. It is also important to remember it has a positive connotation. When we first see him he says he is still Anakin Skywalker in some ways. Palpatine clearly started his brain washing but all this time Darth Vader has been reinforcing it. “He let the dark side take him, let it envelop him in anger and hatred (72).” It is almost like he can’t keep it up on his own. Really if he is good the whole time and is using his suffering to power up his force power that is just twisted.

I’ve been thinking about the force lately. I don’t know much about it. The Star Wars books I’ve read focused on other characters. With the mentions of it in here I have wondered about a few of the details. It says that the force, at least in Vaders control, has the ability to stop hearts. If it can do such a thing why isn’t it seen more? I thought about it and came up with something I feel works. I believe the body has a resistance and it takes time, that is often not available, to overcome if it is possible to get by at all. It is kind of similar to how Obi-Wan were able to distract the Stormtroopers from the droids. It isn’t a stretch to see how that was orchestrated. They were not sure what they were looking for so it wouldn’t be too hard to overlook them. Now with your life in the mix it gets to be a bit more complicated. First of all your body can betray you if you are panicked and afraid. There is also a mental part to it. If you fear something you have to believe it can do you harm and lower the resistance you would hold. All and all pretty useless against a Jedi or someone who isn’t of a weaker will than the force user. This isn’t to imply there isn’t still a physical aspect like how objects are moved but there is a new quality in the use with a person’s own will.

 Reaves, Michael, and Steve Perry. Star Wars: Death Star. New York: Lucas/Del Rey/Ballantine, 2007. Print.

Matsuo Basho

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

By Matsuo Basho

Time is by far the most prevalent theme in this work. All events are happening wile time passes and they are brought together through time.  It comes with us where ever we go and is how we measure and remember our experiences. It, in turn, watches us as we live. Time is a part of the Buddha spirit of everything being a part of a whole. It flows together and is the highest form of Buddha spirit as it links all things together. Basho himself shows he is very receptive to this. At the start he takes the time to tell of how his own home is not fully his own. His home is passed on; this shows that every place is touched by more than one life simply because of the passage of time. He leaves his notes behind because he himself wrote with the memories of other writers. Basho is acknowledging his place in the universe where he is pushed along by forces outside of himself.

Looking on Nikko he sees the world coming together in light, the leaves mentioned in the poem is a good representation of the warriors and artisans mentioned. This feeling of light passing through the world and all living in peace is highlighted by the Innkeeper that they meet the day before with his honest and good spirit. The significance of the past meeting the present is Basho’s able to gain a deeper appreciation for what the places around him could have once been and how they are now are in his time. Nature is presented in comparison to every part of life. Basho, when mentioning comfort, flips from a person to something in nature having provided it. When not at a spot of typical merit but other authors he adds a short bit about the mundane but never with such awe as what has been a shared topic with other writers and in history.

I feel as a modern, western, individual I can’t appreciate this work. I know I am lacking in the ability to appreciate the connections made by Basho and his world. We are pretty far removed from the world where I am at. We don’t sit and watch, we don’t see the value in the little, and I feel this takes away something that I could have gained. All and all I don’t feel I gained much from this read but that is my fault.

Basho, Matsuo. The Norton Anthology World Literature. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2013. Print.