Follow That Lightsaber

Symbolism is an English teacher's bread and butter. As my students will tell you that I find symbolism in everything. That's because there is. As Professor Thomas C. Foster says, "Everything is a symbol...unless proven otherwise" (How to Read Literature Like a Professor). We can't help it. We've been trained to think that way. And, hey, it's fun to peel the layers of the onion, to see the whole puzzle based on it pieces, to see how one things can mean many, etc. For English teachers figuring out symbols is our own real-time game - scan the area and figure out the solution.  Symbolism also makes a text DO things. It makes it more interesting and relevant.  Symbolism is probably the reason I make so many connections to Star Wars in my classroom.  In The Catcher in the Rye, Mr. Antolini warns Holden about living humbly for a cause (Luke) vs. going out in a blaze of glory for one (Anakin). Any story involving potential self-fulfilling prophecies (Holden Caulfield and James Castle, anyone?)? I point to The Cave in ESB. Not to mention all the mythological symbolism that comes with caves... Is it a coincidence that The Dead Poets Society is created in a cave? They walk in as regular palookas and come out as poetry devotees. Kind of like Rey descending in the "cavernous" basement of Maz Kanata's castle... But I digress. You get the idea. Symbolism is important to English teachers. Got it. Let's move on...

What child growing up with Star Wars wasn't obsessed with lightsabers? I was not different. I always wanted that fancy one they sold in stores, but like many old school toys, its details were fairly inaccurate (remember the Luke action figure with yellow hair and a yellow lightsaber? Or R2's cyclops eye?) It was probably too pricey and Mom and Dad weren't fans. But I did get an knockoff, but it wasn't the same. It never is for purists, right?  Needless to say I paid extra close attention to the lightsabers used in the OT.

*There are only four lightsabers you need to know:

1. Luke's blue saber (from ANH)
2. Obi-Wan's blue saber (from ANH)
3. Vader's red saber (all 3 OT films)
4. Luke's green saber (ROTJ)

What story do these initial lightsabers tell?

Let's start with the colors.  Crossed referenced with some handy mythology/symbolism books: Blue is truth, friendship, devotion.  Sounds about right?  Red is war, rage, aggression, murder. But red is love, Valentine's Day and hearts, Swedish Fish, right? Yeah...but.. Red like the devil, right?  It's all about context.  That goes with the third color too.  Green is hope, rebirth, neutral, fertility (yikes!)... One could even boil them down to blue (cool), red (hot) and green (life).

Now let's travel through all 7 films and play FOLLOW THAT SABER:

Anakin's Blue Saber (2nd lightsaber) - Part I

We first see this saber in ROTS as a replacement for a previous saber.  As it appears to be the main saber he used in the Clone Wars, fighting alongside the good guys.  However, it's also the saber Anakin uses as he becomes Darth Vader and commences Order 66.  In its last act as Anakin/Darth Vader's lightsaber, it's used against Obi-Wan (first blue on blue saber fight we've seen in Star Wars - SYMBOLISM!)

Significance: This saber started out for good, but was tainted with evil, betrayal and slaughter.  Not unlike Anakin's old identify vs new identity.  Obi-Wan takes the saber whether to symbolically take away Anakin's jedi identity or to keep it for further use (i.e. giving it to Anakin's offspring).  I dig the former reason rather than the latter...Even though he does give it to Luke, it does seem random that he picks it up and takes it on Mustafar.

Obi-Wan's Blue Saber

First seen in AOTC (?) This is Obi-Wan's longtime saber - used in many righteous fights on the side of good, and the light side.  Other than the aforementioned blue on blue fight with Anakin, this saber is tried and true.  Just like Obi-Wan.  It's last seen on the Death Star.

Significance: Just like Obi-Wan, this saber is pretty pure... You can make the case that the lone fight with Anakin symbolizes Obi-Wan's own ambivalent attitude toward Anakin as his padawan/mentee/friend/brother (Obi-Wan's words not mine).  It's a story for another day, but it's pretty clear that Obi-Wan had conflicting attachment issues with Anakin (as close as brothers?).  For the saber's other significance see Luke's 2nd lightsaber...

Darth Vader's Red Saber

This one's an easy one.  Vader builds this lightsaber between ROTS and ANH.  It's his Sith lightsaber and it's used throughout Vader's entire career in the black suit (note the black accents to the hilt). One can speculate all the naughty things this lightsaber did in the twenty or so years between ROTS and ANH, we do know it's used to kill Vader's mentor and cut off his son's hand. We assume it was destroyed in the Second Death Star.

Significance: If this saber could talk... 

Anakin's Blue Saber - Part II: Luke's Blue Saber (1st lightsaber)

I ignore all the Obi-Wan/Ben Kenobi bashers and haters.  Blame George Lucas for the fibs, don't blame Obi-Wan.  I still believe everything he told Luke in ANH was truth, even if part was half-truth. Luke was not ready to hear that Darth Vader was his father. Repeat that to yourself twenty times. An adventure seeking teenager is not ready for the "burden" of that truth.  Tell that to the Solo family who probably did tell their kid the truth.

That being said, Obi-Wan gives this saber to Luke and tells him his father wanted him to have it (could have been said) and his uncle wouldn't allow it (probably fact).  Notice I: Other than training, we never see Luke using the saber in ANH.  Then we see it primarily used in The Cave (SYMBOLISM!!) and against Darth Vader.  Luke holds his own, initially, but is bested by Vader and his greater power. Everyone knows what happens next, Vader lops off Luke's right hand and the saber disappears with it into the depths of Cloud City.  Notice II: The saber is gone by the time Vader makes his big reveal to Luke.

Significance: In ANH, Luke picks up his father's sword but does not know how to use it yet.  He is not ready to truly enter the "war."  In ESB, he fails at his first attempt using the saber against Phantom Vader in The Cave.  He shouldn't have even brought it with him (says Yoda).  He fails the second time he uses it against Real Vader.  He still not ready to wield his father's sword...OR that saber's way is not the right way...OR he is not ready to bring balance to the Force.  Luke was not able to handle the Skywalker Destiny, the "burden", of that sword... At least not yet...

Luke's Green Saber (2nd lightsaber)

This saber first appears in ROTJ and has an incredible first reveal that is easy to forget how dramatic it truly was at the time.  Right away, the first thing you should notice by looking at this saber is it's fashioned after Obi-Wan's blue saber, but it's green.  Until 1999, a green lightsaber was a novelty.  Therefore, at the time, you could make the case that Luke was forging "something new" with his identify as a jedi.  A new jedi way if you will.  As he seems to go against Obi-Wan and Yoda's advice, his "outside the box thinking" proves to be true.  They think Vader should be destroyed, Luke thinks he can be redeemed.  This thinking is, arguably, is the catalyst to Anakin finally fulfilling his prophecy as The Chosen One. Yet, in the penultimate moment he even tosses that sword aside and goes completely unarmed against the Dark Side.  Pretty brave if you think about how it could have backfired.  That's twice Luke took the non-violent way and both times it seemed to work - on Vader's psyche - and, ultimately, saves the galaxy.

On a side note, does Luke still have that green lightsaber?

[Aside] The next green saber we see is Qui-Gonn Jinn's. I would argue Jinn fits that "outside of the box" jedi train of thought...but Yoda's saber is green too... Does green have a bigger significance?

Significance: Perhaps a running Luke Skywalker motif: melding old with new, Luke creates a new saber but based on an old design. Thus, Luke is taking Obi-Wan's path, the jedi way, the not-so-easy path.  The path of the light side.  He will not be following his father's path. Luke picked up his mentor/second father's sword, not his biological father's and succeeds on his own terms.

Anakin's Blue Saber - Part III: Rey's Blue Saber (1st lightsaber)

By the will of the Force, Anakin/Luke's saber ends up somewhere... According to rumor, the saber passes many hands (could it be the "Darth Vader saber" that is sold in a market in Chuck Wendig's Aftermath?) and ends up in Maz Kanata's possession.  Thus, in TFA, Rey opens up Pandora's Box, er, Ben Kenobi's old chest, er, some random old chest in the Maz Kanata's basement and, lo and behold, there's the Skywalker saber.  The second Rey touches it she has a force vision. I'm all but convinved the lightsaber is a medium for the Force (especially the Jedi - most notably Obi-Wan) to communicate with her. She sees the vision but does not know what to make of it [Aside: nor does most of the audience]  Maz tells her the legacy of the lightsaber.  She echoes Luke telling Leia of the Skywalker legacy ("the force is strong in my family...my father has it..."). She tells Rey this saber belonged to Luke and his father before him.  Thus, is it a far stretch to say Rey is a Skywalker too? Rey refuses this "call to adventure" but later picks up her father's sword and begins to regain control of the Skywalker legacy against her dark cousin (Kylo Ren aka Ben Solo). That moment is so powerful JJ Abrams and John Williams put the ANH "homestead cue" under it. Once and for all, Rey will redeem this blue lightsaber, its failure and dark past and "finish what was started" by a Skywalker bringing balance to the Force. Her next task is to bring her father back into the fold.

Significance:  Some great symbolism here.  It literally is a double-edge sword (no pun intended).   Not only is Maz handing Rey her call to adventure to become a jedi, but her rightful place in the Skywalker lineage. She picks up her father/grandfather's sword, is ready to handle that "burden" and enlisting Luke (handing the saber to him) to begin again - going back to basics... A super cosmic jedi do-over!  Together they will rule the galaxy as father and daughter...Just kidding.  Together they will bring balance, true balance (think about it...), to the Force as father and daughter.

* Yes, I realize there are many other lightsabers in the SW films, but since the Skywalker legacy is front and center...

Mace Windu - is it a coincidence his purple saber is a cross of blue and red? Hmmmm...