Young Anakin has almost no support system, emotionally speaking, for most of his life. He is sustained as a child by his mother, but once he loses her and winds up as the younger Obi Wan's padawan, he is totally alone. The only other source of emotional support that he has is the somewhat wet Amidala.Darth Wong wrote:Rebecca was talking about TPM and AOTC the other day, and she commented on an obvious theme that nobody seemed to pick up on. During and before the podrace, Anakin's mother in TPM has amazingly strong faith in her son. She believes in him, and so does Qui-Gon. Rebecca feels that as she watches the film, she can feel this strength of faith translating into Anakin's own belief in himself, buoying his spirits, and keeping him from despair even when the chips are down.
But in AOTC, his mother is gone and Qui-Gon is dead. Obi-Wan is his steward now, and Obi-Wan has no faith in him whatsoever. He clearly does not trust Anakin to do the right thing or even the competent thing. He second-guesses Anakin at every turn, upbraids him in front of Amidala for promising her that they would find her would-be assassins, criticizes him constantly, etc.
Now, everyone who watched AOTC noticed how Obi-Wan had no faith in him. But few seemed to think back to TPM and notice the contrast. In AOTC, when the chips are down, Anakin is not buoyed; he has power, but not strength of spirit. He does fall into despair, followed by a bloody rampage of vengeance. His mother was the only person in the universe who believed in him, and she believed in him right up to the end. Even through her torture, she believed he would come. With her gone, no one believes in him.
Just another theme buried in TPM/AOTC in case people didn't notice. And yes, Rebecca pointed this out, not me. And interestingly enough, we weren't watching or talking about Star Wars when she brought it up; we were driving to a restaurant.
By contrast, Luke Skywalker grows up and matures with lots of support and reinforcement. He had his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, when an older and much wiser Obi Wan takes him under his wing, he is introduced to "a whole new world" and Obi Wan encourages Luke at every step. During the Rebellion, Luke has Han, Chewie, Leia, and the droids to back him up with their loyalty and friendship. And while Yoda will criticise Luke for his lack of concentration, his impatience, or his lack of belief, he is never running down his student.
As a result, when Luke does break Yoda's discipline and rushes off to Bespin to rescue his friends, he has been strengthened and matured, just enough, to not fall under Darth Vader's influence (although he nearly does so). But he has just enough inside him to believe in himself. By the time of ROTJ, Luke is at peace with himself and mature to the point where he successfully resists the Emperor's efforts to turn him to the Dark Side, and sows the seeds to turn his own father back toward the Light.
Anakin is childish in AOTC because he is hanging onto that eight year old boy that he was when he was taken from Smi's side. It is all that he has left of her, and Obi Wan's continual criticism and second-guessing fuels his resentment over being taken from the life where he was happy. He is constantly cut down by his mentor, and although he is loyal to his master, he is seething in his anger at constantly being treated like a slow child. Which, in a way, he has been contorted into in emotional if not intellectual terms.
The fact that Obi Wan is trying to fill his late master's shoes exascerbates this situation. He is at this time following his ego and trying to "prove" that he is a full Jedi and no longer Qui Gon Jinn's padawan. He has no patience generally, tries to control events around him too hard, and probably felt that he had been saddled with the kid. He does his best to teach Anakin the ways of the Jedi and to encourage his talent, but is himself not the ideal mentor for a student.
Both Anakin and Obi Wan might have had a chance if Qui Gon had lived to guide them both. Obi Wan Kenobi eventually gains wisdom, but at a most terrible price which also cost the Jedi as a whole. And all because he failed to nurture Anakin's faith in people and in himself.
