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Daniel Condreay

Ms. Rowe

Composition

16 April 2021

How do the Characters in Star Wars Answer Questions of Obedience and Authority?

Corruption of government and nations is a topic that one hears too often on the news

these days. Every day it seems that one country is at war with another, whether they are using

weapons or words as the actions used to gain additional power. Whether the nation is a part of

North America, Europe, or Asia, once a country has gained authority over its citizens, it will

want to continue this greed for power. This competition for strength and obedience has existed

for centuries all across the planet. In the film Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, directed by George

Lucas, Anakin Skywalker is being influenced by Chancellor Palpatine to become a part of the

Sith by telling the young Jedi that as the Chancellor, he has the power to save Anakin’s wife,

Padamé. Anakin blindly follows whatever The Chancellor says because Palpatine takes

advantage of the anger that Anakin has. Palpatine also abuses the power that he has over the

imperial senate by convincing the rest of the senate that the Jedi Council is trying to overthrow

the republic, causing almost everyone to betray the Jedi and give Palpatine more power. The

article “Four Decades After Milgram, We’re Still Willing to Inflict Pain,” written by Adam

Cohen, discusses Stanley Milgram’s famous shock experiment, and after a newer version of the

study is conducted, the results from the original trial are still true to this day. In the article

“Obedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem,” Erich Fromm observes how obedience or

disobedience could lead to humanity’s destruction. All of these sources ponder the question: how

does power lead to disobedience. After watching the film and reading the articles, it is evident
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that power leads to disobedience and that this is exemplified in how countries manipulate their

residents to gain more authority over their subjects.

Cohen’s paper, “Four Decades After Milgram,” gives a summary of the shock experiment

Milgram conducted at Yale University in 1963. The article also mentions the trial of Adolf

Eichmann, a Nazi leader that forced other Nazis to commit heinous murders, that was occurring

at the same time the study was being conducted and uses it as a real-world example of the

capability people have to commit evil actions. Another version of the experiment was

administered decades after Miligram’s to investigate if Milgram’s findings are still true today.

Jerry Burger, the researcher that orchestrated the experiment, found that Milgram’s discoveries

were very similar to his own. The article causes the reader to question whether to obey or

disobey and at what point will people blindly follow authority. This question is critical when

deciding how power leads to disobedience.

Fromm’s essay, “Obedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem,” examines the

different types of human consciences, obediences, and authorities. Fromm comments how

obedience and authority have played a part in many mythological and religious stories.

Throughout the piece, Fromm supports the concept that obedience plays a positive and negative

role in societal events. “If the capacity for disobedience constituted the beginning of human

history, obedience might very well, as I have said, cause the end of human history” (Fromm).

Freedom and power are other ideas that Fromm specifically mentions in his work that are

integral to understanding if one is to answer any questions about authority and disobedience. “A

person can become free through the acts of disobedience by learning to say no to power. But not

only is the capacity for disobedience the condition for freedom; freedom is also the condition for

disobedience” (Fromm). In this quote, Fromm explains how the concept and act of disobedience
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can cause someone to become free from the binding powers of authority. Both of these articles

are given two contrasting opinions of how obedience and power should be integrated into

society. Cohen believes that disobedience is a terrible occurrence, as seen when he compliments

the instructor for teaching her students and exudes the idea of teaching people to have high levels

of authority. Conversely, Fromm regards disobedience as a tremendous aspect of civilization and

proposes that it is necessary, for if not, it will lead to mankind's destruction. Modern-day

countries seem to agree more with Fromm’s principles because certain countries have become

more hostile towards each other than they ever have over the past decade.

The movie Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is about Anakin Skywalker’s journey from

becoming a member of the Imperial Senate to the feared Sith Lord, Darth Vader. While Obi-Wan,

Yoda, and Mace Windu want what is best for The Chosen One, Chancellor Palpatine, also known

as Darth Sidious, takes Anakin as an apprentice. While teaching Anakin the benefits of turning to

the dark side, Palpatine exploits Anakin’s fear of losing his wife to convince the young Jedi to

commit mass murders that help Palpatine gain more power in the Senate and Republic. The

film’s main antagonist, Chancellor Palpatine, is an excellent example of how government

officials gain the power to eventually abuse it and inflict suffering on the people under them. The

character of Obi-Wan, however, is a foil to Palpatine because when Obi-Wan becomes a Master

Jedi and is seated on the Jedi Council, he uses his new authoritarian powers to help Anakin with

his inner turmoil. Fromm’s work correlates more to the way Palpatine acts, while Obi-Wan’s

philosophy is more similar to Cohen’s theory. The scene of Obi-Wan telling Anakin to spy on

Palpatine is an example of power leading to disobedience because Obi-Wan tells Anakin that

Chancellor Palpatine has stayed in office even after his term has expired. When a leader is given

the highest position possible, they will do anything to stay in charge and continue to hold power
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and authority over their subjects. Real-world examples of this can be seen in countries such as

North Korea, China, Russia, and the United States. In the same scene, Obi-Wan is displaying

disobedience when the reason that he wants Anakin to spy on the Chancellor is that “We are at

war” (Lucas). The other members of the Jedi Council also didn’t want this mission to “be on the

record” (Lucas). These two statements can often be understood in modern society, with countries

using the excuse of war to commit disobedient acts that they would never commit otherwise.

Events from the past century include the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Project Orange,

and the My Lai Massacre. Another scene from the movie is when Anakin learns that Palpatine is

the Sith Lord that the Jedi Council has been looking for. At this moment, Palpatine fully uses

Anakin’s knowledge that the Jedi don’t trust The Chosen One. Palpatine utilizes Anakin’s hunger

for power to save Padmé and instead insists that he must learn the ways of the Dark Side to learn

the abilities of life. “If you wish to become a complete and wise leader, you must embrace a

larger view of the force” (Lucas). The way that Palpatine accentuates the word “larger” shows

how he wants Anakin to become more deviant and join the Dark Side. Fromm would be in

support of Palpatine’s actions, for it would be an act of disobedience that would prevent the

destruction of the universe. As the audience sees in other Star Wars films, however, this act

caused the death of thousands of people. The moving camera in this scene, when Anakin and

Palpatine are circling each other, represents how Palpatine has been controlling Anakin for the

whole film and how Anakin is about to fall right into his trap.

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, directed and written by George Lucas, as well as the

articles “Four Decades After Milgram” by Adam Cohen and “Obedience as a Psychological and

Moral Problem” by Erich Fromm are all sources that answer the question: how does power lead

to disobedience. In society, this disobedience is explicitly seen when countries harm others and
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even themselves for more people to have authority over. This concept of greed for power leading

to disobedience can cause major destruction for the future. With weapons of mass destruction

and tensions between countries increasing, who knows if there will be a world with which to be

disobedient, for how does one be disobedient if there is no world to be disobedient in?
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Works Cited

Cohen, Adam. “Four Decades After Milgram, We're Still Willing to Inflict Pain.” The New

York Times, The New York Times, 29 Dec. 2008,

www.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/opinion/29mon3.html.

Fromm, Erich. Erich Fromm: Obedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem. 30 Nov.

2014,

moonmagazine.org/erich-fromm-obedience-psychological-moral-problem-2014-11-30/.

Lucas, George, director. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Twentieth Century

Fox, 2005.