Essay 2 Final

Pedro G. González Seda

Prof. Leonardo Flores

English 3202/01A

June 23, 2008

“When Dark finds its Redemption”

The word redemption is often used as an action in where a person finds balance between himself and with the environment that surrounds him. A perfect example of this is illustrated in the saga of Star Wars by George Lucas and in the story of Edgar Allan Poe called “The Black Cat”. Here the main characters are Anakin Skywalker or later known as Dark Vader and the narrator of the poem (the owner of Pluto). Both characters have some similarities that help us make connections between the two stories. Some of the most important similarities are that both destroy their own “empire” because of their evil actions, they begin their life’s as good persons, and in the end they both die. So, here the main point of this essay is to compare the connections between stories by discussing the similarities that they have and how both character found the way to redemption by analyzing their lifes and how they changed to the dark side which eventually lead up to their deaths.

At the beginning of stories we have that the main characters Anakin and the Owner of Pluto, they were good people and had respect for life. The first was a Jedi (person who knows how to use the way of the force for a good purpose) and his purpose was to defend and protect the republic and the innocents from the injustice. The other purpose was to exterminate “The Sith religion” (person that uses the force for his own benefit and wants control of the universe) that represent a lot of danger to the existence of the republic and rights of the people. On the other hand we have the main character of the “The Black Cat” that in the beginning he loves to be around animals and enjoys his life. Another important thing that they have in common is their love that they have for a woman, in the case of Skywalker was queen Amidala and for the other was his wife.

The second connection between both stories are the reasons that make the characters switch to the dark side or become evil. In the case of Anakin the mayor reason for his change was his fear to loose his beloved ones and his search for more power that drove him to become a Sith lord. Here George Lucas is trying to show us the temptations that Jedis try to avoid to become truly masters in the force and in some form can be added to the human behavior. In the case of the narrator of “The Black Cat” the motive that makes him change sides was his addiction to alcohol. This obsession drives him to madness and to loose everything he loves and possesses. One of the most important things that Edgar Allan Poe is trying to illustrate with this story is the negative effects that drinking alcohol in excess can make. From this point both characters have loss their good parts as humans and become dark persons that are quickly destroying their own “Empires”.

They begun destroying their empires by betraying their own believes. In the case of Darth Vader he betrays what he was supposed to protect and defend the republic, and by trying to kill his most valuable thing in his life that was is wife. On the other hand the narrator of The Black Cat begins his destruction path by pulling out one of the eye’s of his cat named Pluto that was his favorite pet and eventually hanging him in a tree. The consummation of both characters in to dark side was completed with the action of murdering their own wife’s.

Eventually they found redemption with their own deaths because they achieved a balance in where the good and bad things found an equal point. For Darth Vader to find this point he self-sacrificed himself to save his son’s life that was being attacked by the Sith Lord that was Emperor of the New Empire that at the same time was the “master” of Vader. The owner of Pluto found his point of balance when he dies hanging in the execution place in the same way he kills his cat. Now the two souls are in peace because they have paid their evil acts with ultimate price that is their own lives.