9th Period: 8th Grade Fantasy Essay
Bullying May Lead to Substance Abuse
Hello Folks!
CW: If you need to finish up today’s classwork, read the two articles posted above. For each one, respond to the following in your notebook:
1. Write a summary of the article.
2. What issue is this article about?
3. What is there in the article that you never thought of before? What is new?
Thanks for all your hard work,
Ms. D.
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In Philip Pullman’s novel, The Golden Compass, a young girl named Lyra learns about herself and the world around her when she ventures on a journey. Lyra is blessed with a special gift in being able to read an alethiometer, a tool that can predict the future and produce information from the past or present. Because of her gift, Lyra is destined to use the alethiometer to free the children that were captured by the evil Gobblers, deliver the alethiometer to Lord Asriel, a man she believes to be her uncle, and ultimately help the good reclaim power of the evil. Lyra learns about the good and evil creatures in the world, from the charming bear Iorek, to the mysterious Mrs. Coulter. Lyra also learns how intelligent she is and how she can use her cleverness to stop the evil beings in the world. Lyra’s cleverness allows her to stay safe on her travels and fulfill the duties of her quest.
At the beginning of Lyra’s story, she hides in a closet at Jordan College in Oxford and eavesdrops on the conversations between the Master of the college and other scholars. Lyra sees the Master pour poison into a drink to give to Lord Asriel, and she originally wants to jump out and stop him from continuing in his plot to kill the Lord. Instead, Lyra quickly thinks before jumping out and exposing herself, and waits patiently for just the right moment. Lyra waits in the closet with her daemon, Pantalaimon, until just before Lord Asriel goes to drink his wine before trying to save him. Without Lyra’s patience, Lord Asriel would not survive and Lyra could not complete her quest. Instead of letting her eagerness get the best of her, Lyra waits before springing from the closet and “[scrambling] up to snatch the glass from his hand”, which ultimately saves the life of the man she believes to be her uncle.
When Lyra’s best friend Roger is kidnapped by the Gobblers, an evil group of men trying to cut children from their daemons, she knows that she must save him. As Lyra arrives to try to free the captured children, Mrs. Coulter, a seemingly charming woman who Lyra learns is not so trustworthy, arrives to try to stop Lyra from freeing the children. Lyra finds Roger and they trick Mrs. Coulter into opening a box that holds the “black form of the spy-fly,” which then “[hurtles] out of the tin and [crashes] hard” into Mrs. Coulter and her evil monkey daemon. Lyra’s plan works magically, and they have time to escape from Mrs. Coulter and free the kidnapped children. Lyra and Roger do not know if they will get a better chance to escape, but because of their clever thinking, they are able to trick Mrs. Coulter into opening the box. Their plot does not only allow them to escape, but it also allows all the innocent children to flee before they have their daemons cut away from them. Because of Lyra’s scheme against Mrs. Coulter, she is able to complete this part of her quest.
As Lyra travels North towards Lord Asriel, she meets a special, armored bear named Iorek Byrnison, who was the King of the Bears until the evil Iofur Raknison took over the kingdom. Armored bears are usually not able to be tricked, but because Iofur is eager to have a daemon of his own, he is more like a human, and therefore he is able to be tricked. Lyra uses this to her advantage and tricks Iofur into thinking that she is the daemon of Iorek, and that he is the first bear to ever have a daemon. Lyra convinces Iofur that she “can become [his] daemon, but only if [he defeats] Iorek Byrnison in single combat.” Iofur agrees to fight Iorek, thinking that if he wins, Lyra will become his daemon and he will gain his most wanted prize. Iorek, being the stronger and wiser bear, kills Iofur in the battle and reclaims his title of King of the Bears. Because of Lyra’s cunning plan, she helps the good side win the battle against the evil side and allows the rightful King of the Bears to regain his power.
Lyra is very bright for her young age, and this truly shows in the story of her quest. Without her quick thinking or her clever plans, she would not be able to complete the tasks of her mission, and her destiny could not be fulfilled. Originally, Lyra’s elders do not want her to come with them on the journey, but she shows them just how useful she can be. Though Lyra is just a young girl, she proves herself to be smarter than some of her elders and capable of completing difficult tasks. Lyra does not let fear get in her way of completing her mission, and she becomes a special role model for young children in the world. Although she is originally not seen as capable enough to complete her task, Lyra uses her cleverness and intelligence to prove to herself and to the rest of the world just how capable she is.
The True Quest for Heroism
In “The Book of Three,” by Lloyd Alexander, the main character Taran is put in charge of an oracular pig named Hen Wen. Taran thinks that this will be a very boring job, but he is in for a big surprise when the Horned King, the evil villain who is trying to take over the land of Prydain, heads towards Caer Dallben, where Taran and Hen Wen reside. Hen Wen sensed the Horned King and escaped from Caer Dallben. This is where Taran begins his quest for Hen Wen, and himself. In the beginning Taran wanted to be a hero, like Prince Gwydion, but towards the end, he does things out of friendship, not to be a hero. This shows that people do not become heroes by seeking a reward, but by doing things out of friendship and honor.
Before Taran is put in charge of Hen Wen, he is in a fake sword fight with Coll, another person at Caer Dallben. Dallben, the master of Caer Dallben, takes Taran to talk about Prydain and the Horned King. Dallben also speaks of Prince Gwydion, who everyone considers a hero. Taran decides that he sees himself “to be a glorious hero.” Dallben feels, however, that “that is entirely out of the question.” This is showing Taran when he is seeking a reward.
There are many points in the story when Taran is traveling, and he forgets about being a hero, and all he thinks about is the safety of his companions, and finding his pig Hen Wen. This shows Taran when he is no longer seeking a reward.
After the quest is over, and Hen Wen is found, Lord Gwydion (no longer a prince) gave Taran’s companions “Small gifts for great valor.” Taran, however, was a hard person to choose a gift for. “ ‘I ask no reward’ Taran said ‘I want no friend to repay me for what I did willingly, out of friendship and for my own honor.’ ” This is when Taran realizes what the true meaning of heroism is.
Many people dream of being a hero, but most of them want the reward. Lots of people walk around everyday doing their normal routine, when an event happens like: someone falling on to railroad tracks, or into the road when a car is coming. These people didn’t start the day thinking about becoming a hero, but when the time came, they acted without thinking. That is the true meaning of heroism.
Around and Through the Truth
In the fantasy book The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman, a young girl
named Lyra ventures North to stop the kidnapping of hundreds of children. The children are being kidnapped for experimental use by Lyra’s mother, Mrs. Coulter. Lyra is aided by an alethiometer, a gadget that tells Lyra the truth and helps her on her journey to stop Mrs. Coulter. Mrs. Coulter has several followers which are called the ‘Gobblers’. In the middle of Lyra’s adventure she gets captured and handed over to the Gobblers. Lyra manages to escape. If Lyra had trusted different people on her journey, she wouldn’t have fulfilled her prophecy of stopping the Gobblers.
In this book, Lyra trusts Mrs. Coulter for a short period of time.
Mrs. Coulter inconspicuously forces Lyra to help her and the Gobblers capture children. As soon as Lyra realizes that she is being used to help the Gobblers, she “[runs] for the stairs and [flees].” If Lyra hadn’t stopped trusting Mrs. Coulter, she would have been accomplishing the opposite of her goal; to stop and destroy the Gobblers.
Lyra demonstrates complete trust towards an armored bear, Iorek
Byrnison. Iorek has been banned from a cult of bears ruled by Iofur Raknison for murdering another bear in the cult. Armored bears are similar to soldiers that are dedicated to one thing. Iorek protects Lyra and fights with her against the Gobblers. Lyra and Iorek create a very unique friendship. If it weren’t for Lyra’s trust in Iorek, she wouldn’t have been rescued from the Gobblers. If Lyra hadn’t been saved from the Gobblers, she wouldn’t have been able to defeat them. Iorek also assisted her in the killing of Iofur, a bear loyal to Mrs. Coulter. Much of the power Mrs. Coulter received was from Iofur. “ ‘Iorek,’ said Lyra, ‘thank you for coming.’ The bear grunted and settled down to lick the blood off his fur.”
The alethiometer that Lyra was given was a gift from the Master of Lyra’s home; Jordan College. Lyra trusts the Master when he gives her the alethiometer. The Master says, “Lyra, I urge you again: keep [the alethiometer] private. It would be better if Mrs. Coulter didn’t know about it.” At this point in the book Lyra is unaware that Mrs. Coulter is working in the kidnapping of the children or that she’s her mother. The Master is trying to warn her to keep the alethiometer a secret because he knows about Mrs. Coulter. The Master knows that if Mrs. Coulter knew Lyra held the alethiometer she would do even worse. Lyra listens to the Master’s advice and protects the alethiometer. She trusts him, and in trusting him she is also trusting the alethiometer to tell her the truth.
This book is about trust. Lyra concluded her prophecy with the help of
her trust in various things and people. Who you trust and how long you trust those people for can change everything in life. The earth revolves around trust (and the sun; ha ha). If you trust the ’wrong’ people, you can change destiny. Yet you can also change destiny by trusting the ’right’ people, whether or not it is a good change I do not know. Trust is a very complicated concept and can be interpreted in many different ways. A lot of people don’t understand trust, but they still use it every day subconsciously.
Life Without Family
In the book Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, by James Patterson, the main character, Max, and her siblings (non-related) never had real family. Their only parent-like figure was a scientist named Jeb Batchelder. Jeb disappeared, then their sister Angel was kidnapped and they learned about their pasts. From that they realized they hadn’t known they had such a great family until part of it was gone.
Jeb Batchelder was the only person, besides each other, that they’d thought of as their family. Two years ago, after living with them for four years, he just disappeared. “Two years ago he disappeared. We’d always known he’d been killed. We’d known that he would have died rather than disclose our location. That he died trying to protect us. That kind of thing.” Max knew Jeb so well she knew, rather than allow the school to know their location, he’d prefer to die. “For the last two years, we’d all missed Jeb so much, with a horrible, aching, wailing pain that just wouldn’t stop. You know – like if your dad or mom died. It had been so awful in the beginning, when he hadn’t come home, and then when we’d had to accept that he never would.” He’d been like a father to all of them, taught them everything they’d need to know, and then he was simply gone.
After Jeb disappeared, Max was in charge. She was always looking out for Erasers (people who can morph themselves into wolves) and trying to be the best example she could. While they were out strawberry picking one day, “My Angel, my baby, had been snatched away. She was with bloodthirsty man-wolf mutants eager for her blood who would turn her over to despicable lab geeks who wanted to take her apart. Literally.” When Angel was taken, Max had a breakdown. She was trying to be strong and give a good example, but she couldn’t keep it all bottled up. So, she decided they should try to get her back.
Once they got Angel from the School, they had no home to go back to, for the home they had, had been destroyed by Erasers. While in the school, Angel had read the minds of some of the scientists and learned some information about them. “‘We did have parents – real parents. We weren’t made in test tubes. We were born from human mothers.’” More information was kept in another location similar to the school, but was in New York called the Institute. So they decided that would be their next destination.
When Jeb disappeared and Angel was kidnapped, they realized that they hadn’t known how great a family they’d had until parts of it were gone. There are a lot of things that are taken for granted by everybody worldwide, and when they disappear (or end in some way) we realize that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.
Weakness Shown By The Storm Troopers
In the movie Star Wars, by George Lucas, there are a lot of characters called Storm Troopers. They all look the same. Darth Vader, the villain of the movie, is their leader. The Storm Troopers symbolize weakness.
The Storm Troopers all look and sound exactly the same. They wear the same white and black suits and mask. They all sound the same as well. Also, they are all the same height. In one part of the movie, Luke and Han, who are the good-guys of the movie, disguised themselves by wearing the Storm Trooper outfit. They walked all around Death Star, the spaceship of Darth Vader and all the Storm Troopers, and weren’t noticed for some time, even after passing various people. The fact that the Storm Troopers have no individuality shows that they are weak, because it shows that they don’t make their own decisions.
The Storm Troopers just do whatever Darth Vader wants. If they encounter his enemies, they shoot lasers at them. Luke and Han Solo were chased and shot at by the Storm Troopers a lot of times in the movie. The Storm Troopers are followers; they follow Darth Vader. Being followers represents weakness because it means that they rely on someone else for what to do.
In one part of the movie, Obi-Wan controlled this one Storm Trooper’s mind. The Storm Trooper repeated whatever Obi-Wan said or did. This shows that the Storm Trooper is weak because it means that it doesn’t have complete control of itself.
There is a lot of evidence in the movie showing that the Storm Troopers symbolize weakness. Weakness is not only an issue in the movie; it is an issue in life. It is even an issue right in our school. Kids will follow the “cool” kids so that they will be popular. They will wear the trendy clothes and let kids tell them what to do. They don’t do anything on their own, and that means they are not happy.
You Don’t Know What You Have Until it’s Gone
In the book Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson, there is a girl who has adopted five other kids as her family. The only parent they had was Jeb Batchelder who works as a scientist in the lab where they were created. One day Jeb had gone missing and they hadn’t realized how important family was until he was gone.
Jeb had been the only family they had besides each other, but then “Two years ago he disappeared. We’d always known he’d been killed. We’d known that he would have died rather than disclose our location. That he died trying to protect us. That kind of thing. Max knew him so well that she knew he would rather get hurt then have the lab know where they live. Jeb had taught them everything they need to know as if he knew she would have to take over. When Jeb went missing Max took over as the parent, and didn’t realize how hard it was to take care of five kids.
Angel was taken away by Erasers (Lab creatures that can morph into wolves) and taken back to the lab. Max said, “My Angel, my baby, had been snatched away. She was with bloodthirsty man-wolf mutants eager for her blood who would turn her over to despicable lab geeks who wanted to take her apart. Literally.” She knew what Jeb had taught her and couldnt let Angel go. They hadn’t realized how important Angel or anyone was until she was gone.
While Angel was at the lab, she found out that they had parents. Now they are going to find an institute with all the information about their families. “‘We did have parents – real parents. We weren’t made in test tubes. We were born from human mothers.’” Now that they know they have parents, Max realizes they are all missing a big part of their life.
When Jeb disappeared and Angel was kidnapped, they realized how important family was to them. There are a lot of people in the world who take things for granted and don’t realize how important family is. This shows that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.
Artemis Fowl
The story Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer is about a kid named Artemis Fowl and fairies. During his adventures, Artemis’ father has been captured by the mafia. Although everyone thinks he is dead, Artemis strongly believes he is alive and can be saved. The fairies meanwhile have their own problem. Someone from the human world has been trading batteries for money with them. When Artemis and the fairies meet, the fairies probe Artemis’ mind to see if he is the one causing their problem. When noting comes up about the problem he is let free.
This story is about trust. Without it Artemis could have been dead.
One example of trust in Artemis Fowl is when Artemis and the fairies agree to help each other with their problems. Anything could have gone wrong, if either the fairies or Artemis could have blown their agreement and then there would be a huge disaster.
Another example of trust in Artemis Fowl is in the “lower elements” (the fairy world). While Commander Root and Captain Holly Short are on the surface, the lower elements are in a bit of trouble themselves. Two traitors are making a plan to take control of the lower elements. They have to trust each other to make their plan work.
A centaur named Foaly ruins their plan and makes one fairy turn on the other and the lower elements are saved.
The last example of trust in Artemis Fowl is between the fairies and goblins (B’wa Kell). The two Fairy traitors and the leaders of the goblins make an agreement. If the B’wa Kell help the fairies (Opal Koboi and Briar Cudgeon) then they will be helped in return. Even things don’t go the way both parties want it to; trust was a big factor in their plan to take over the lower elements.
After all of the troubles, Artemis’ father wants them to live a normal life. Artemis thinks to himself that he “has one more thing in mind before he returns to a normal life.”
The story Artemis Fowl is about trust and how it can get you a long way. If you know who to trust and how well they can be trusted, then you will be a success.
Achieving Freedom through Knowledge
In The Golden Compass, by acclaimed author Philip Pullman, the main character Lyra embarks on an epic quest to save her kidnapped friends and to seek the knowledge necessary for her to understand her world and become free within it.
Lyra leaves her safe home at Jordan College in Oxford to go live with the beautiful, charming, but deadly Mrs. Coulter, head of the General Oblation Board. Prior to leaving Oxford, her dear friend Roger and a gyptian boy named Billy are kidnapped by the Gobblers. Before she can go out and look for her friends, she is told she must leave to live with Mrs. Coulter.
The day of her departure, she receives a golden alethiometer, a device that answers questions with the truth. Lyra decides to run away from Mrs. Coulter after a party where she learns more about Bolvangar. She meets up with the gyptians, led by Lord Faa and Farder Coram, and ends up going north with them to Bolvangar in a successful attempt to save the kidnapped children.
On the way to Bolvangar, Lyra is tested by Dr. Lanselius (the witch consul), who wants to see if she can read the alethiometer. There is also a witch prophecy about Lyra that she must never know about. It says that only through Lyra’s ignorance can the world be saved—she must be left free to make mistakes; she must be free to act as she, an innocent youth, sees appropriate.
After rescuing the kidnapped children, she goes off to save Lord Asriel, her uncle, who turns out to be her father, in Svalbard. Lord Asriel tells Lyra about the Church’s obsession with Dust and original sin. He tells her how Adam and Eve were persuaded by the serpent in the Garden of Eden to eat the fruit of knowledge even after God warned them not to. Instantly, “the eyes of them were both opened.” It was just as the serpent had said it would be. This story is about freedom through knowledge and also about control over the ignorant.
Before leaving Jordan College, Lyra’s nanny informs her that the Master wants to see her before she leaves to go live with Mrs. Coulter. The Master tells her with great care of a golden compass that tells the truth.
The Master says, “I’m going to give you something, and you must promise to keep it private. It’s an alethiometer…one of only six made.” With those words Lyra is given her most sacred possession, which she is warned to keep secret from everyone especially Mrs. Coulter.
One reason that Lyra must keep this device a secret is that truth, in this story, is the Church’s enemy. The alethiometer can enlighten Lyra with truth, thus making her different from the vast numbers of ignorant followers that the Church wields its power over. The knowledge gained from the alethiometer’s accurate answers of truth would make Lyra just like Adam and Eve in the Bible once they ate the forbidden fruit—her eyes would be opened and she would become enlightened. She would be her own person under her own control.
Lyra tries her best throughout this book to keep the compass to herself. At Mrs. Coulter’s house Lyra’s daemon Pantalaimon tells her that Mrs. Coulter’s curious golden monkey daemon finds Lyra’s alethiometer. A daemon is an extension of the person’s soul, somewhat similar to a conscience, which is manifested in the form of an animal of the opposite gender. The golden monkey’s discovery does not matter much, however, for Lyra is soon gone from that perfect, yet horrible place.
Upon running away from Mrs. Coulter, Lyra stumbles across gyptians, the very same gyptians who had lost Billy to the Gobblers. She divulges her closely guarded secret to them because of her deep trust in Lord Faa and Farder Coram, the gyptian leader and elder, respectively.
Farder Coram explains to Lyra how the alethiometer works, “You got three hands you can control…you use them to ask a question. By pointing to three symbols you can ask any question you can imagine, because you’ve got so many levels of each one. Once you got your question framed, the other needle swings round and points to more symbols that give you the answer.” Lyra must also know all of the meanings of each symbol on the alethiometer, and she must be able to hold the meanings in her mind, as if in a trance, until the independent needle swings and tells her the answer.
Lyra, after much persuasion on her part, is seen as a valuable asset and joins the gyptians on an adventurous quest to save the children kidnapped by the General Oblation Board and sent far north to Bolvangar. Using her alethiometer to tell her the truth, Lyra steers the gyptians in the right direction and tells them more about what happens within Bolvangar.
Along the way the gyptians stop to visit Dr. Lanselius, the witch consul. They ask him about Bolvangar, Farder Coram’s witch friend Serafina Pekkala, as well as the witches’ view on the atrocities committed by one of the Church’s organizations on innocent children. Dr. Lanselius gives the group valuable information about where they can find an armored bear to protect them and also about the great dissension among witch clans as to whether they support or oppose Mrs. Coulter’s station with kidnapped children at Bolvangar.
Dr. Lanselius also tests Lyra’s use of the alethiometer. He asks her how she reads the answer and she says, “I just make my mind go clear and then it’s sort of like looking down into water.” When Lyra says she makes her mind go clear, she means empty and free from any biased thought so that she can properly comprehend the truth. After that it is just like looking into water: the answer becomes as clear as a reflection.
Dr. Lanselius then asks Lyra questions that he knows the answers to. He asks her an odd question about the intentions of the Tartars at Kamchatka. Lyra, for the most part ignorant of who the Tartars are and where Kamchatka is, answers his question and proves to him that she is not a fraud.
After that, Dr. Lanselius still is not entirely convinced. He asks Lyra to select Serafina Pekkala’s cloud pine branch, similar to a broom, and she does so with no problem.
While she is occupied reading the alethiometer in front of a row of branches outside, Dr. Lanselius explains to Farder Coram about a witch prophecy concerning Lyra. He says, “Without this child we shall all die. So the witches say. But she must fulfill this destiny in ignorance of what she is doing, because only in her ignorance can we be saved. What it means is that she must be free to make mistakes.”
The prophecy states that Lyra must be free to make mistakes. She must not be over influenced by anybody; she must be free and independent to make her own decisions. Through Lyra’s ignorance she will save everyone because her ignorance will lead her to want to become knowledgeable. This is just the way Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat the fruit of the tree. Through her ignorance she saved and freed mankind. She and Adam were both enlightened by eating the fruit. They became one with their soul, and they became different from the animals because they were not ignorant followers. They were people enlightened by the truth and banished for that from the Garden of Eden. Afterward, they left the garden to be independent instead of being mindless pets.
Lyra would save everyone and presumably make them free from the Church, once they became enlightened by the truth that her alethiometer told. By doing this she, like Eve, would enable herself and everyone around her to be free and independent.
After leaving Dr. Lanselius, Lyra and the gyptians move on to look for an armored bear. They find Iorek Byrnison and pay him to come with them by finding his armor. With the now strengthened gyptian army, they move on to Bolvangar. Along the way, Lyra is kidnapped by Samoyed hunters in a raid and sent to Bolvangar as a kidnapped child.
At Bolvangar, Lyra encounters the most grotesque torture imaginable. The General Oblation Board, led by Mrs. Coulter, is gathering groups of children in a huge fortified building. It is “run much like a school.” Various doctors conduct tests on the children and their daemons, culminating with intercision (separation of the daemon from the body). Lyra learns about intercision early enough to form a plan with her friend Roger and Billy. They find a way to escape the building and meet up with the gyptians.
Lyra is caught, though, while snooping around in the ceiling and pulled through a ceiling board. The two men get her and do not want Mrs. Coulter to see that Lyra has undermined the whole Bolvangar effort. They put her in a machine with two compartments separated by a mesh. Pantalaimon is placed in one compartment and she is placed in another. The mesh keeps the humans and their daemons close together because it has holes. Since a daemon is an extension of the person’s soul, daemon and person cannot stray far from one another. To separate the two, a guillotine swoops down to cut the child from his or her daemon. This, however, does not happen because Mrs. Coulter, Lyra’s real mother, saves her.
Mrs. Coulter at first acts motherly and caring, but then she starts to inquire about the alethiometer since her monkey told her all about it. Lyra storms out of the room, turns the fire alarm on, and suddenly all the children run outside. The fire alarm is the signal to escape in her plan. The children run out, blind the Tartars guarding Bolvangar with snowballs, and meet up with Iorek Byrnison. Iorek and Serafina Pekkala’s clan battle with the Tartars, and Iorek leads the children safely back to the gyptian camp.
The reason the Church funds the General Oblation Board, abbreviated as GOB hence the name “Gobblers,” is that it connects Dust with original sin. Lyra learns throughout the book more and more about Dust. These elementary particles become more attracted to children once they go through puberty, however when they are still children it is not attracted to them at all. Dust is also what powers the alethiometer. Since daemons take one solid form, supposedly an animal fit for representing that person, at puberty right when Dust becomes attracted to humans, the Church came up with the brilliant idea that if you just make “a little cut” separating the person from his daemon that his soul will be cleansed. His soul will be cleansed from knowledge and he will become just like Adam and Eve were before eating the fruit. They were naked with unsettled daemons, presumably with no Dust attracted to them, before they ate the apple—they were innocent like children. The Church recognized this at once and sought a way to change humanity back to the days when it was not free, when it only obeyed God. They decide to do this by cutting daemons off from humans. However, this not only damaged the person’s soul but was also often fatal.
After delivering the children to the gyptians Lyra goes with Lee Scoresby, a Texan aeronaut, in his hot air balloon. Iorek and Roger accompany them. They head towards Svalbard to save Lord Asriel and to deliver the alethiometer to him. When Lyra finds him, it turns out that he does not want the alethiometer. However, he eagerly answers Lyra’s questions.
Lord Asriel tells Lyra quotes from the Bible, “And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and your daemons shall assume their true forms, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Adam and Eve did eat the fruit, and everything the serpent said happened to them: they became enlightened, with settled daemons, and Dust attracted to them. They were no longer like children, just as Lyra is becoming enlightened by maturing and by the alethiometer as she goes through puberty.
Lord Asriel continues telling Lyra the story by quoting, “But when the man and the woman knew their own daemons, they knew that a great change had come upon them, for until that moment it had seemed that they were at one with all the creatures of the earth and air, and there was no difference between them: And they saw the difference, and they knew good and evil…” Adam and Eve recognized that they were free. They were enlightened, one with their soul, and knew the difference between good and evil. Most importantly, they had their own opinions and were independent.
To complete his story Lord Asriel tells Lyra that “that was how sin came into the world…sin and shame and death. It came the moment their daemons became fixed.” This was the proof the Church used to connect Dust to daemons and to cleanse the world of sin by restoring people to their previous condition as innocent children, with no Dust attracted to them, and obedient followers of God. This cleansing would make them ignorant and thus easy to control.
The way Lyra, Adam, and Eve achieve freedom through knowledge is by doing whatever it takes, whether it be eating fruit or reading an alethiometer, to become enlightened and thus independent and free from control over the ignorant.
In life, control over the ignorant is everywhere. The only way to escape it is by achieving freedom through knowledge. A great historical example is the history of African-American slaves who had to follow slave codes. Included in these codes was that they were not allowed to learn to read or write. The reason for this was that the white masters wanted to maintain control over their slaves. To keep this control, they had to keep their slaves ignorant. Ignorance would prevent the slaves from being influenced by the truth or by other views. They could not read a map, learn about the north, or read abolitionist newspapers and pamphlets. Ignorance would keep the slaves from escaping. The only way to become free from your master was to achieve that freedom through knowledge. Frederick Douglass was a strong abolitionist speaker who secretly taught himself to read and write. He said at an antislavery meeting that, “Slavery is one of those monsters of darkness to whom the light of truth is death.”
Many people achieve freedom through knowledge and remove themselves from the enslaved ignorant crowd. Becoming enlightened and learning the truth is how to achieve freedom.
Sacrifice
In the book Deep Wizardry, by Diane Durane, two kids, Nita and Kit, stay at their beach house in Long Island for the summer. Nita and Kit are no ordinary kids; they are wizards. They can perform magic spells and can talk to other animals that are wizards. Recently before they came to Long Island for the summer, they had fought against the Lone Power (the power/source of all evil). The Lone Power is supposed to be bound to the bottom of the sea, but now the binds are weakening and all sea creatures are in danger of the Lone Power if something isn’t done.
One summer night, Nita and Kit went out swimming. While walking along the coast line, they come across a dolphin. They go to speak to the dolphin in the Speech (which is the magical language that wizards can speak to each other with) but the dolphin swam away with fear. They followed the dolphin to a humpback whale that was beached on the shore. This whale was badly hurt and in need of help. The whale, named S’reee, was the whale that was in charge of organizing a reenactment ceremony (called the Song of the Twelve) that would bind the Lone Power again to the bottom of the sea. S’reee was supposed to find twelve wizard whales able to participate in the Song. S’reee asked Nita and Kit to help her find other whales that are good enough to be part of the Song. S’reee also wants Nita to be one whale that participates in the Song. Nita heals S’reee’s wound and says that she is not sure about being in the Song. S’reee asks Kit to be the security while the Song is going on and he also replies that he is not sure if he wants to be part of this either. They finally give in to S’reee’s request and agree to be whales helping in the Song. The book Deep Wizardry is about sacrificing what you have for the best of everybody.
Nita and Kit are willing to help S’reee in the Song. Nita and Kit aren’t sure if they want to be part of the Song but they realize that S’reee could use their help with finding whales and being whales in the Song. “’I’ll help,’ they said together.” Nita and Kit give up there summer vacation to be part of the Song to save the sea from what the Lone Power would do if it was not bound. If Nita and Kit partake in the Song, it is less work for S’reee and S’reee is short on time for finding whales to be in the Song. They know if they help, others would be appreciative of their assistance. Nita and Kit sacrifice their time to help S’reee and the other whales bind the Lone Power so that the sea is safe from the Lone Power.
Each whale in the Song sings a different part. Each of these whale parts has a different title. S’reee asks Nita to be the “Silent Lord”. “I don’t have much of a singing voice so maybe I better be the Silent Lord.” Nita agrees to be the Silent Lord in the Song. Nita was willing to be the Silent Lord, not realizing that the Silent Lord has to be killed at the end of the Song. When she does realize that she will have to die, she doesn’t back out of being the Silent Lord. She knows that if she backs out of being the Silent Lord, the whole Song would suffer and it would not be completed. She also realizes that if she gives up her life to the Lone Power, millions of other sea creatures won’t lose theirs. By sacrificing her life, she saves the lives of others.
While the Song is being performed, one whale gets frightened and then loses her will. Everything gets out of control, including Kit and the Lone Power. The Master Shark, Ed (who plays another role in the song) takes over and asks Nita for her Powers. “Silent Lord, give me your Power! Trust me! Give it to me quick!” When it comes time for Nita to be sacrificed in the Song, Ed willingly takes Nita’s part of the Silent Lord so Nita wouldn’t have to. He went before her so she couldn’t sacrifice herself. “Ed was taking her part willingly, circling on the Lone Power.” Ed knows that Nita doesn’t want to die, so he sacrificed his life for hers.
In the end, Ed dies and Nita and thousands of other sea creatures are saved because of his sacrifice. Because of all the sacrifices the characters gave, the Lone Power is bound. Ed, Nita and Kit showed that it’s good to sacrifice yourself for the greater good of everybody. When you make a sacrifice, you help others out. You should help someone out when you can when it doesn’t take much to do it. This is what Nita and Kit did by being part of the Song. By sacrificing what they had, Nita, Kit and the whales were able to save many lives of the sea.
Lyra’s Clever Plans (Final)
In Philip Pullman’s novel, The Golden Compass, a young girl named Lyra
learns about herself and the world around her when she ventures on a
journey. Lyra is blessed with a special gift in being able to read an
alethiometer, a tool that can predict the future and produce
information from the past or present. Because of her gift, Lyra is
destined to use the alethiometer to free the children that were
captured by the evil Gobblers, deliver the alethiometer to Lord Asriel,
a man she believes to be her uncle, and ultimately help the good
reclaim power of the evil. Lyra learns about the good and evil
creatures in the world, from the charming bear Iorek, to the mysterious
Mrs. Coulter. Lyra also learns how intelligent she is and how she can
use her cleverness to stop the evil beings in the world. Lyra’s
cleverness allows her to stay safe on her travels and fulfill the
duties of her quest.
At the beginning of Lyra’s story, she hides in a closet at Jordan
College in Oxford and eavesdrops on the conversations between the
Master of the college and other scholars. Lyra sees the Master pour
poison into a drink to give to Lord Asriel, and she originally wants to
jump out and stop him from continuing in his plot to kill the Lord.
Instead, Lyra quickly thinks before jumping out and exposing herself,
and waits patiently for just the right moment. Lyra waits in the
closet with her daemon, Pantalaimon, until just before Lord Asriel goes
to drink his wine before trying to save him. Without Lyra’s patience,
Lord Asriel would not survive and Lyra could not complete her quest.
Instead of letting her eagerness get the best of her, Lyra waits before
springing from the closet and “[scrambling] up to snatch the glass from
his hand”, which ultimately saves the life of the man she believes to
be her uncle.
When Lyra’s best friend Roger is kidnapped by the Gobblers, an evil
group of men trying to cut children from their daemons, she knows that
she must save him. As Lyra arrives to try to free the captured
children, Mrs. Coulter, a seemingly charming woman who Lyra learns is
not so trustworthy, arrives to try to stop Lyra from freeing the
children. Lyra finds Roger and they trick Mrs. Coulter into opening a
box that holds the “black form of the spy-fly,” which then “[hurtles]
out of the tin and [crashes] hard” into Mrs. Coulter and her evil
monkey daemon. Lyra’s plan works magically, and they have time to
escape from Mrs. Coulter and free the kidnapped children. Lyra and
Roger do not know if they will get a better chance to escape, but
because of their clever thinking, they are able to trick Mrs. Coulter
into opening the box. Their plot does not only allow them to escape,
but it also allows all the innocent children to flee before they have
their daemons cut away from them. Because of Lyra’s scheme against
Mrs. Coulter, she is able to complete this part of her quest.
As Lyra travels North towards Lord Asriel, she meets a special,
armored bear named Iorek Byrnison, who was the King of the Bears until
the evil Iofur Raknison took over the kingdom. Armored bears are
usually not able to be tricked, but because Iofur is eager to have a
daemon of his own, he is more like a human, and therefore he is able to
be tricked. Lyra uses this to her advantage and tricks Iofur into
thinking that she is the daemon of Iorek, and that he is the first bear
to ever have a daemon. Lyra convinces Iofur that she “can become [his]
daemon, but only if [he defeats] Iorek Byrnison in single combat.”
Iofur agrees to fight Iorek, thinking that if he wins, Lyra will become
his daemon and he will gain his most wanted prize. Iorek, being the
stronger and wiser bear, kills Iofur in the battle and reclaims his
title of King of the Bears. Because of Lyra’s cunning plan, she helps
the good side win the battle against the evil side and allows the
rightful King of the Bears to regain his power.
Lyra is very bright for her young age, and this truly shows in the
story of her quest. Without her quick thinking or her clever plans,
she would not be able to complete the tasks of her mission, and her
destiny could not be fulfilled. Originally, Lyra’s elders do not want
her to come with them on the journey, but she shows them just how
useful she can be. Though Lyra is just a young girl, she proves
herself to be smarter than some of her elders and capable of completing
difficult tasks. Lyra does not let fear get in her way of completing
her mission, and she becomes a special role model for young children in
the world. Although she is originally not seen as capable enough to
complete her task, Lyra uses her cleverness and intelligence to prove
to herself and to the rest of the world just how capable she is.
Know Who to Trust!
In the story “Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident,” by Eoin Colfer, a criminal mastermind named Artemis Fowl, and his powerful manservant, “Butler” go on a mission to rescue Artemis’ kidnapped father. On their way, they get captured and taken into custody by the fairy police of the Lower Elements (the Lower Elements is the world of fairies and mystical creatures). Artemis has been accused of trading with the Lower Elements, which is highly forbidden. After being proven innocent, he asks them if they can help him with his retrieval mission. Commander Julius Root and LEP (Lower Elements Police) officer Holly Short agree to help them, if he helps them in return by helping them find the criminal who had been trading with the humans. The story is about how in order to succeed, you may have to trust people you wouldn’t expect.
The real criminals who had been trading with the humans were Opal Koboi and Briar Cudgeon. Opal Koboi was one of the smartest creatures in the Lower Elements. Briar Cudgeon was an officer of the LEP, but he had been betrayed by them and he wanted revenge. Opal and Cudgeon worked together and attempted to take over the Lower Elements. They almost succeeded, and they probably would have if they had trusted in each other. Opal trusted in Cudgeon, and she supplied him with money and what he needed. Cudgeon, however, planned to get rid of Opal once he had power. Cudgeon said near the end of the story, “Do you think I’d go through all this trouble to share power? Oh no, as soon as this charade is over, Miss Koboi will have a tragic accident. Perhaps several tragic accidents.” Opal wasn’t supposed to hear that, but she did, and their whole plan collapsed.
In order to get rid of the LEP, Opal and Cudgeon needed some group or squad to attack them and destroy them. The group they hired was called the B’wa Kell (they were goblins). The goblins trusted Opal and Cudgeon with their lives, knowing that Opal could betray them and easily destroy them all. In the end, that’s what Opal did. It is questionable whether destroying the B’wa Kell caused Opal and Cudgeon to fail their mission, but the B’wa Kell definitely could have helped them more if they weren’t destroyed.
In the first Artemis Fowl book, Artemis had kidnapped Officer Holly Short and asked for a ransom in fairy gold. In the Arctic Incident, which is the second story, Holly continues to hold a grudge against Artemis. When Artemis first asked for their help, Holly said “Artemis does nothing for nothing,” which proves that she still didn’t trust Artemis. Towards the end of the book, Holly risks her life to save Artemis’ father. This built trust between Artemis and Holly, and in the end of the story, they became friends. Artemis and Holly succeeded at two very tough and dangerous missions by trusting each other and working together.
In real life, people trust doctors with their lives. Doctors are good people to trust with your life instead of hobos because they have degrees allowing them to doctor you. If you can trust in the right people, you can succeed.
Believe in Yourself
Period 9
Grade 8
In the movie Star Wars by George Lucas, there is a light side and a dark side. Both sides are in outer space, and are on different Empire space ships. The light side are the Jedi’s. The Jedi’s have what’s called, “the force” and use it against the dark side. Luke, Hon Sol, Obi Won Kenobi and Chewbacca are all on the light side. Obi Won Kenobi is a master Jedi. The dark side are the Storm Troopers, who work for Darth Vader. Darth Vader also has “the force”, but he uses it for evil. The bad side is on an Empire called the Death Star. The Death Star is so powerful, it can blow up any planet. The Jedi’s need to blow up the Death Star so that way they don’t blow up any more planets. The Jedi’s use the force to help them succeed in this. The force is very powerful and can be used in a good way or a bad way. The force is like believing in yourself. If you believe in yourself, you can do whatever you set your mind to.
Luke, Hon Sol, Obi Won Kenobi and Chewbacca were all on Hon Sol’s space ship. Obi Won Kenobi is a master Jedi, which means he knows how to use the force well. Obi Won Kenobi tries to teach Luke how to use the force because he is the chosen one. Luke uses a light-saber, a sword that is made of pure energy in a cylindrical shape, to train on a remote machine. The training machine shots out bullets of energy which Luke hits away with his light-saber. It was hard for him at first, and Luke got frustrated. Obi Won Kenobi tells him to use the force in order to hit the bullets away. After Obi Won tells him to just relax and use the force, he puts a blind fold on Luke, because he knows that the force will guide him. Luke gets the hang of the training device and is able to hit every bullet. When Luke used the force, he believed in himself that he could do it. Because he used the force, he was able to do what he wanted to do, which was hit the bullets. He believed he could do it and he did well.
When Luke, Hon Sol, Obi Won Kenobi and Chewbacca went to a planet, they couldn’t be seen by the Storm Troopers. If Storm Troopers see any of them, they would of killed them. Obi Won Kenobi wanted to make sure that didn’t happen, He used the force and was able to trick them and sneak by. “The force only works on the small minded” is what is said in the movie. The Storm Troopers are very small minded because they only do what they are told by Darth Vader. Obi Won Kenobi almost hypnotized the Storm Troopers by simply using the force while telling them to just let them pass through. If you believe in what you are saying, and what you are talking about, anyone will believe you.
The light side wants to blow up the Death Star because they don’t want the dark side to keep blowing up planets. The only way to stop the Death Star was by shooting in the direct spot on the space ship to trigger it to explode. There were many people from the light side in little space ships that tried to shoot, but failed. Luke was the last one. He had Storm troopers on his tail and he was trying to make sure he shot in the precise spot. He used the force, believed in himself and shot directly into the correct place, and the Death Star blew up. He used the force and believed that he could do it, and was able to save the galaxy.
When you believe in yourself, and know what you want to do; you can achieve anything. Whether its saving a galaxy, or doing something little, if you think you can do something, then there’s nothing stopping you. Luke was able to not give up, and know that he could do anything he set his mind to. The force gave him that belief in himself, but he had it in him all along. After all, he is the chosen one.
Believing
In the movie Star Wars, Episode 4: A New Hope the main character Luke ventures on a quest to fight the empire. The empire made a weapon of mass destruction, known as the Death Star, is so powerful and complex no one had ever seen anything like it before. The empire believes they have already won the battle because the once before threatening Jedi Knights and the force seemed to have vanished. When Luke discovers how to harness the power of the force he becomes the “master of two worlds”.
When Jedi Knight Obi-Won and Luke encounter a group of storm troopers who work for the empire, they are called to a halt to pass their inspections. Knowing that they will not pass because they are partaking in the rebellion, Obi-Won uses the power of the force by focusing very hard for a quick moment and then control the “weak minded”. Luke is baffled by his use of the force and is egger to learn how to use it as well.
Luke and Obi-Won continue their journey and find themselves on a ship in outer space with a young man named Han Solo. Han does not believe in the force because he had “seen a lot of strange things in outer space before”, and things that the force is a myth. Luke becomes confused as to why he would say so, because Luke had seen Obi use the force before. Luke wants to believe in the force and he wants Han to see that it really isn’t a myth, but first he has to truly believe in the force before he can use it. His attempt to show Han requires a difficult task; Luke would have to hit a practice droid with his Jedi Knight light saber and his eyes fully covered. At first it would be easy to doubt in the force because it was already hard for Luke to hit the droid with his eyes wide open. Only able to rely on the force and not his eyes Luke strikes the droid after a short period of concentration proving that the force is not only real, but you have to believe with your mind and heart before you used the powerful weapon.
When Luke is flying in one of the rebel space ships to destroy the Death Star he hears Obi-Won’s voice telling him he does not need to rely on the technology in his ship but the force to help him succeed in defeating the empire. Believing Luke switched off his computers and focused on the force and using its power to destroy Death Star. Although he had three fully equipped empire ships close behind Luke was able to use the force to destroy Death Star and save his home planet.
After Learning how to use the force Luke became the “master of two worlds” for destroying Death Star and saving his people. The force has helped him along the way and he could only be helped by it through one lesson: believe in yourself. If Luke had not believed he would not have been able to focus and save all the people on his home planet Tatoonie.
Believing isn’t Seeing
Star Wars, by George Lucas, is a movie based all around an ancient magic known as the force. It is not seen, and it used by a kind of person called a Jeti. Evil can weald the force also. A huge part of this movie is that the force is very symbolic. I think it symbolizes the idea to believe in things even when you can’t see them. In Star Wars, the Jeti’s believe in the ancient magic, therefore they can use it.
In the story, the main character, Luke Skywalker, is a Jeti who lives on a farm with his aunt and uncle. He meets a character named Obi-wan who plays the role of his mentor. Obi gives him a weapon from his dead father. He asks Luke to come with him on a mission to find the princess after he found a message from her asking for help. Luke says that he cant go and that he has to stay on the farm to help his aunt and uncle. He gets back to the farm to find them burnt to death. He now chooses to go with Obi on the mission. On the way there Obi trains Luke to use the weapon, a light saber. He is practicing and practicing but still is having a hard time. He then blindfolds Luke and tells him to believe in the force. At first Luke it doubtful and it will not work. Then he finally decides to give in and he tries to use and believe in the force, and it works.
In most fantasy stories, there are more than one character who wealds the most powerful magic. In Star Wars, Jeti’s can use the force. Darth Vador is the most powerful evil being in the movie. Because he is a Jeti, he can use the force. He has evil soldiers that follow him known as storm troopers. He is the only evil being that can use the force. When he was younger his mentor was Obi-wan, and he was good. He became evil as he got older, and used the force even though he was evil. This shows that the force isn’t a magic used by specific kinds of people, but that as long as a Jeti believes in the force, they can use it.
In the end Luke and other warriors are trying to hit a specific point on a massive evil space ship, the Death Star. The Death Star is bigger than a planet, and has the power to blow up planets. Han, Obi-wan, and Luke need to destroy it because they are destroying planets and because princess Lea is on it. Every time they get close enough to hit the specific point, they get shot down one by one by Darth Vador and his evil followers. Finally only Luke is left alive and is about to shoot at the target and he takes off his aiming device. He hears obi in his head to use the force, and he decides to. When he gets to the target he shoots and hits it using the force. At the beginning he doubted the force but now he decides to listen to his wise mentor. The force can’t be seen and even Luke being a doubter now could use the it.
Throughout most fantasy stories there are things that aren’t necessarily seen but are definitely believed in by the main characters. This idea is definitely portrayed in Star Wars, as in many other famous books and movies. In stories like this one, the most powerful and independent characters believe in and weald the magic. This means to be the mentor or ruler in fantasy stories, you would need to believe in things even when they can’t be seen.
Packed Up and Left
In the book, “Clockwork”, by Philip Pullman, a writer named Fritz creates a fictional story that slowly begins happening in real life. Fritz was known for his stories; many people gathered together just to hear him read them aloud. One thing that they did not expect upon listening to one of his stories was that the characters would come alive and find their way into the real world. When Fritz wrote his story about clockwork, he was subconsciously creating havoc for the people in his town.
In the beginning of the book, Fritz described a character named Dr. Kalmenius. He was described in great detail from his personality to his physical characteristics. It was because of this that when the supposedly fictional character entered the bar where Fritz was reading his story, everyone (including the bewildered Fritz) recognized him immediately. Everyone immediately left the bar in fear of Dr. Kalmenius whom they thought had been a fictional character. Fritz also didn’t get to finish reading his story and because of that, it was not up to him to decide how the story would end. Without an end, anything could happen; whether it was good or bad.
In addition to driving away all of the people in the bar, Dr. Kalmenius was going to deliver something incredibly dangerous to someone who had remained in the bar. His gift was for a man named Karl; a man who was an apprentice clockmaker. His goal was to make an extraordinary piece of clockwork into the big clock tower for the whole town to see. The problem was Karl hadn’t made one. He had been sulking in the corner of the bar the whole time Fritz had been reading his story, thinking about how bad the next day would be. Karl had not made anything to put in the clock tower, so he knew that when it was time for his piece to emerge from the clock tower, nothing would appear and people would look down at him in disappointment. Dr. Kalmenius gave Karl a night in shining armor named Sir Ironsoul. He offered for Karl to show it as his own and put it into the clock tower for the whole town to see. The one problem was that Sir Ironsoul came to life whenever someone said the word devil. In addition, Sir Ironsoul would not “turn off” until he slit the throat of the person who said devil. The only other way to make him stop was to hum or whistle a certain tune which very few people knew. If it wasn’t for Fritz’s story, no harm would have come to Karl or anyone else who said devil in the presence of Sir Ironsoul, because Dr. Kalmenius would never have entered their world bearing Sir Ironsoul.
Another important character in the story is Prince Florian. Prince Florian was made of clockwork. His father had brought him to a clockmaker shortly after his birth, hoping the clockmaker could do something to the baby to keep him alive. So the clockmaker made a replica of the baby that was so real it fooled even the queen who had conceived him. A few years later, his son began to slow down. So he went to visit the clockmaker to fix his son. The clockmaker fixed his son, and afterwards tried to tell the father an important saying that would keep his son “working regularly”, but he was so eager to bring his son back home that he did not listen. A few years passed again, and the son began to slow down. The doctors all thought he was sick, but the father knew that his son needed to be taken back to the clockmaker again. So the father took his son and their closest family friend and went on a trip to “revive” the child. Along the way, a pack of hungry wolves began attacking the chariot Prince Florian, his father, and the family friend were in. The friend would have rather died than have anything happen to his “family”, so he sacrificed himself to help the other two could get away. It was a terrible ending for that man; all because of what Fritz made up in his story.
When the father and Prince Florian finally made it to the clockmaker, both of them were very tired and sick. So the father had the clockmaker fix his son, and then asked if the he could put a piece of clockwork into his body so he could drive the chariot and his son back home safely. The clockmaker agreed and put in clockwork that would move the fathers arm up and down to drive the chariot home. After the clockmaker finished, the father and son left to begin their journey home. When they both made it home safely, the guards at the palace could see that the man was dead, but they couldn’t figure out how his arm was still thrashing up and down. So the doctor took him away to examine his body; revealing the large cut that was left on his chest where the clockwork was inserted. The doctor cut the stitches to reveal the hidden clockwork and removed it. The father’s arm finally stopped thrashing and he was finally declared dead.
Fritz’s story caused many deaths and other major problems. He never finished writing his story and he planned to improvise the end of it at the bar. If you are going to be irresponsible enough to make a mess, you should be responsible enough to clean it up yourself. Fritz fled to a new town where he could start over; leaving his old town behind to clean up the mess he made. This shows that no matter how big a mess you make of things, you should always clean it up. Fritz could have finished his story and prevented even more bad things from happening. He was so scared of what he had done that he didn’t think rationally after that; he just packed up and left.
Believing In Yourself
In the fantasy movie “Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope”, a young man Luke Skywalker, goes on a great expedition. With help from friends along the way Luke needs to rebel against an empire that holds a weapon of mass destruction, called the Death star; a giant battle station capable of destroying a world in less than a second and to rescue a princess, Leia who was taken by the empire. One of his friends that help him on his expedition, Obi Wan Kenobi, is a former Jedi knight. The Jedi are against this empire. “The force” is what gives a Jedi its power. The force is about believing in yourself.
At one point, towards the beginning of the movie, Luke is practicing hitting a droid (a type of robot) with a light saber, a commonly used weapon in the Star Wars movies. He has a helmet on covering his eyes so he cannot see. Luke does not think that he can hit the droid at first but he uses the force and believes in himself and he succeeds.
At another part in the movie, Luke is in a ship trying to destroy Death star when he hears a voice telling him to use the force, not a computer. He did not need to depend on technology to destroy the Death Star and believing in himself; he was able to direct the force to help him.
Last, the Storm troopers, which are evil servants under the empire, allow Luke to pass them under the forces influence. Obi Wan shows Luke that the force works only if you believe in yourself.
Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope, shows that you need to believe in yourself in order to use the force. Luke Skywalker believed in himself, and he accomplished many great things. Believing in yourself may help you accomplish many good things in reality. If you do not believe in yourself, you will not accomplish anything that you want to.
Environment Effects Human Nature
In the movie, Star Wars, by George Lucas, a boy named Luke goes on the adventure of his life, and it fully transforms the way he looks at his life, and the universe. Luke is a farm boy, growing up on the remote system of Tatooine. He is forced season after season to assist his Uncle Owen in the endless work that is maintaining and profiting from a crop. All Luke wants is to escape his boring life and do something exciting. When a mysterious hermit named Ben Kenobi comes to Luke and tells him about his family’s history, about how his father was a Jedi Knight who fought gallantly in the Clone Wars, many years earlier. When Luke’s aunt and uncle are killed by marauding Imperial Troops, he decides to follow Ben on his conquest against the evil Empire. Through many life threatening battles and exciting adventures, Luke is changed from a simple farm hand to a real hero.
The first example you will find in Star Wars is while Luke, Han Solo, Ben, R2D2, C3PO, and Chewbacca are pulled into the Empire’s super weapon, the Death Star. After rescuing Princess Leah, the group is making their escape from the mechanical monster. Ben is off alone, disabling the tractor beam so that they may escape in Han’s ship, the Millennium Falcon, without being pulled back in. As the other five are making their way toward the ship, Ben faces off with his former Jedi apprentice, Darth Vader, one of the highest ranking figures in the Empire and supposedly the last remaining Sith Lord in the galaxy. The Sith are the name given to the evil Jedi who terrorized the old Republic. Darth Vader and Ben, formerly known as Obi-Wan in the days of the Jedi Council, both skilled in the ways of the force, duel in a battle of good versus evil, master versus apprentice. When Obi-Wan sees his friends attempting to board their ship, he surrenders his life to Vader, and allows himself to be cut down, reduced to a spirit that will talk to Luke, and guide him when he needs assistance. When he sees his friend cut down in battle, Luke is crushed, and begins to open fire on the storm troopers who were mesmerized by the two Jedi fighting. He then blasts the panel mounted on the wall, shutting the blast door and preventing Darth Vader from stepping through and ending their journey before it began. He then hears Obi-Wan’s voice inside his head, telling him to run for safety. Only then does Luke turn and board the ship, having saved him and his friends from being easily slaughtered by the many troops and Darth Vader himself. This clearly shows how the heat of battle and the stressful situation caused Luke to step up and show a great deal of heroism.
The next example of this is after the group escapes the Death Star. They fly through space, and make their way toward Yavin 4, a moon of the system Yavin. Yavin 4 is the location of the Rebel Base, created by a brave band of pilots and military officials to counter the threat of the Empire that is taking the galaxy by force. The brave friends deliver their cargo, a set of blueprints of the Death Star that may help the Rebels expose a weakness, so that they may develop a plan to exploit it. Luke signs up to pilot a Rebel X-Wing fighter, eager to aid in any way to the effort of the Rebel attack. As he is preparing for take-off, facing almost certain death against the might of the Empire, he is disgusted at Han Solo when all he wants is his reward in cash. After all they’ve been through, Han can’t find it in his heart to put himself on the line in possibly a last effort to snuff the danger of the Empire forever. Luke is deeply hurt by this, and it shows you how truly selfless he is, and willing to give himself up for the good of people he cares about and the rest of the innocent people in the galaxy. This is a result of his recent adventures, and what he has been exposed to during them.
The final example of this is the end and very climax of the movie. The Rebel fleet is completely unprepared for the onslaught brought on by the Empire’s Death Star. Pilots are dropping like flies. Their objective is to follow a trench along the side of the space station, up until an exhaust vent. They have to drop a torpedo into the vent and hope it sets off a chain reaction, destroying the entire Death Star. The space station itself has decent defenses in it’s stationary turrets, but once the Empire analyzes the attack, they send out their own one-man fighters to counter the Rebels ship-to-ship. As each attack group enters the trench, they are picked up by a group of fighters and destroyed with no trouble. The losses to the Rebels are massive, and it looks as though the attack will be futile. Finally, after much time spent fighting off individual fighter attacks, Luke’s attack group falls into the trench to make one last attempt. After much blistering drama, and two lost comrades, Luke has an opportunity to end everything. He turns off the computer being used to target the vent, and instead listens to Obi-Wan’s voice inside him, telling him to believe in himself and the Force to accomplish his goal. Luke successfully evades the stalking ships, due to a little help from his friend Han Solo, and drops a torpedo into the vent destroying the Death Star and neutralizing the Imperial threat. Luke and Han are both awarded medals for displaying their unbelievable bravery and passion in saving the Rebellion and the galaxy.
It is very easy to see how through much adventure, danger, and sorrow, Luke Skywalker and his comrades and friends are transformed from what they are, to hardened warriors and passionate heroes. It is not only in Star Wars. In most fantasy stories, the hero, after being called away from their average life, is transformed into a person who has seen and done everything, and who is a more though, kind, and knowledgeable person for it. It even happens in our lives. When a person “leaves the nest”, they change from what they are in childhood, to a person who has to fend for themselves, while still maintaining some of the more defining attributes that make them who they are. From Star Wars, you can really see how a person’s environment and what they face in their lives will affect what they are like and what they do.
Star Wars: A New Hope
In the movie, “A New Hope”, by George Lucas, the main character Luke is destined to blow up the death star and overthrow the “dark side.” Luke grew up on a desolate farm with his grandparents, but always knew that he could do more. Throughout the story Luke is longing for an adventure. At the end of the story, Luke discovers the power of the force and the truth about being a Jedi. This story is about discovering who you truly are.
While Luke and his friends are on the Millennium Falcon Obi-wan tries to teach Luke the force but he is skeptical. Obi-wan tells Luke to put on a mask and try to fight a robot using only his instincts. As the machine fires lasers at Luke he successfully uses the force and defeats the robot with his light saber. This causes Luke to believe in the force and sparks his interest for the newly found religion. Luke wants to find out more about what his grandparents tried to protect him from and who he truly is.
While Luke is in the death star, he is running to the ship so they can escape but he sees Obi-wan and Darth Vader fighting. Then suddenly Obi-wan stops and lets Darth Vader strike him down. Luke didn’t understand why Obi-wan did that. Obi-wan did that because he knew what Luke was destined to be and that he had fulfilled his duty as a Jedi. This shows that finding yourself is an important part of the movie.
Near the end of the movie Luke is in a fighter jet speeding towards a small opening in the death star that he must shoot. Instead of using the computer to fire into it, he trusts Obi-wan’s advice and uses the force. This also shows that he was trusting in himself. By not using the computer it makes the viewer think that Luke knows he wants to be a Jedi and learn the force. At this point in the movie Luke knows who is and what he is going to be.
The force is a symbol of believing in yourself and trusting yourself to conquer things. Luke discovers himself and his true meaning in life which enables him to be able to use the force successfully. I think the force is used as a symbol of believing in yourself because the writer wanted to portray how important it is to be confident in yourself. Luke set his mind to defeating the death star, and because he believed he could do it, he did. He used the force, and with the help of it, he defeated the Death Star and for the time being Darth Vader.
Trust
In the movie Star Wars by George Lucas, Luke, C3PO, and R2D2 set out on a journey to find Princess Lea. They first find a message Princess Lea left with R2D2 saying that someone needs to come and save her, on their journey they meet many people. Every person they meet they have to trust in order for them to come with them on their journey.
In Star Wars luke travels with Oby-Wun. In the movie a small flying remote is flying around in their ship. Luke starts fighting it but keeps on missing. Oby-Wun tells Luke to close his eyes and to fight the remote. Luke trusts Oby-Wun and closes his eyes. When he does this he fights the remote and blocks it every time.
In the movie Oby-Wun uses the force to cross over into another “world.” The force lets you control other people or things without you trying to. In the end of the movie Luke is flying into the deathstar and hears Oby-Wun’s voice, he tells Luke to trust the force. After hearing this Luke turns off his computer. He trusts the force to fly into the death star and blow it up without the computer.
In the movie Princess Lea is trapped in the enemy’s ship,5 she leaves a message with R2D2 asking to be saved. Luke finds this message and sets off to rescue her. When they find her, Princess Lea doesn’t know who they are but trusts them and escapes the ship with them
Throughout the movie everyone has to trust people. Luke has to trust the force in order to blow up the Deathstar, he also has to trust Oby-Wun so the remote doesn’t hit him, and Princess Lea has to trust Luke so she doesn’t get killed. Sometimes you need to trust other people for your own good.