Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader: Redemption & Forgiveness
The matter of redemption in Star Wars has always been a matter of discussion in the fandom and I wanted to give my take on this.
"A redemption arc is a literary term for a type of character development in which a bad or morally gray character turns into a good person by the end of the story. They redeem their worst sins through their actions in the story's resolution"
From a literature pov Darth Vader had a text book redemption arc on ROTJ which Lucas talks about as him "stopping the horror" by learning and having compassion for his Son.
"It really has to do with learning. Children teach you compassion. They teach you to love unconditionally. Anakin can’t be redeemed for all the pain and suffering he’s caused. He doesn’t right the wrongs, but he stops the horror. The end of the Saga is simply Anakin saying, ‘I care about this person, regardless of what it means to me. I will throw away everything that I have, everything that I have grown to love - primarily the Emperor - and throw away my life, to save this person. And I’m doing this because he has faith in me, loves me despite all the horrible things I’ve done. I broke his mother’s heart, but he still cares about me, and I can’t let that die.’
Anakin is very different in the end. The thing of it: The prophecy was right. Anakin was the Chosen One, and he does bring balance to the Force. He takes the ounce of good still left in him and destroys the Emperor out of compassion for his son."
George Lucas, The Making Of Revenge Of The Sith; page 221
But redemption can also have different meanings which also played a part in the way Lucas choose to represent the moment of Anakin/Vader´s redemption. Redemption:
(IN RELIGION):(especially in Christianity) an occasion when someone is saved from evil, suffering, etc. The state of being kept from evil or of improving morally. The act of paying back a loan
In many ways Redemption is also the act of paying back a moral debt owned by the evil or morally bad acts someone committed, this act on itself means the person in question improves their morality because they are turning back from evil to do good and make reparations.
In this way, thanks to the intervention of his Son, Anakin was saved from the suffering of the darkside and able to "turn back from evil" , improve morally by showing compassion once more in many long years and pay back his actions at the price of his blood.
This doesn´t mean it was the only way he could have paid his debts but it was the one way he was able to also stop the evil his master commited agaisnt the galaxy, this despite the fact Vader "loved" the Emperor, his love didn´t mean he didn´t recognize what they did was wrong and instead of washing himself of blame given he was initiatily manipulated into turning to the darkside by the Emperor, Vader took responsibility for them both, took the ounce of good left inside of him and "stopped the horror" in one self sacrificial action. Redemption is about the choice of the person who is seeking redemption.
Now when I see this creates confussion and even anger in the fandom, because is seen as unfair, is that many fans believe this means other characters HAD to forgive Anakin because Vader redeemed himself but this is not the case at all, forgiveness is another action all together, the fact Anakin redeemed himself in the end doesn´t mean Obi-Wan, Leia, Han, Luke, rebels and the Imperials, etc or any other person hurt by his actions HAD to forgive him, that is their prerrogative but at the same time, the fact they DIDN´T forgive him or the fact many didn´t even know Vader was the one who defeated the Emperor giving way to the New Republic rule(acording to the new canon), this doesn´t erase Anakin/Vader´s redemption.
Anakin/Vader was redeemed by his own actions, the act of being forgiven can only be made by the people hurt by his actions and no one else but even in the case they don´t forgive him doesn´t take away anything from Anakin´s sacrifice and the good that came from it.
Anakin lying dying and thinking of joining the force once more while being grateful to Luke for showing him how he could love again without knowing if his sacrifice was even going to be known or not was part of his redemption, he did what he could, at the price of his life, it didn´t matter what else happened after this. He was at peace.
Obi-Wan teaching Anakin how to become a force ghost was Obi-Wan´s choice, his way of showing Anakin that he forgave him but Anakin was already redeemed before he did this by Anakin´s own sacrifice.
Luke forgiving his father to give him a chance to turn from the darkside was Luke´s choice, no one else and Luke was at peace with his choice even when his father told him it was "too late for him"
Leia trying to forget everyting about Vader, not wanting to know about Anakin to get some peace but later remembering her mother and the good actions of her biological father, told by Luke, to stop herself from falling to the darkside by hating him when he was already dead, but not being able to forgive him either was her choice, it gave her peace, and the fact Anakin redeemed himself doesn´t mean she had to forgive him.
So in the end redemption and forgiveness is a matter of choice of the person seeking redemption and the person giving forgiveness. They are related but they aren not the same thing and just like Anakin choose to come back in the end, this possibility was open to any other imperial or rebel who did wrong at one point of their lives. It´s a personal decision, a personal choice.
"The boy was good, and the boy had come from him- so there must have been good in him, too. He smiled up again at his Son, and for the first time, loved him. And for the first time in many long years, loved himself again" (Anakin Skywalker - ROTJ)
