Luke Skywalker: Reconsidered from an Author's Viewpoint

Ask any editor or literary agent, and they will confirm this truism: too many coincidences make a story too unbelievable. On the other hand, a skillful storyteller can stack up quite a few coincidences and make it work just fine. Enter Luke Skywalker.

Luke is an ordinary farm kid in outer space. He doesn't like his lot in life, but he is faithful to do his duty. Now let's count the coincidences:

1. When the two 'droids that the Princess sends to Obi-wan land on the planet Tatooine, they get picked up by scavengers and sold to whom? Luke's uncle. (But Luke spends more time with them than the uncle.)
2. The all-important schematics that reveal the weakness of the Death Star are hidden inside the R2D2 'droid and are now in the possession of whom? Luke.
3. Although Tatooine must be a fair-sized planet, Obi-wan happens to live relatively near to whom? Luke
4. Obi-wan knew Luke's father and tried several times to give his father's light saber to Luke (the  uncle had forbidden it).
5. Luke now has the Death Star plans, and a guide, and a cool weapon, but wait--that's not all! Despite what he has been told, Luke is the son of a powerful Jedi knight. In fact, by sheer coincidence, the Force is also strong in Luke. Now, if only someone could teach Luke the ways of the Force... Oh, Obi-wan can do that? Wonderful.

See what I mean? Luke is a classic reluctant hero to whom we can relate, but he's also the recipient of a truckload of coincidences. He's an ordinary kid who refuses to blast off to adventure among the stars because of the coming harvest. Then storm troopers kill his aunt and uncle, thus propelling this son of a Jedi into a series of inevitable events that all revolve around him. True to form, humble Luke has little confidence in himself and for a long while doubts he will ever get the hang of using this Force thing. In this way, George Lucas made Luke a larger-than-life individual, but a hero with universal appeal because of his humble beginnings and lack of self-confidence. Even without the Force, we "become" him to save the universe.

Are you an author? If so, you might need to inject a coincidence here or there. But do so with caution until you become a Publishing Master. Too many random coincidences might Force angry readers to hurl your book all the way to a galaxy far, far away.

Now a new question comes to mind: Did George Lucas purposely embed himself in Star Wars by naming the hero "Luke S."?

The Last Patriot

In Brad Thor's suspense novel, Scot Harvath is a former Navy SEAL. His military training, plus his keen mind and powers of perception enabled him to become a leading counter-terrorism operative for the U.S. government. But because the President once ordered him to stand down in an incident that cost of the lives of his team, Harvath has no interest in continuing that role. In fact, although he had been a frequent visitor to the White House, he now has an enormous grudge against the President and zero interest in helping him.

However, fate steps in to draw Harvath back into danger. While in Paris with his girlfriend, his training alerts him that he is about to witness a car bomb. Instinctively he leaps to protect the intended victim. He wants to walk away and forget the incident, but now he's involved, and security cameras have captured his face. Suddenly Harvath finds himself caught up in a plot by Islamic terrorists that goes all the way back to the prophet Mohammed. And this time, the stakes are so high that he's compelled into action, even without the backing of the U.S.

Brad Thor's well-crafted technique put this book on the New York Times best-seller list. Glenn Beck declared, "This stuff is nitroglycerin." But you can make up your mind about Scot Harvath, the last patriot!

Spotlight on: Katniss Everdeen

If you went searching for a hero in District 12, chances are good you wouldn’t single out Katniss Everdeen. In fact, you wouldn’t expect any hero in this district. This is a poverty-stricken place. It’s also a dirty town, made even dirtier by dust from the coal that miners dig from the ground. In the past 74 years, only two citizens of District 12 have survived as winners of the Hunger Games, and only one of those two is still alive. The citizens here wish only to live their lives as peaceably as they can, with as little interference as possible from a government that forces them to engage in a tortuous and humiliating event every year.

In this scenario lives 16-year-old Katniss. Her father is gone, perished in a mining accident. Her mother has become mentally unstable. Her little family is among the poorest of the poor. Circumstances have forced Katniss into the role of providing food with her bow and quiver of arrows. She doesn’t consider herself pretty or popular. She is simply determined to survive as best she can.

 For fear of spoiling the story for those who haven't read The Hunger Games, I won’t delve deeply into the plot. However, in the character of Katniss, author Suzanne Collins has created another example of a protagonist pushed into a situation she doesn’t want to be in. Rather than allow her fragile sister Prim to go to certain death, Katniss insists the government representatives take her instead. As valiant as that act is, no one seriously expects Katniss to overcome the bigger and stronger participants.

In fact, despite Effie Trinket’s smiles and good wishes, the odds are pretty much never in Katniss’s favor. Yes, we cheer for this underdog, but even as we turn the pages, we can’t foresee how she can possibly come home alive.

Once more it’s my favorite literary combination: a normal person thrown into an abnormal situation and forced to deal with it. 

Go get ’em, Katniss!

A chance for your thoughts: The author gives Katniss one advantage: her outstanding skill with a bow. To balance that plus, what minuses, flaws, or weaknesses do you see in Katniss that keep her from seeming too powerful as a character?

Rick Barry has published over 200 short stories and articles, plus two novels, Gunner's Run and Kiriath's Quest.

 

My Reluctant Hero in Gunner's Run

A couple days ago, a mother informed me her teen son had decided to use my novel Gunner's Run for Speech class in school.

"In Speech class?"

She explained he needed to memorize a passage of something and then recite it to the class. Out of all possible books, he chose one of mine. What an honor!

That conversation prompts me to share a few words about Jim Yoder, the reluctant hero of my World War II story. Of course, hero is a word Jim would never use for himself. In fact, when he leaves his Indiana home and enlists in the Army Air Corps, that move is an act of rebellion to get away from his Christian upbringing. In the military, Jim becomes a waist gunner aboard a B-24 Liberator bomber. Through a series of events I won't describe here (I hate to spoil a story), Jim ends up exactly where he never expected to be--one the ground, alone, inside Nazi Germany. Can he make a run back to England before the Germans catch him? Is it time to end his run away from God?

Rather than ruin the story for those who haven't read it, let me focus on Jim as a person. He's nineteen. His dad is a mailman in the small town of Elkhart, Indiana. Jim has a knack for engine repair and hopes to be a mechanic if he can survive the war. Nothing about Jim himself elevates him above any of the other airmen stationed in Shipdham, England. He doesn't even aspire to lofty deeds. However, when circumstances conspire to throw this young Hoosier into situations beyond his control, he must deal with it. He'd rather be safely back home, but that's not an option. Step by reluctant step, Jim must walk a path he would rather not tread if he ever hopes to see his home or the beautiful girl Margo again. Fallible? Definitely? Unsure of himself? You bet he is. Perhaps those are the very qualities that make readers identify with Jim as he sets his sights on England and decides to attempt a run for home!

Your turn to reflect. When you enjoy a good book, is the fictional hero or heroine faultless? Invulnerable? Never tempted to do wrong? Always makes the smart decision? Probably not, because those qualities would remove the conflicts and tensions that we love to experience with that person, right?