The Death of Luke's Aunt and Uncle in the Context of the Hero's Journey

In Episode 1 of Star Wars (“A New Hope”), Luke Skywalker goes through the stages of the hero’s journey as he rescues Princess Leia, destroys the Death Star, and sets out on his adventure (which spans multiple episodes). There’s a scene near the beginning of the episode where Luke is faced with the death of his stand-in guardians Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Luke follows R2D2, meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, and receives his call to adventure in the form of a holographic message from Princess Leia (which he refuses a couple times, as expected of the hero). When he returns home, however, he returns to ruins -- the Empire has destroyed the farm Luke has called home his entire life. This moment inspires Luke to begin his hero’s journey, finally convincing him to leave behind the life he knew for the “unknown.”

Specifically within the hero’s journey, I’d argue that this is the beginning of Luke crossing of the threshold, where Luke “crosses into the field of adventure” and “[ventures] into an unknown and dangerous realm where the rules and limits are unknown” (Wikipedia). The realization that the Empire murdered his aunt and uncle pushes Luke to the conclusion that he must leave and rescue Princess Leia, not only for the Rebellion and peace within the galaxy but for revenge. This is the threshold between the known and the unknown, where the known is Luke’s life on the farm before its destruction and the unknown is everything afterward as Luke can no longer return to the same comfortable life he had before.

I think several interpretations can be made in terms of the identity of the threshold guardian. In my opinion, however, Obi-Wan Kenobi is the threshold guardian. Obi-Wan Kenobi fits into Luke’s hero’s journey as the mentor figure. Not only did he provide Luke with teachings, but Obi-Wan was also the person to show Luke Princess Leia’s message and open his eyes to the fact that the galaxy needed help against the Empire. He’s the first one to urge Luke to embark on the hero’s journey and continues to repeatedly urge Luke to leave his home and come with him to Alderaan. Importantly, Obi-Wan is with Luke when Luke is staring in shock at the ruins of his family’s farm and helps Luke to realize that it was the Empire who caused this destruction, which becomes a major reason Luke decides to leave. 

I guess it could also be argued that Luke’s dead aunt and uncle are the guardians of the threshold, as their deaths are the catalyst for Luke’s departure, and therefore stand at the edge of the threshold, but I like the idea of Obi-Wan Kenobi being the threshold guardian better.

From a different perspective, the death of Luke’s stepparents could be seen as a “belly of the whale” moment because this is the moment where Luke commits to leaving his known world. It’s the beginning of his transformation from a simple farmer boy to the savior of the galaxy. The Wikipedia page on the hero’s journey states that the belly of the whale moment is a “final separation from the hero’s known world and self” and is characterized by a “willingness to undergo metamorphosis.” Not only that, but the hero may also go through a minor setback. The moment of the belly of the whale is described as “a form of self-annihilation…instead of passing outward, beyond the confines of the visible world, the hero goes inward, to be born again.” Luke, seeing the destruction of his home, decides that he no longer wants to live the simple life he did before -- he decides he wants to change, to “undergo metamorphosis,” and throws away his former self (“self-annihilation,” “goes inward, to be born again”). In fact, the change in Luke can literally be seen in his face. Observe:

But anyway, in conclusion, there are many ways to interpret the scene of the death of Luke’s aunt and uncle in terms of the hero’s journey; this is just my interpretation.