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Introduction:
I watched Star Wars again recently, and I found myself greatly sympathizing with Darth Vader. In fact, I believe that I (and many other men) would have fallen to the dark side too given the circumstances.
Spoilers below (for the negligible percent of you who haven't seen Star Wars)
1. When he's young, he loves his mama
Unless there are problems in the home, guys tend to be very fond of their mothers, especially in their younger years. Mothers are the earliest source of unconditional love that a man knows. As a result (among other factors), guys are very protective of their mother. So when Darth Vader left his mom to go train, he was excited about the future, yet scared and adamant about his return. When he found his mom killed, he took revenge. I may have done the same.
2. When he has potential, but no one respects him
The Jedi that found him claimed that he was the chosen one and had lots of potential. He knew these things from an early age and superseded all of his peers in terms of his skill at being a Jedi. Nonetheless, the Jedi didn't respect his judgment and were even reluctant to make him a Jedi in the first place. They even told him to, "learn your place," on multiple occasions. I used to hate being a teenager and not having my opinion respected simply because I came out of the womb at a later date. I used to hate it even more when the adults belittling me were questionable in the intelligence department themselves, especially when I had repeatedly demonstrated my competence.
3. When he becomes a beast
All of that potential people have been talking about finally starts to come to fruition. He becomes a general. He marries a senator. He gets his own apprentice. His mentors become his peers. He becomes homies with the president. Everything is looking up for Darth Vader. I sympathize with Darth Vader's experiences because when you're a young man, you have more freedom, your network grows, people start respecting you and you start befriending women in a more intimate way.
4. When he gets critical
After his wife gets pregnant, Darth Vader starts to measure what's important to him. He values his family above all else, even more than the Jedi. Then he has visions that his wife will die. The president says that he should learn what the Jedi won't allow him to learn to save her. I can sympathize with this phase in Darth Vader's life because he's beginning to weigh his values, question authority and seek new knowledge. Questions like, "there's got to be more to life than chasing girls and money," "why is this drug 'bad'?" "Is the government wrong about this?" etc. are questions that a maturing man should ask himself while getting older.
5. When he gets humbled
After embracing the president's words and rebelling against the Jedi, he fights his former teacher in a volcano. He overestimates his skill and foolishly rushes into an attack, which leaves him crippled and burned to a crisp. After all of the successes he had, he rightly believed he was powerful, but his cockiness cost him. Afterwards, his wife dies and, thus, Darth Vader loses everything that was important to him. I can relate to Darth Vader's experiences because lashing out against your boss, trying to control your girlfriend, etc. for what you believe to be the right reasons may result in a terrible outcome for you (no more job, no more girl, etc.). I can also relate to learning the limits of your own body: learning that you can't drink as much anymore, that you need to eat and sleep, etc. as your body changes.
6. When he runs shit
After being crippled, Darth Vader spends the next few decades honing his skills, hunting down Jedi and crushing rebellions. He has innumerable minions at his disposal and years of experience under his belt. He finds the man that dismembered him and approaches the fight more cautiously, learning from his mistakes in the past and finally defeating his former teacher. I haven't reached this point in my life yet, but I'd like to think that my older years will also be spent honing my skills, learning from past mistakes, gaining professional power and reconciling relations with those with whom I had issues in the past.
Conclusion:
I think the story of Darth Vader epitomizes a man's life because it is a dramatization of what most men go through as they age. Boys are vulnerable and anxious to be men, excited about what they will be able to do. Then boys get a taste at being men in young adulthood and tend to fall in love with the freedom, respect and experiences they have. Then a man starts challenging his surroundings and his own teachings. Then we learn our own limits. Finally, we have the knowledge we need to take a humble, dedicated approach to the rest of our lives. We still make mistakes, but most of us find the light . . . eventually.
Side note: If the organization that reluctantly raised me started a coup, tried to assassinate the president (my homie), told me I could never have a girlfriend, chopped off my limbs and left me to be burned alive, I would've been pissed too.
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