Those who know me and know my work will know that I’m really big into symbolism. To me, symbolism is a really great way of being able to tell part of the story without…telling the story? No, that didn’t make sense. I’m trying to collect my thoughts on this one and trying to get it out the right way, and I’m not really finding the right words for it.
Let’s try this one: it’s a way of representing the story you’re telling in more metaphorical ways, showing analogies and showing connections to things to help a reader better get a sense of what you’re trying to tell, or at the very least represent what you’re trying to say in ways other than just pure text. Often times in narratives you need texts, sometimes to explain what the symbolism is talking about, but other times you don’t. Sometimes it speaks for itself.
The ominous atmosphere of Coruscant signals a doomed future for the Jedi Order.
Take the canon Star Wars films, for example. In Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, when we see the Jedi Temple on Coruscant before Order 66 is executed, the sky and atmosphere are basically a gloomy, vomit-colored green. It’s basically there to represent the doom and gloom that’s about to come to the Jedi. We know the Jedi are about to get their asses hand to them on a silver platter, and that type of symbolism is a way to set the mood. You can do it without text or dialogue too. For example, you didn’t need to see this:
ANAKIN: It’s a gloomy day outside.
OBI-WAN: That’s because we are about to face certain doom.
ANAKIN: I don’t like gloomy skies. It’s gloomy and full of gloom, and it gets everywhere.
No, you didn’t need it spoon fed. In fact, you didn’t even need to be told that it represented that. It just set that mood, that feeling you need, that will help you when you’re watching the film and watch the story unfold.
The aftermath of the Jedi Temple attack bore a striking resemblance to the 9/11 attacks.
When you see the Jedi Temple later on the day after Anakin attacks it, you can see that it’s blue sky outside. The dark smoke pouring out of the temple stands in dark contrast to that. This is directly symbolic of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Before the World Trade Center collapsed, the smoke pouring out of the Twin Towers was a massive contrast to the blue sky. It was just a beautiful day outside, which was all the more weird considering the day sucked.
Then, later on in the film when Anakin’s charred body is taken to Coruscant, it’s dark and it’s rainy. What does this mean? It’s gloomy, it’s dreary, and it’s stormy. It’s a dark setting, one that’s not very happy. It works perfectly with the tone of the scene, because it’s telling you that there’s a storm out there. That storm won’t end until the destruction of the second Death Star.
So this introduction to symbolism is basically an introduction to a series of my blog postings I’ll putting up about symbolism in my work, namely Star Wars: Episode I – The Chosen One. To start, though, I wanted to tell you that you can find symbolism in basically EVERTHING I put together. Would it surprise you to know that the very header of this blog is symbolic of the Alternative Saga story? It surprised a few people I told today, so maybe it surprised you too.
Symbolism is everywhere you look, even in this blog's header!
Let’s take a look at the header. We have a beautiful shot from Revenge of the Sith where the Tantive IV is flying towards Alderaan’s palace, flying over mountains away from the camera. First, let me put you in the right frame of mind. The ship represents the characters, such as Annikin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Naberrie, and other characters who will appear later in the saga such as, of course, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo. The characters are the ones traveling, basically.
Now that you know that, I can explain the rest. You can sort of tell that the area that the ship is coming from, namely coming from the lower left part of the image, is a little flatter. It’s a bit more peaceful, smooth, and easier than the mountains that come after it. This gentler area of the terrain is basically a more idyllic time. It’s not the Invasion of Utapau, it’s not the Clone Wars, and it’s not the Galactic Civil War. It’s just a time of peace when things were easier.
The ship now, though, is flying over the harsh mountain terrain. It’s cold, it’s icy, it’s rough, and it’s difficult. This represents where the characters are now, basically in the dark ages of their era. But what are they flying towards? They’re headed towards a beautiful sky with an array of peaceful colors, a serene and noble palace, and a gentle sunset. They’re headed towards better days, but first they have to go over those rough, cold mountains.
So as you can see, there’s symbolism everywhere. You just need to know where to look for it and how to spot it. To help you spot it, I’ll keep talking about symbolism in my work, and maybe you’ll find out some things you didn’t know about it. Next in the lineup is the front and back covers of The Chosen One, both being replete with symbolism. Hopefully you enjoy that too!
This is pretty much a shameless plug and a pat on the back for myself, but I thought it’d be nice to mention that today, November 20th, is the two year anniversary of when I started releasing Star Wars: Episode I – The Chosen One. Ironically, this time last year, I was further into the novel than I am now, which is due to the fact that I began the second draft of the novel last January. I’m glad I did too, as it’s much better now than it was then.
Star Wars: The Alderaan Affair is one of our two Alternative Saga novels, this one written by Wayne Lipman III. It’s been in production for a little over a year now, having been released chapter-by-chapter as each is finished onto the Star Wars Fanon wiki. Since production began, seven chapters have already been released, with one still in the process of being written despite having a segment of it posted. Unfortunately, the novel has not seen any activity since this past winter, but we hope that Wayne will be able to start working on it again very soon! After all, it was the co-winner of the Best Fan Work Award in the Fourth Star Wars Fanon Wiki Awards, so that means it’s excellent, even in it’s incomplete state!
The Alternative Star Wars Saga, also called the Alternative Saga, is a fan-fiction continuity created by Victor Dorantes, Wayne Lipman III, and Brandon Rhea after the merger of Brandon Rhea’s Alternative Saga and the Squishy Vic Series, although Dorantes has since left the project. Other contributors include Susan Donnam, Edward Oliver, and Brent Krajewski. The saga spans across a vast timeline, starting around 99,945 BBY until at least 7 BBY, with central characters in the Bac, Lanmaw, and Skywalker families. Central events include the Great Territorial War, the Clone Wars, and the Galactic Civil War.