Skip to main content

Star Wars: Tarkin... Nature or Nurture?

Tarkin (Star Wars)Tarkin by James Luceno
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Star Wars book: Tarkin

This is a similar book to the one I mentioned and blogged about called "Thrawn". I think we only see this Tarkin once in the movies which the first movie simply called Star Wars, He may have been in other books and comics, but I don't recall. One always ask the question of what shapes the personality of a person or a character. In the real world is it nature or nurture?. When one reads this book one may come to the conclusion that is a little bit of both.

Like all my other reviews I am not going into the plot. These can easily be found on the internet or Wikipedia. If you haven't read the book you may want to stop here. That being said let me continue now. Is Tarkin a villain? If we saw the movie Star Wars we might come to the conclusion, yes, he was. Was he a villain because he served the empire? Or was he a villain simply because of the way he was raised? Was he a villain at all?

That is the question. I really couldn't find any valid excuse that he was evil just because he served the empire. While true he had a strict military personality I will not say that it was the result of serving the empire. After reading the book I came to the conclusion that his upbringing had a lot to do with his personality. Let me bring out an analogy that can be understood. Of course, you need to know a little bit of World War II history.

Not everyone who served in the German army even if they were Military Officers we're Nazis. They follow orders because they were more soldiers than politicians. A good example of this was Erwin Rommel known as the desert fox and his rank was field Marshal in the German army. He served in World War 1 and World War II, and he was a patriot but not by Nazi standards, even though he agreed with certain parts of Nazi politics He was not a member of the Nazi party. And he decided that Hitler really was not good for Germany. Historians believe that he was part of a plot to kill Hitler indicating that to him Germany was more important than Hitler.

Why did I bring this up? Romel formation as a military field Marshal was already in progress before Nazi Germany came to be. The same could be said about Tarkin. Tarkin formation as Tarkin, was already in development during the Republic years, Clone war years, and eventually when the Republic became an Empire. Sometimes I think that Tarkin was modeled after Rommel. It's one of those things that one has to think about to understand the individual characters and personalities of the Star Wars universe. The development of the Empire took its time, it didn't happen overnight.

If Tarkin was part of the rebellion, his efficiency would be the same. However, he was actually part of the long developing establishment. Tarkin would have been Tarkin Whether he served in the Empire, the Old Republic, or the New Republic. However, that is my personal opinion if you decide to read the book or have read it let me know if you agree with me or not. It is good to see other points of view. This being said I think I like the character and can understand his personal motivation better. What say you?

View all my reviews

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Long Mars

The Long Mars by Terry Pratchett My rating: 3 of 5 stars "The Long Mars," the third installment in the Long Earth series, continues to expand the already vast canvas of Pratchett and Baxter's creation. While the concept of "Joker Mars" – echoing the familiar "Joker Earths" – is intriguing, it's just one of three distinct narrative threads woven throughout this book. We follow Sally Linsay on a journey across the Martian Stepped worlds, unraveling the mysteries her father, Willis, seeks. This exploration of the alien landscapes of the Long Mars is certainly compelling, but personally, it was the storyline involving "The Next" that truly captivated me. Joshua Valiente's arc, which delves into the emergence of these post-human children, is where the book really shines. It's a powerful exploration of prejudice, fear, and the potential societal clashes that arise when faced with the "other." The authors masterfully tackle ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Long Utopia

The Long Utopia by Terry Pratchett My rating: 3 of 5 stars In The Long Utopia, a novel in the Long Earth series, the artificial intelligences Agnes and Lobsang embark on a unique endeavor: adopting a human child, Ben, and attempting to build a normal pioneering life on one of the seemingly infinite parallel Earths. However, their peaceful existence takes a dramatic turn with the human pioneers discovering a peculiar species dubbed 'silver beetles'. These insects exhibit an unusual behavior of 'stepping down' to lower-numbered Earths. As the pioneers observe them, a terrifying realization dawns: the silver beetles are not merely migrating; they are systematically transforming their chosen parallel Earth into a colossal Dyson Motor, a structure designed to harness the star's energy. Lobsang, with his advanced analytical capabilities, understands the catastrophic implications. These silver beetles can step sideways to other parallel Earths, potentially converting an...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Long Cosmos

The Long Cosmos by Terry Pratchett My rating: 2 of 5 stars Having just finished "The Long Cosmos," the final installment in the "Long Earth" series—a collaboration Stephen Baxter completed after Terry Pratchett's passing—I found myself a bit disappointed by the number of loose ends left unresolved. I think a core challenge in classifying this series as traditional science fiction lies in its fundamental premise, which sidesteps the real-world physics limitations of interstellar travel. Knowing the near impossibility of venturing beyond our solar system due to light-speed limits, the authors cleverly engineered the parallel Earth concept as their vehicle for cosmic exploration. Instead of launching spaceships, the characters simply "step" into new worlds. This ingenious workaround allows for adventure without grappling with conventional astrophysical constraints. While "The Long Cosmos" does bring humanity's journey across the infinite ...
Post a Comment
Read more