One of the most shocking revelations of The Last Jedi was the Luke had cut himself off from the Force. But did he really achieve this? Is it even possible? Let’s discuss.
After Rey meditated with the Force on the rock ledge on Ahch-To, she resurfaced to tell Luke that she felt everything on the island, but didn’t sense Luke. She exclaims in the novelization:
I saw everything. The island, and past it I felt the stars singing. I thought my heart would explode. But I didn’t see you. Nothing from you. No light, no dark. You’ve closed yourself off from the Force.
But this makes me wonder to what extent did he achieve this, and is it even possible. There are a couple of relevant points on this.
First, people connect with the Force without even trying. Numerous instances throughout the films show people having Force-visions without even trying. Rey when touching the lightsaber in The Force Awakens, and Leia sensing that Luke was hanging under Bespin at the end of Empire come to mind. Visions and images come through the Force without even trying.
With that said, there is something to be said about letting go, and “reaching out with your feelings”, as Luke instructed Rey to do. So if you don’t let go and reach out with your feelings, can you actively close yourself off?
Second, Luke appears to have a Force-dream of some kind in the novelization. Luke is given a vision of what his life would be like had he never gone with Obi Wan Kenobi to Alderaan. He saw a life where he married Camie and lived out his years on Tatooine. When he awoke, he thought:
That was no ordinary dream, and you know it […] The Force was at work here–it had cloaked itself in a dream, to slip through the defenses he’d thrown up against it.
So from this we can see that the Force may have still found it’s way into Luke. When sleeping and in a dream state, the mind let’s go and it might be more receptive to visions. Anakin had visions of his mother and of Padme in his dreams. Something like this can be said about our galaxy. Much has been written about dream-induced experiences, visions, and premonitions that people on earth have had throughout the ages as far back as ancient Greece and likely much earlier. The relaxed state of sleep and dreaming creates a state of mind conducive to all sorts of experiences. Sure, it’s debatable whether these are real, but it still serves to illustrate parallels on earth to the idea that in Star Wars dreams are a way to connecting deeply with the Force.
So, taking all this together, it suggest that Luke had to actively block the Force. It wasn’t something that came from just not trying to use the Force, it was something that he had to actively do. He had to “throw up defenses”. But what about events with tremendous emotional weight, like the death of Han? Clearly, Luke seemed to not know about Han in the film. When he saw Chewie, he immediately said “Where’s Han?”. Right after that, it is said that “Rey recognized the instant he realized what was wrong.” It was almost as if Luke knew something. We’ve speculated that visions of Han’s future death may have been part of what Luke saw in Ben Solo before he turned on his saber. Han’s death could have been part of the evil in Ben that Luke foresaw, so that could be part of why Luke immediately knew something was wrong. But all indications suggest that Luke was not aware of when Han’s death occurred. He had closed himself off so strongly that he didn’t know when it had happened, even if he saw it coming.
So in conclusion, I would say that Luke was able to close himself off, but this was an active avoidance. The Force seeks you out, and will find it’s way to you, but if you actively repel it, you can block it. It’s not easy, but it’s possible.
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