*Hello God Among Geek fans. We would like to introduce a new contributing member of our team. Meet John Pepe. He has been a good friend and fellow nerd (and/or geek) who brings his own style to our blog. This is his first post. Take a read and let him know what you think.

Thanks,

God Among Geeks.

 

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Hope and Faith: Rogue One and A New Hope

 

By: John D. Pepe

 

Rogue One brings us right to the doorstep of A New Hope (better known as Star Wars for some of us older folk) and in that, the two movies are inextricably linked, both as it pertains to their stories and as to the themes of “Hope and Faith.”

We see Rogue One’s rebel army fractured, lacking unity, and mired with filth.  Its rebels are comprised of spies, saboteurs, assassins, and even outright murders (case in point: Captain Cassian Andor’s killing of a man because he might give information to the Empire about an Imperial defector).  For these rebels, the ends justify the means.

In steps Jyn Erso, and with her, the budding flower of hope.  As the movies runs through its reels we begin to see that flower grow, we begin to see a change in the way the rebels look at the world (e.g., Cassian defies orders and doesn’t assassinate Jyn’s father, Galen).  Because of Cassian’s conscious, is failure to kill her father, Jyn can learn from him that he has created a defect in the Death Star, one that can be exploited.  When Jyn tells the Rebel leaders about the defect, and that there are plans that can be obtained to show them how to bring down the Death Star, only Captain Andor and his dirty lot join in her quest.

Unfortunately, this group of men, who finally have found hope, and with it redemption, perish.  But through their courage and sacrifice, through their sacrifice of blood, we see the rebirth of the Rebel Army.  A Rebel Army that is cleansed of its misdeeds.  An army with hope. An army united. An army with purpose.  That is the Rebel Army we see in A New Hope. It is a loftier army, not willing to engage in base acts.  It is the flower of hope in full bloom.  It is an army that Luke Skywalker desperately wants to join.

And I put to you that if Luke Skywalker had not entered the fight, even with the plans, it is highly unlikely that the rebels would have succeed in the destruction of the Death Star.  It was Luke’s faith that gave him the ability to destroy the Death Star.  His faith, not in technology, in man’s creation, but in the force.  His faith in a higher power is what allowed him to succeed.  But without the hope, there may have never been a Rebel Army to join.

So even when things are at their worst I encourage you to have hope.  Hope leads us to a better place.  Hope keeps us optimistic in the face of adversity.  Hope allows faith to creep in the door, and faith is something that we all need; for without it one cannot triumph.  So, keep your door open, even if it is only slightly ajar.