For the Starwars winter exhibition, I contacted a Psychiatrist (and Star Wars enthusiast), Dr. Stan Koodoo. Here is his email reply to my questions:

Questions:

1. What other motives could Jyn to make her sacrifice have that were not stated in the movie?

2. What other motives could Galen have to make his sacrifie that are not stated in the movie?

3. What other motives could Bodhi Rook have to make his sacrifice that were not stated in the movie?

4. Why do people need closure and how does that affect us?

Response:

Hi Emily,

1. Remember that Jyn grew up without her father and mother. She was essentially raised by Saw Guerrera – a paranoid warrior who taught her not to trust anyone. When she learned that her father was alive and was working to undo the damage that he had done by helping to build the Death Star, she wanted to do everything possible to help him. After she watched him die, she wanted to honour him by completing what he started. Most kids want their parents to be proud of them and joining the rebellion was her way of honouring her father.

2. Galen agreed to help the Empire build the Death Star to protect Jyn – if he did not agree, they would have kept searching for her to try and use her against him to build the Death Star. However, once he started building the Death Star he became aware of the horrors that the Empire would use the Death Star for – destroying entire planets – billions of lives lost in a single instant. He was also motivated by guilt that he had built the most powerful weapon ever designed and built in the weakness of the thermal exhaust port.

3. While it is not disclosed in the movie – Imperial defectors often saw the horrible actions of the Empire and wanted to do the right thing. This often occurs, but few try to defect, fearing there would be terrible consequences if they are found. For example there was a story that Han Solo was an imperial recruit and saw how the Empire was using Wookies for slave labour to build the Death Star and witness them torturing one specific Wookie which he knew was wrong, He rescued that Wookie and turned on the Empire and became a criminal. As you can probably guess, that Wookie was Chewie.

4. People feel that need for closure to try and move forward in their lives. Without closure, people will often think about “what if (something were different)?” Often if things are left uncompleted, it is difficult to move on – it’s like leaving a Lego set uncompleted – it’s just not going to happen. It’s important to feel like you have accomplished something and then move on (to the next Lego set!).

Hopefully that is helpful! If you need more detailed answers let me know!

Stan