Via Starwars.com:

A SUNNY DAY CAN SAY A LOT.
Studying Skywalkers is an exclusive column that investigates the characters, themes, and lessons of Star Wars from an educational, literary perspective. In this installment, StarWars.com looks at the role of weather in the saga.

One of my favorite features of the new Star Wars app is the weather option. By clicking on this feature, you are instantly transported to the world of Star Wars, where the story of your day is told. The weather will affect your mood and may help navigate the course of your emotions. This is also a great literary tool with some real history behind it.

From William Shakespeare to Edgar Allen Poe to Mark Twain, weather has long been a literary device which reinforces our understanding of characters and events during integral plot points. What the reader or viewer gleans from the weather often is a reflection of the inner conflict of the heroes and villains.

For example, the following lines from Act III, Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet create an atmosphere of foreshadowing when the cousin of Romeo, Benvolio, explains, “I pray thee, good Mercutio, let’s retire:/The day is hot, the Capulets abroad/And, if we meet,we shall not scape a brawl;/For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.” (III:1, 1-4). What Benvolio is essentially saying to Mercurio is, “Hey friend, let’s get out of here. It’s hot, and we are liable to be more irrational since the weather can affect our moods.”

Weather matters. Poe used it often to reflect the fall of the Usher household in the titular short story, and Twain used it to mirror Huckleberry Finn’s loneliness and melancholy in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Star Wars often offers this insight as well. Let’s look at a few of the examples the films have provided.

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