How ought one speak? Should one use reasoned verbal discourse when relating a story or should one speak little to fill in the gaps between a series of imitations? It would seem that the most eloquent speaker in the Star Wars world, C-3PO, is adept at doing both. He is capable of giving the most polished and directly to the point speeches, and he is also capable of relating a tale through the imitation of sounds and gestures. There are many moments that attest to the first part. There is one moment that best illustrates the second part. This is when he relates the story of the Star Wars saga to the Ewoks at the very end of The Return of the Jedi. He speaks the Ewok language but makes the tale captivating, riviting, and entertaining by producing spot on sound effects and movements that suggest the occurence of interesting events past. C-3PO is programmed to be capable of these functions. As in any world, the Star Wars world contains a wide variety of personalities and social positions. From Jawa to Emperor, there are all types who fill in roles. How one speaks is a topic touched upon in Book III of the Republic. It would seem that eloquent speeches with very little imitation befit the guardian class. Why? Because the guardians should be good at one thing and that is guarding. But what if guarding requires one, in a pinch, to be able to imitate or “act the part” of something in order to do the job of gaurding? I can’t really recall the specifics of the section and don’t feel like getting out the book for direct citation, but I’ll try to address this issue from a Star Wars point of view.
In matters of state, or matters of the city, things need to be cut and dry most of the time. Otherwise, chaos and anarchy would ensue. This would lead to the degeneration of society and a dissolution of the net of care born of common interests and purpose. The far, far away galaxy that existed a long time ago needed a way to survive. Hence, it became a Republic! The question is: how did that republic operate? Well. First off, there was an overarching system of government for the entire galaxy. This government was a government by the council of Jedi, with a Supreme Chancellor, a Senate, and all the rest of it (I haven’t watched the prequels in a while where the Old Republic was most prominent). The idea behind the government was peace amongst the various races in star systems and planets and such. To acheive this peace diplomatic missions would be needed. The Jedi (as opposed to the Sith) were the guardians in the Star Wars Republic. Nobody in the galaxy, however, was omnipotent (This is what the Emperor tried and failed to become the original trilogy). This inability of omnipotence necessitated a division of labor. Even the most skilled guardians could not be at all places at once. Thus there was an entire class of individuals specialized in diplomatic relations. Since it was easier, in the Old Republic, to program a machine to do the work of translation (just look into Google translator these days!), the government utilized humanoid robots to do the fancy footwork.
That’s why C-3PO isn’t a poor old schmuck, a warrior, or a gaurdian. That’s why he’s a protocol droid. He is a master of imitation, but he’s not the one writing the script. He just transmits the messsages.
