Jyn Erso And Saw Gerrera Character Analysis

Jyn had been at the Empire’s mercy before. Sometimes she’d even deserved her troubles—she couldn’t blame some petty dictator for ordering her dragged off the street and slammed into holding when she really, truly was planning to blow up his ship and steal his guns.

( rogue one novelization )

Jyn Erso is a survivor. She has grown up in a world of war, oppressed by the industrial Galactic Empire, with only the bravest rebel cells rising against them. She has outlived her parents, with her mother and father murdered before her eyes (her mother, when she was a child; her father, only recently). Raised and, in the process, trained, by Saw Gerrera, among his extremist rebel group, Jyn became a soldier at a young age. Saw notes she was his best

However, Saw abandoned her when rumours of her father's defection to Empire and her relation to him became too great. From then on, Jyn fought for herself as a multi-aliased thief and petty troublemaker. She prefers to stay out of political strife, believing herself to have lost "the luxury of political opinions" and proves reluctant to assist the Rebellion, despite the threat of the Empire. In truth, she's as lost as she is empty, unfulfilled by her present occupation and prickly over past abandonment.

As a result, she has a quiet confidence — certainly aware of her strength in strategy and combat. More often than not, she comes across as emotionally closed-off, cynical, and judgmental, to boot. It's hard to impress or faze her these days, as she

Notably, Jyn also enjoys the adrenaline of a con and a fight, the thrill of the act and the euphoria of success. In the novelization, Cassian attributes a "fire" and "hunger" to her. Part of this fire burns in anger (over Saw leaving her, her losses, her mistakes). Stubborn and ballsy, she refuses to die, willing to attempt anything to move further along her path. Once she finds her purpose, her single-minded determination drives her to push past Cassian's apparent loss and her own severe leg wound to achieve her goal: transmitting the death star plans. Her fierceness augments her intelligence, aiding her improvisation (striking a rescuer at the perfect moment and quickly locating a shovel to utilize as a weapon). Her cleverness also shines when she joins Cassian on various successful missions, including the final infiltration of Scarif base.

Her canon point leaves her on the precipice of forming stronger connections — of choosing hope and rebellion over a life of merely surviving. The loss of her father and Cassian's apparent attempt to assassinate him have left her hurt and bitter once more, but she now understands that the Empire is the ultimate threat. The Death Star is real and deadly and must be