NationStates Jolt Archive

Ok, alliteration aside, whats the deal with people losing their left hands? Luke and Anakin lost theirs in Star Wars, Rand lost his in WoT, Dumbledore lost his Harry Potter... whats the deal?

Now, these facts are based on my memory, so perhaps I should check up before I post this, but if someone can prove me wrong before I fix it, that'll work too I spose.

Thoughts.

Heh? I've never noticed.

From my point of view the left hand would be far easier to do without than righty. Of course, I'd rather keep them both.

Ok, alliteration aside, whats the deal with people losing their left hands? Luke and Anakin lost theirs in Star Wars, Rand lost his in WoT, Dumbledore lost his Harry Potter... whats the deal?

Now, these facts are based on my memory, so perhaps I should check up before I post this, but if someone can prove me wrong before I fix it, that'll work too I spose.

Thoughts.

It's clearly a covert attack on the creative and talented mind. Most likely dictated by those responsible for the dumbing down of society. It simply would not do to chop off the hands of the confoming majority now would it? ;)

Maybe authors form a subconcious connection to their characters that leads them to let the characters off easy by taking their left hand, rather than the right.

That or it's a subtly implanted political message that scriptwriters and authors prefer the right to the left.

---

It occurs to me that there could be a whole "Path of the Hero" thing there with the whole left hand being the sinister hand and it's loss symbolizing a rejection of evil.

It occurs to me that there could be a whole "Path of the Hero" thing there with the whole left hand being the sinister hand and it's loss symbolizing a rejection of evil.

Gee, if that's not subtle religious propoganda I don't know what is...

Leftists. We should embrace out left handed brethren and end leftism now.

If it's a subconscious anything, it's the dim hangover memory of the days of our ancestors, before toilet paper. Custom was to wipe with your left. This is also why the habit was to greet by handshake with the right.

studies show that the right hand is cotnrolled by the left half of the brain and the left hand is controlled by the right half of the brain.

Logicall this leads us to only one conclusion!
Left handed people are the only ones in the 'right' mind

Gee, if that's not subtle religious propoganda I don't know what is...

Or at least the restult of religious propoganda spreading to cultural imagery. We write what we know and all that.

If it's a subconscious anything, it's the dim hangover memory of the days of our ancestors, before toilet paper. Custom was to wipe with your left. This is also why the habit was to greet by handshake with the right.
That would explain the historical mistreatment of left-handed people. :p

If it's a subconscious anything, it's the dim hangover memory of the days of our ancestors, before toilet paper. Custom was to wipe with your left. This is also why the habit was to greet by handshake with the right.

I have never heard that. But assuming that to be true, it is only partially correct. The habit of a right handed handshake was because a handshake was originally a means of checking someone you meet for a conceiled dagger on their right wrist. Daggers were hidden there so they could be drawn with the left hand. The right hand was reserved for drawing the sword.

I have never heard that. But assuming that to be true, it is only partially correct. The habit of a right handed handshake was because a handshake was originally a means of checking someone you meet for a conceiled dagger on their right wrist. Daggers were hidden there so they could be drawn with the left hand. The right hand was reserved for drawing the sword.

Dude, where do you pick up stuff like that?

Dude, where do you pick up stuff like that?

Grad school. My masters is in history. :p

It is also a theme in Tolkien literature, as questing heroes such as Frodo and Beren loose parts of their hand.

Grad school. My masters is in history. :p

That explains so much...

It is also a theme in Tolkien literature, as questing heroes such as Frodo and Beren loose parts of their hand.
I knew I was missing one, thanks.

...
It occurs to me that there could be a whole "Path of the Hero" thing there with the whole left hand being the sinister hand and it's loss symbolizing a rejection of evil.

wormtail in harry potter got his left hand cut off in order to help lord voldemort rise again.
didnt he?
so that was more a embracing evil thing

tho it could just be cos its dramatic :P

wormtail in harry potter got his left hand cut off in order to help lord voldemort rise again.
didnt he?
so that was more a embracing evil thing

tho it could just be cos its dramatic :P

Yes, I'd forgotten that one too.

Ok, alliteration aside, whats the deal with people losing their left hands? Luke and Anakin lost theirs in Star Wars, Rand lost his in WoT, Dumbledore lost his Harry Potter... whats the deal?

Now, these facts are based on my memory, so perhaps I should check up before I post this, but if someone can prove me wrong before I fix it, that'll work too I spose.

Thoughts.
the word left, translated into latin is "sinister".

When those little angels and demons appear on peoples shoulders telling them what to do, the demon will always be on the left, angel on the right.

There is a good chance that it is related to left being considered evil

the word left, translated into latin is "sinister".

When those little angels and demons appear on peoples shoulders telling them what to do, the demon will always be on the left, angel on the right.

There is a good chance that it is related to left being considered evil

Mwuahahahahahahahahahhaaaa.

*is left handed* :D

I thought Luke lost his right hand? I always remember that he had one hand left... And Dumbledore didn't lose his hand, it just got all kind of burnt. But yeah I have noticed the whole hand part. I mean wormtail loses one in Harry Potter, too, and Frodo loses a finger in lotr. And there's a million other examples. But I don't think that there's any significance as to which hand it is. Is there?

studies show that the right hand is cotnrolled by the left half of the brain and the left hand is controlled by the right half of the brain.

Logicall this leads us to only one conclusion!
Left handed people are the only ones in the 'right' mindBut of course:) We ''The Order of The Left Hand'' Rule

they dont lose their left hand, they lose their non-dominant hand (even if it really IS the left hand)

that makes a very dramatic injury that doesnt mar the good looks of the actor and also doesnt require any script lines about how the injured person learned to use his other hand.

Exactly. It's basically a step up from getting one of those mysteriously non-problematic bullets to the shoulder region: you get severely hurt, but it doesn't really affect your ability to fight with sword or gun, since both can be wielded just fine one-handed.

And Luke lost his right hand. He just got it fixed with a prosthetic that's essentially as good as the old one. I believe the lead character in The Vikings also lost his right hand, but he seemed to be a southpaw from the start.

Mwuahahahahahahahahahhaaaa.

*is left handed* :D
haha...so am I.

wait. I mean...


Muahahahaha...so am I. That's better.

Ok, alliteration aside, whats the deal with people losing their left hands? Luke and Anakin lost theirs in Star Wars, Rand lost his in WoT, Dumbledore lost his Harry Potter... whats the deal?

Now, these facts are based on my memory, so perhaps I should check up before I post this, but if someone can prove me wrong before I fix it, that'll work too I spose.

Thoughts.
Both Luke and Anakin have lost their right hands, and Darth Vader has lost his right hand again.
So, not the left. The other left :D

http://www.studip.uni-goettingen.de/pictures/smile/duell.gif http://www.theforce.net/SWTC/injuries.html#limbs

Sure that'll work.

Both Luke and Anakin have lost their right hands, and Darth Vader has lost his right hand again.
So, not the left. The other left :D

http://www.studip.uni-goettingen.de/pictures/smile/duell.gif http://www.theforce.net/SWTC/injuries.html#limbs

Sure that'll work.

Oh thank you. Well, as others have suggested, do you happen to know if they were lefties? You seem very knowledgable on the subject.

Maybe they(the authors) were single at the time.
And they really hate being single, and wanted to unleash their anger in a different medium.

I'm missing my left hand (sort of), but that really doesn't have much to do with what we are talking about.

28 responses to a thread about having bodyparts hacked off by father-figures, and nobody has seen fit to even mention castration yet? For shame.

I'm missing my left hand (sort of), but that really doesn't have much to do with what we are talking about.
Oh, and I almost lost my right hand (clumsy me).

haha...so am I.

wait. I mean...


Muahahahaha...so am I. That's better.

Exactly.

Muhuhuhahahahahahhaha!!!!

You know, I have noticed more left-handed people lately.

WE ARE SLOWLY TAKING OVER THE WORLD!!!

(This has nothing to do with anything, but Prez Garfield could write in Latin and Greek at the same time using both hands.)

studies show that the right hand is cotnrolled by the left half of the brain and the left hand is controlled by the right half of the brain.

Logicall this leads us to only one conclusion!
Left handed people are the only ones in the 'right' mind
I'm right handed and right brained (although according to the tests, I use my sides pretty equally).

Ok, alliteration aside, whats the deal with people losing their left hands? Luke and Anakin lost theirs in Star Wars, Rand lost his in WoT, Dumbledore lost his Harry Potter... whats the deal?

Now, these facts are based on my memory, so perhaps I should check up before I post this, but if someone can prove me wrong before I fix it, that'll work too I spose.

Thoughts.

It's part of a ancient theme in mythology; during the journey of the hero, the hero will undergo a ritual death or injury, which is usually followed by a rebirth or some sort.

Authors of contemporary literature find it the most convenient that this injury occurs to the hero's left hand or arm. Consider; most people being right-handed, the hero will usually reflect that trait. Lest the hero be disfigured by an unsightly injury to the face, or be rendered crippled and immobile from the loss of a leg, the body part that is usually offered to the chopping block is the left hand.

Read Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces" for a more detailed study of the hero's journey in myth. The second paragraph I just made up.

Exactly.

Muhuhuhahahahahahhaha!!!!

You know, I have noticed more left-handed people lately.

WE ARE SLOWLY TAKING OVER THE WORLD!!!

(This has nothing to do with anything, but Prez Garfield could write in Latin and Greek at the same time using both hands.)
Just wait. We'll have those catholic nuns writing with their left hands in no time

bwahahaa

As a majority of the population is right-handed, the left has become to be known as the devil's hand by the religious in ancient times. Who sat at God's side? The devil on His left......
This has travelled down through history.
Things such as something being gauche (french for left) or the fact that a Muslim must wipe themselves in the bathroom with the left hand only, are prejudices the come from our ancient past.
I remember my father telling me that he was forced to write with his right hand in school in the 1940's. I follow in his footsteps as a southpaw but never had that problem. I do things that a right handed person does, but I also write with my left.
I revel in the fact that Einstein, Da Vinci, Newton were all lefties. On the down side Gerald Ford and Ronald Regan were lefties too...........