Darth Vader cuts off Luke’s hand. This symbolizes the blood, sweat and pain of this path to power for Luke and all of us. To leave our fathers and set a course of our own, even if it is a collision course with them, is part of our own collective destiny. We can run, but we can not hide.
The replacement of Luke’s hand with a mechanical hand also symbolizes that Luke has integrated a part of his father in him. Darth Vader or the dark father embodies all that is evil in Luke’s external world. Now he must accept and integrate his own ability to act in an evil and destructive way.
No longer is Luke the one dimensional space ship racer we see early in the story. He has grown into his power under the mentorship of Yoda culminating in facing the shocking truth that Darth Vader is his biological father.
Like any human being missing big pieces in their history, Luke first becomes shocked, but then determines to resist the temptation to join his father in the evil quests for power in the empire.
Research tells us humans who experience traumatic experiences are often trying to avoid any reminders. Avoidance and the inevitable re-experiencing of the events they try to avoid.
Luke, like all of us, can not avoid his confrontation with his father. He must do this, if he is to survive and follow his path to power.
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