Shmi was a slave who died at the hands of the Tusken Raiders. As the mother of the Chosen One, she was not given much respect. It seems that the Jedi could have treated her better or recognized her as similar to the Virgin Mary. Why didn’t they? It may have been that they were not aware of or concerned about her, but, more likely, the Jedi were too focused on Anakin.
Shmi and the Jedi
We are familiar with Shmi’s character arc as the mother of Anakin with “no father involved.” Qui-Gon took this to mean that Anakin was the Chosen One and presented him as such to the Jedi Council. Yet, fans also realize that it’s problematic that the Jedi left her enslaved on Tatooine.
A recent Reddit forum discussed this topic, with one response indicating that “the Jedi Order at least should have had some reverence for her.” Instead, the Jedi left Shmi on a desert planet, where she was ultimately “abducted and assaulted by Sand People,” as another post states, and “died from her trauma.”
Her story amounts to horrible treatment without any protection offered by the Jedi. What explains the Jedi’s lack of intervention? One reason suggested in the forum is that “not many knew Anakin…was the son of Shmi.” Among the Jedi, perhaps only Qui-Gon really knew about Anakin’s origins since Shmi told him.
Yet, we know that Anakin told Obi-Wan, and that Yoda found out about Shmi too. This post here relays quotes from the book The Clone Wars: Wild Space that provide insights into their knowledge of Shmi and that she was on Tatooine. So, this answer ends up not being satisfying.
“‘Because of attachment to his mother,’ Yoda continued, his expression severe, ‘to Tatooine did young Skywalker go, defying your direct instructions.’ Obi-Wan stared. ‘I don’t—we didn’t—he has not told me why he left Naboo. There was no time to discuss it. Events on Geonosis moved too quickly.’ ‘To Shmi Skywalker has something happened, I fear,’ said Yoda quietly. ”What?’ ‘Sensed young Skywalker in the Force, I did. Great pain. Great anger. A terrible tragedy.’ Oh no. ‘He’s said nothing to me, Master Yoda. If something had happened to his mother, I’m sure he’d tell me.” ‘He’d tell me, wouldn’t he? Or wouldn’t I sense it?’”
Another idea is that the Jedi may have discovered that Shmi had been sold to Cliegg Lars, who, in turn, freed and married her. E.K. Johnston’s Queen’s Shadow captures how Padme attempted to liberate Shmi, but she had already been freed by Lars. So, the Jedi could have believed there was no longer a need to intervene. But, this rationale still does not exonerate the Jedi from not affording her more respect.
Another, colder explanation is that the Jedi really were not concerned about Shmi’s welfare. Posts in this previous discussion reflect that Jedi did not care about Shmi because she was not “someone important like a Senator or a leader of a world whose death would have caused a larger issue.” If this were the case, it reflects poorly on the Jedi Order at this point.
Collectively, we could argue that it was a combination of ignorance, neglect, and non-caring that led to Shmi’s poor treatment and demise. Yet, if we look further, we can identify another reason.
The Jedi, Anakin, and Shmi
Another explanation offered in the opening Reddit discussion is that the Jedi were rather “ambivalent” about training Anakin. They saw his potential, but were not anywhere close to “worshipping him as a messiah.” This line of thinking is on track.
The Jedi’s ambivalence toward Anakin provides us with a more compelling reason why Shmi was not treated better. The Jedi Council was probably not completely aloof about Shmi’s situation, but was more concerned about how to proceed with Anakin.
If we look back at The Phantom Menace, we can recall how hesitant the Jedi were about training him. In this scene, Mace Windu rejected the idea, and Yoda voiced concern about how “clouded this boy’s future is.” The Jedi saw Anakin’s training as problematic.
One of the main issues that concerned the Jedi was distancing Anakin from attachments, as part of the Jedi Code. We know this issue became a real one for him, and the Jedi sensed it from the beginning. A post here reminds us that in the first prequel, “the Jedi were already concerned with Anakin’s personal attachments,” and the Council wished for him “to forget his mother, and focus on being a Jedi.”
Another discussion puts Anakin’s entrance into the Jedi in context in that the “Jedi got the children they trained from all over the galaxy.” We were reminded of this practice in The Acolyte, where children were often taken from their families. We can criticize these practices, but they do help shed light on why the Jedi didn’t treat Shmi more like the Virgin Mary.
Shmi’s Treatment
Shmi’s immaculate conception of the Chosen One did not earn her the respect she deserved. The Jedi were aware of her and probably did care what happened. But they were conflicted over Anakin’s training and focused on the dogma of separating from loved ones.