The Quest

When I used the word ‘mentor’ as a writing prompt, it was one of the few prompts about which they had no problem writing. In fact, they would have written without end, but we had a ten minute time limit, after which we had to discuss what they wrote. I wrote their comments on the dry erase board, but I listed their mentors separately.

My mom, my dad, brother, sister, best friend, youth pastor, grandmother, granddad, girlfriend, boyfriend, minister, Mr. Gibbons, my mom’s friend, my eighth grade teacher, my coach.

I removed my name as a matter of course because it seemed often to be a blatant attempt to curry favor with the teacher. After they had explained their choices I then drew a line through the ones that did not meet the basic criteria for a mentor in literature. In the case of the above list I would have left only, youth pastor, minister, mom’s friend, eighth grade teacher, and coach. Of course that left many of the students offended because they had assured me that these people I crossed off had shown the following traits of a mentor.
-has your back at all times
-always there for you
-always supportive
-believe you can do anything
-loyal to you
-wise
-really ‘gets’ you
-loves you
-is your friend
-want what’s best for you
-trusts you
So I would then start crossing out much of this list, leaving only ‘wise,’ and really ‘gets’ you. Again I would face a barrage of objections to my choices. So then the real conversation would begin. I usually started with the idea that a mentor doesn’t have your back at all times and will not always be there for you. In fact, one of the purposes of the mentor is to prepare you to be independent. Clearly family members want you to be independent, but often we have to claim our independence from them. Mentors thrust your independence on you. This is not to downplay the role of family in the life of the Hero, but merely to point out that the mentor is better able to do this because protective familial instincts are not a factor in the mentor’s decisions.

Who then on the list will not fear to let us fail? Coaches are by definition, unable to join you on the field or the court. For all the calls they may make, the team and the leadership on the field must make the plays and face the consequences. Ministers, youth pastors, and teachers also have a limited time for instruction and guidance and then the heroes have to make it in the real world.
In literature the hero progresses from test to test and with each test he is more alone. Gandalf leaves Bilbo at the edge of the darkest part of the forest and with nothing more than the advice to stay on the path. We don’t see the wizard again until the Battle of Five Armies.
Neo heads back into the Matrix alone to rescue his mentor. Mr. Miyagi temporarily heals Daniel’s knee, but then sends him alone to finish the fight. Huck, like Neo, has to rescue his mentor, Jim from captivity, even though it means undermining slavery, the most revered tradition in the South.

Modern movies and novels have made these forms an integral part of their forms and when done correctly, they become the most popular stories.

Whenever Forest Gump runs he is running alone, but his running changes from running from danger to running toward danger for the sake of others to running for sheer self-discovery.