In his genre-defining work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell introduces the basic construct that underpins just about every modern story in western civilization. It is useful, (if dry) reading as the book lays out the steps of the hero’s journey. The mentor meeting is a vital step in that journey.
The mentor is usually the one who defines terms. Obi Wan is Luke’s mentor. He’s also the audience’s guide to the galaxy far-far away as well as the circumstances Luke must face to advance on his journey. Obi Wan explains the Force, provides valuable insight (exposition), and gives a bit of set-up for the eventual conflict. It’s a lot of work for a man of Obi Wan’s age.
Most importantly to the hero, the mentor elevates them from whinny farm boy to Jedi, (trainee). For folks who don’t know/don’t like Star Wars, (what is wrong with you?) think Road House. Wade Garrett (Sam Elliott) is mentor to John Dalton (Patrick Swayze). Garrett taught Dalton to use martial arts and, apparently, hair products.
The conclusion of the mentor’s journey in (most) western stories: death
Okay, the article isn’t that short. But, yeah, Obi Wan sacrifices himself on Vader’s sword (don’t tell anyone) for Luke to escape the Empire’s clutches. But also for Luke to advance as a hero.
When we first encounter Luke and Obi-Wan, he says it upfront, “I hate the Empire.” Yet Luke’s hatred is detached. He hates the Empire the way the American colonists hated the English Crown—from a distance. When those same colonists were brutalized by English troops, that hatred became personal and immediate. Luke hated the Empire in the abstract. After Obi Wan is killed, Luke HATES Vader (and the Empire) viscerally.
Oh, Garrett dies, too. So, yeah, spoilers.
You’ll see the same basic structure play out in myriad movies, (T’Chaka and then T’Challa in Black Panther) television, (Maarva in Andor) and books, (Delilah in How Stella Got Her Groove Back). It’s a trope for a reason: it works. It’s also lazy storytelling that simply doesn’t work for every story. HSGHGB had a central conflict: does Stella and Winston make it or not? Delilah’s death is a hard-left turn in the tone of the story and we lose invaluable adult-in-the-room voice and humor.
Subverting expectations is our speciality (For full effect, read in Obi Wan’s voice)
John Alvidson’s 1984 film, The Karate Kid is a coming-of-age drama. We follow teenager, Daniel LaRusso, who’s world is turned upside-down when his Mom moves them from New Jersey to California on (seemingly) a whim. Daniel is the quintessential fish-out-of-water and cannot catch a break with the girl, his classmates, or even on the soccer pitch. Then he meets Mr. Miyagi.
Seriously, watch the movie. It’s a sweet story with just the right amount of butt-kicking. But you know what a sweet, coming-of-age story about a boy who finds himself in the last place he’d ever think to look DOES NOT need? Death. No one needed to die in TKK. Alvidson understood that and so, Miyagi does not die. He guides Daniel, he teaches Daniel, but most importantly, Miyagi understands that he cannot do for Daniel what Daniel must do for himself: stand up to the bully, face-down his own fear, and grow beyond circumstances. Miyagi is a warts-and-all mentor and Alvidson’s application of mentor to story is robbing-a-bank BRILLIANT.
The mentor has a plan of their own
You ever wonder if somewhere, way back in hobbit ancestry, that the Bagginses borrowed money from Gandalf? Because he sure treats them like they owe him money.
In Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Gandalf sends Bilbo Baggins off with a bunch of ne’er-do-well dwarves to rob a dragon. A plump, middle-aged male of indeterminate occupation whose only vocation is being punctual for meals, Bilbo is not much of anything and certainly not the “burglar” Gandalf proclaims him to be. A generation later, Gandalf shows up again and sends Bilbo’s nephew off on a wild jewelry chase.
Yeah-yeah, he dies but he comes back so it still counts as subverting tropes.
Gandalf is a mentor, true enough. He explains. He guides. And like most people, he has his own agenda. Most stories share this point. The mentor has an agenda and that agenda rarely has the best interests of the hero at the center of machinations. Gandalf is just balls-out about his.
Double the mentors, twice the drama (Best read in Count Dooku’s voice)
In Robert Towne’s excellent 1982 film, Personal Best, Chris (Mariel Hemingway) and Tory (Patrice Donnelly) are co-competitors for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team. Tory recognizes Chris’ talent and starting as co-equals, begins to advise her. Especially when Coach Terry Tingloff (Scott Glenn, who has played no less than four mentors) is initially indifferent to Chris.
Over time, Chris and Tory become lovers. Then, as Chris pulls away, they become rivals. Meanwhile, Terry begins to see Chris’ potential and decides to split the women up. Hilarity does not ensue.
The villain as mentor (No Star Wars gags in that one)
Clarice Starling, (book, not film) is on thin ice. She’s barely making it through FBI training. Then she gets a plumb assignment from Jack Crawford, director of the Bureau’s Behavior Analysis Unit, to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Starling aspires to work in the BAU and she would really like to contribute to the apprehension of a serial killer tagged, “Buffalo Bill” by the tabloid press.
Both Crawford and Lecter seek to guide and shape Clarice. Both men seek to use her as well. Crawford uses Clarice as enticement to draw Lecter out, to get the benefit of his cunning, clinical mind. Lecter sees his ultimate other-self, (the person striving to become more than their circumstances) in Starling and he is smitten. He also sees a malleable subject that he might fashion into the key for escape. Over time, both men come to care for Starling and take steps to protect her. Ultimately, both learn that Starling, like the lion of truth, doesn’t need protecting, she only needs to be set loose. Once off the chain, she can/does protect herself.
“I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude.” Luthen Rael, Andor
Luthen Rael is a pompous, petty man. A master manipulator who consigns others to death in a chess match that only he knows is in play. He seeks out Cassian Andor with the intention of using and burning the thief/smuggler. But even without meaning to, he mentors Cassian.
There are many ways to do mentors. Killing them deprives you of SO much drama and robs you of often rich characters who are indispensable to your narrative. Consider your story. Is a death needed for gravity, for story progression, or simply for convenience. Write accordingly.
The photo at the top, Road House movie poster, is the property of United Artist. It is used her for instructional/educational purposes as covered by the Fair Use Doctrine.
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