The Mentor Archetype In The Writer's Journey

I was actually reading a book for once. Even if I don’t usually get enraptured by many books, this one caught my eye, and I was flying through the pages. Here I was, reading a book about people in robes that can use magic sticks to cast spells. I read on in the book, reading more about how certain people teach the students in robes about certain things they can do with their magic stick. The brown haired boy, which was the main character, was talking to an old man who had lots of experience with the magic sticks that everyone used. The old man was called a headmaster, and he was teaching the boy about the mirror the boy had pointed out. The boy listened to the headmaster eagerly, so very curious about what the mirror could do. The magic that …show more content…
However, we still have a bit to go. In this paragraph I will talk about how the mentor archetype has been identified in the last century to truly prove that the mentor archetype will change. In a blog by Nutschell Windsdor she cites a source called “The Writer’s Journey” in which she takes an excerpt that says, ““Mentors provide heroes with motivation, inspiration, guidance, training, and gifts for the journey. Every hero is guided by something, and a story without some acknowledgement of this energy is incomplete. Whether expressed as an actual character or as an internalized code of behavior, the Mentor archetype is a powerful tool at the writer’s command”(Vogler 1992). Obviously from the source that Windsdor cites is quite some time ago, being in the 20th century itself. Windsdor also goes onto say that the stereotypical mentors that you saw back then and nowadays were pretty much the same, being old wise men/ women. Because we know that both mentor archetypes were similar in the 20th century and today, we can make a connection between the both, safely saying that it hasn’t changed much from even quite some time ago. Windsdor brings up another quote of Vogler’s saying “The Mentor is there to protect the hero and to help him discern between right and wrong. More often than not, the Mentor is teaching the hero lessons he has learned from his own experience. Mentors are often former heroes who have survived the quest and are now passing the lessons they have learned to the hero who is just starting out”(Vogler 1992). From previous knowledge that I have told you about, we can indeed compare the 20th century’s mentor to today’s mentor and see that it has not changed even with a century’s worth of time. Because the Mentor plays such a key role in the hero’s development throughout the story, it is no wonder that it has not changed much from