Do or do not, there is no try: What are the makings of a mentor?

 

What makes a mentor? Some would say a person that wants to make an impact on the younger and inexperienced generations. Some would say they are there to lead people on the right path towards their destined futures. However, some would say that there is a selfless nature that is hidden in most mentor typed people that we see today. Mentors like Yoda, Dumbledore, and even some of the characters in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston to be selfish individuals?

1. Yoda: Yoda wants to save the galaxy from the Empire and Darth Vaders attacks, so he trains Luke Skywalker and teaches him the ways of the force in order to defeat their soon to be common enemy in order to retain peace for all throughout the galaxy. 

2. Dumbledore: Another classic mentor is Dumbledore. When mentoring Harry throughout the book, be teaches him how to defeat Voldemort in order for Dumbledore and the Ministry to not go at defeating him alone. He was preparing Harry through life and death to defeat Voldemort even when he was not alive in order to keep peace and prevent turmoil throughout the Wizarding world. 

3. Nanny and Tea Cake: In Their Eyes Were Watching God Hurston uses Nanny and Tea Cake as mentors in very different ways, but both serve Janie's interests. While Nanny puts Janie in a relationship that causes her to yearn for freedom and living life so much that she leaves town, she came at Janie with good intentions for a better future compared to herself and her daughter. Tea Cake, is more successful at becoming a mentor for Janie. He lets her do things that Joe Starks never let her do while isolated from society. He lets her go fishing and sacrifices his life to save Janie so she can finally bloom into the human that she desired to become throughout her life, something only a selfless person would do. 

Mentors, as I see it, have an uncanny ability to find a way to help people when they secretly need it the most. These people I mentioned above, want the best for other people, which causes them to sacrifice everything for the people that they connect with. Each mentor comes into someones life, on purpose or accident in order to let them discover and reach their goals, helping their protege reach their dreams together.