The Archetypal Mentors In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

The Archetypal Mentors “I simply want to tell you that there are some men in this world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father’s one of them (page 215).” In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a young girl named Scout is introduced to the insanity of prejudice as her father defends a black man in the 1930s. Throughout the book she is guided by her neighbor Miss Maudie Atkinson while trouble stirs in town. The epic poem titled The Odyssey tells of a young man named Telemachus trying to find his father, Odysseus, who is trapped on an island. The goddess Athena helps Telemachus obtain power in his house which is ruled by suitors trying to marry his mother. She then helps him set sail on a journey to foreign lands to question people about his father. One factor these two books have in common is both Athena and Maudie Atkinson act as a mentor to their pupils Telemachus and Scout.

She first shows signs of being a mentor when Scout is excluded from playing with Jem and Dill. Scout asks about the mysterious Arthur “Boo” Radley and Maudie responds by trying to have her understand that the Radleys are very religious and she should not judge so harshly. Miss Maudie says, “ That is a sad house. I remember Arthur Radley when he was a boy. He always spoke nicely to me, no matter what folks said he did. Spoke as nicely as he knew how (page 46).” Miss Maudie is clearly trying to tell Scout that Arthur was a nice child and she should not let rumors influence her perception of someone. Maudie advises Scout directly when Scout is questioned about her future by Miss Stephanie at a missionary circle meeting. “Miss Maudie’s hand closed tightly on mine, and I said nothing. Its warmth was enough (page 230).” Although Miss Maudie did not speak, she acted as a mentor and calmed Scout when she would have most likely acted out of