Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination

by Vigen Guroian

In a true mentoral relationship, the mentor chooses the mentee, and for very good reasons. Not surprisingly, mentoral relationships still happen in the performing arts, such as in dance or music. The market and a hyperegalitarian ethos have chipped away at the master- protégé relationship but have not completely eliminated it. Most anyone with the financial resources can purchase ballet or violin lessons, but in the end the master still chooses the protégé for special attention and instruction. It is hard to imagine how the arts would survive if this were precluded. Thus the mentor’s selection of the pupil is the crucial and defining act of the mentoral relationship. The relationship is from the start asymmetrical and discriminative. By means of physical gesture, tone of voice, and behavior, the mentor communicates his special knowledge and skill and also a piece of his own character. There is no such thing in this relationship as being informative without also being formative. The mentor has a vital stake in choosing the right mentee. And so he dedicates himself to engendering in the mentee essential qualities of character or skills that are not merely private or personal but ultimately crucial to the continuance of a practice, special art form, or way of life.