La Valse des Marionnettes

It disturbs me to no end to see intelligent, passionate individuals manipulated by their mentors. And I’m not talking “cultivating an interest that may not have originally been there” type of stuff. I’m talking about the perverse, puppet master-level fiddling.

I am not especially close to either of the people I have in mind. However, I respect them both.

The first of the situations I identified is rather straightforward. The teacher is new and unassertive, while his mentor has a strong personality and wants a pet. This has resulted in the teacher appearing to be a carbon copy of his mentor, right down to his syllabus, teaching style, even turns of phrase. I had a glimmer of his true self when he started to speak about new technologies. Although his passion for Second Life is a joke among my peers, I can’t help but compare this enthusiasm with his normal, sterile lectures. When I carefully broached some of my concerns to him about the class I met with commiseration. I think the poor man wants to throw off the yolk of his oppressive mentor, but in all honesty I don’t see how he can. I hope to help him, whether he likes it or not, in my evaluation of his course. I plan to be frank about the negative influence of his mentor.

The second case is even more distressing, because it is a fellow student. Driven to succeed, she clearly recognizes the perks of being so closely linked to her mentor. Only recently has she turned a critical eye on the relationship. Yet despite this, I have seen firsthand her strong sense of self waver. Her mentor is trying to convince her to follow the (admittedly lucrative) path he has laid out for her, using her ambition against her. The fact is that she’s not sure she events wants the kind of career he has in store for her; I cannot help but think that he wants her as a puppet, a toady.

But while the first marionette is almost completely stuck in his situation, the second is coming to a pivotal decision. She will have to either sever her strings forever by refusing an offer, or enter into a pact that will bind puppet and master together for the foreseeable future.

More on this as it develops (or devolves).