Noah Halili - Captain Speirs and the Mentor Archetype

  In Band of Brothers, there are three major instances where Captain Ronald Speirs takes on the role of a mentor to the troops in Easy Company. Iris March writes that the mentor is a “character who teaches the Hero something or gives them a gift to help them in their final test” (March 2023). Speirs spends a large portion of the miniseries being somewhat outcast by the men. However, the few times that Speirs appears early on often involve him offering advice to the soldiers. Furthermore, when he eventually takes command of Easy Company, he continues to support and mentor his subordinates.

The first time we see Speirs give advice is during episode 3: Carentan. There is an interaction during this episode between Speirs and Private Albert Blithe. Speirs walks with Blithe to a ditch where the Private will hold out for the night. Once he drops into the hole, Blithe admits to Speirs that he hid on D-Day and could not fight because he was afraid. Speirs crouches down to be eye level with Blithe before stating, “we’re all scared. You hid in that ditch because you think there’s still hope, but Blithe the only hope you have is to accept the fact that you’re already dead. And the sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll be able to function as a soldier’s supposed to function. Without mercy, without compassion, without remorse. All war depends upon it” (Band of Brothers). This speech he gives to Blithe is the turning point in Blithe’s story. It is only after this speech that Blithe gains the courage to fight alongside his fellow paratroopers. 

The second instance of Speirs’s mentorship of the company is seen in episode 7: The Breaking Point. A group of three Easy Company men are stationed to protect the edge of another company’s position. As the men tell stories of Speirs and his actions during the war, Speirs approaches them. Similar to Blithe, he crouches down to be eye level with the three men as they stand in a foxhole. He advises them to reinforce their cover and offers his appreciation for their efforts. Though this is a much more minor moment compared to his speech with Blithe, Speirs is attempting to offer a lesson to the men to protect them from an attack. While small, this action does match the definition described by Iris March. 

Lastly, there is an interaction between Speirs and Lieutenant Carwood Lipton at the end of this same episode. In their conversation, the now newly appointed commanding officer, Speirs, offers two lessons to Lipton. First, Lipton tries to determine if the legends about Speirs have any truth behind them. Using the example of Terseus, Speirs explains that everyone who tells these tales say that they heard it from someone who was there. He goes on to state that the person who was supposedly at the event never seems to be found. Lipton then points out that everyone believes they are true because Speirs never denies them. It is here that Speirs states that perhaps Terseus never denied the rumors because he knew the value of being feared by his men. The second lesson Speirs gives Lipton is a lesson on leadership. Lipton expresses relief that Speirs is taking over command of Easy Company as their former commanding officer proved to struggle when placed in a combat scenario. Instead of accepting this complement, Speirs states that his understanding is that Easy Company has always had a combat leader. He lists the many accomplishments and moments of leadership that this person had been a part of during the war effort. When Lipton expresses confusion, Speirs says Lipton has always been Easy Company’s leader. This lesson ultimately shifts Lipton’s view on the company and boosts his confidence as he realizes the impact he has on the men. GIven these three examples, it is clear that Captain Speirs is an example of the mentor archetype outlined in the Hero’s Journey.


Source:


https://www.irismarshedits.com/post/heros-journey-mentor-archetype


Band of Brothers (2001)

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