Leadership

Assignment

Aanya Jain

SY A011


Most people have a person they look up to in their lives. A person who trains,
guides and advises them. A mentor. The relationship of a mentor and mentee
doesn’t only involve knowledge being passed and learned, but it involves the
creation of a more personal and emotional bond. Having a mentor can help you in
taking up new challenges, following your heart, helping solve problems,
connecting with relevant people, giving constructive criticism and/or guiding you
towards a healthy choice. I have also had different people mentor me at different
times. My friends, family and teachers are the ones who helped me become the
person I am today. No matter what your age is, being mentored can affect and
change your life.

Goodwill Hunting is a beautiful movie that displays how the relationship between
Sean Maguire and Will Hunting progresses and how mentoring changes Will’s life
forever.

Both his parents abandoned Will in his childhood only. He dealt with the struggles
of having no parents and being abused in many foster homes. This made him lose
faith in meaningful relationships. He had never had a strong mentor who loved
him and pushed him to achieve his dreams. He was extremely close to his 3
neighbourhood buddies. He considered them to be his family but they were not the
best influence on him as they could be crass, crude, and spent too much time
drinking. He lacked the push and enthusiasm to achieve something. Luckily for
Will, he was highly intelligent and self-taught, but sadly, he didn’t see the need to
pursue any goals or develop meaningful relationships.

Will was working as a janitor at MIT in Boston. Owing to his intelligence, he used
to solve a difficult math problem displayed in the corridor board every now and
then. He didn’t do this for recognition, but just because he could. A professor,
Gerald Lambeau, noticed how smart Will was. He saw Will quickly solve a
difficult math problem. Therefore, when Will was put in jail for assaulting a man
who bullied him as a child, Professor Lambeau took advantage of that situation
and made an agreement with Will which was to benefit both the parties. Will was
given the choice to either take jail time or study mathematics under Lambeau’s
supervision while visiting a therapist weekly. Will was totally against the idea of
visiting a therapist, but knowing it was the only option left in order to get out of
the jail, he luckily agreed to the terms. Will was introduced to multiple therapists,
but he managed to make each one of them give up on him. Finally, he was
introduced to Sean Maguire, played by Robin Williams. Sean was Professor
Lambeau’s college roommate. Professor knew that Will needed someone who
could match up to his mental ability so that Will respects that person and listens to
him. Professor Lambeau also acted as a mentor for Will in the sense that
introduced Will to the right person.

Sean opened up with Will and told him about his own emotional baggage. He had
lost his wife and soul mate to cancer. He maintained his calm and waited for Will
to feel comfortable with him. He began to teach and inspire Will to reevaluate and
strengthen his relationships, for example with his friends and his girlfriend Skylar.
Sean tells him about the night he met his wife and how he gave up his ticket to a
once in a lifetime baseball game to meet with her. Sean shows no regrets for
giving up his ticket to a once in a lifetime game, or for the final years of marriage
while his wife was battling cancer. Will can not believe what Sean gave up, but in
time Sean encourages him to see the importance of building a stronger relationship
with his girlfriend Skylar. He made him value relationships.

Sean shared his own experiences, observed Will’s reactions, identified his
problems, made him identify his problems, made him realize the need to overcome
them and, gave him the courage to do so. After several therapy sessions, Will and
Sean’s relationship grew stronger and Will began to really look up to Sean as a
human and friend. Sean is able to break down Will’s defensive mechanisms partly
by talking about his own rough upbringing. His alcoholic father beat Sean while
he was a child. In an effort to protect his mother and little brother, Sean would
endure the brunt of his father’s anger and vitriol. He fought in the Vietnam War
when he was a young man and he had to see his best friend die there in his arms.
He also lost his wife, the one true love of his to a cancer years ago and hasn’t been
able to become romantically involved with anyone since then. However, he
implores Will to also see the beauty in life such as in the form of a woman who
can ‘level you with her eyes’ and be your own angel.
The two men bond over the fact that they have a high intellect, have both grown
up in Boston, have had rough upbringings, and can be a bit closed off from their
loved ones. By the end of the film, the change in Will is huge. Before therapy, he
never imagined himself in a relationship and was too afraid of commitments. After
therapy, Will ends up turning down many great job offers to be with the girl he
accepted that he loved. Finally, Will learns how important relationships are to
have in your life and he accepts love for the first time.

Sean was a good mentor because he gave Will time. He knew from the start that
Will wasn’t confident and strong-headed, but was instead scared. He told him so
but never forced his way into knowing the reason behind Will feeling so. Instead
of directly asking Will about his problems, he first won his comfort and trust by
sharing his own experiences. When Professor Lambeau asked Sean to force Will
into taking a job, Sean stopped him. He gave greater importance to his mentee’s
mental health and didn’t want to rush into his progress. When things became too
rocky for Will (he refused to go to California with his girlfriend who he actually
loved and broke up with her on bad terms, burnt a math paper while meeting
Professor Lambeau, and his friend told him that he was wasting his mind and time
on petty jobs), Sean finally realized that it was about time to make Will come face
to face with his fear. He repeatedly told Will that all the bad things happening to
him weren’t his fault. He calmed him and relaxed his fear that all the abuse given
to him in his childhood was his fault. He made Will believe that it was possible for
him to enter into a meaningful relationship. At that point, all his childhood fears
broke off and he quits the well-paid job he had accepted to go to the women he
loved.

Sean makes Will believe that he isn’t the only one with a difficult life. Hardships
exist in each person’s life. Sean’s experiences help to understand Will about what
life is all about and how to fight through the struggles and setbacks that cannot be
escaped no matter what. Both men have their inner troubles to fight but they
encourage each other to become better, to strive for more, and to live good lives.
With Will’s push, Sean is also ready to put his tragic past behind him to begin
anew. He sets out to travel the world, meet a special someone, and truly live life
again.

The positive mentor- mentee relationship between Will and Sean is a beautiful
thing to see develop over the film. To see true friendship grow between the two
and the chemistry that Damon and Williams have in their scenes together makes
‘Good Will Hunting’ a really special movie.

Even Gerald was a connector for Will as he opens doors of endless opportunities
to him. He was the one who introduced Will to Sean and provides him with an
offer to work at the NSA. He was his biggest cheerleader when could not just
come to fathom what wonders Will’s gift could do to the world, comparing him to
a rare genius like Ramanujan. As for Sean, he was more like a life coach to Will,
who was able to guide him through the various critical decisions he made because
of the similar experience he faced back when he was young and helped him get
past his traumatic childhood.

Sean and Gerald, both accomplished personalities in their field, developed a deep
connect which was beyond just formal mentoring, as they become father figures to
an orphan, and gained satisfaction in knowing that they had done someone good
and had played a part in making the world a better place for someone. Their
characters matured even more after dealing with someone as unique as Will.