Home Alone mentor text

So this time my mentor text was Home Alone, which was perfect for the holiday season.  It was also perfect however with how it related to my story.  In Home Alone the main concept of the movie is the young boy who thinks he does not need his family and that they don’t really care about him.  In the end however he learns that they love him and would do anything for him when it comes down to it and that he also needs them in return.  

Also the main character Kevin has a neighbor who he is afraid of and avoids, “Old Man Marley.”  Kevin’s older brother Buzz tells him some crazy story about how he killed a whole family in their neighborhood but never got caught because he hid the bodies in his trash barrel of salt that he uses as he ices the sidewalk every night.  Now as the movie progresses, Kevin runs into Old Man Marley several times and his absolute terror is apparent.  He runs away screaming and ends up stealing a toothbrush.  But a little farther down the road Kevin finds himself with no one else to talk to except Old Man Marley and learning that he is actually a very nice but also very lonely old man.  Kevin gives him advice on how to help put his family back together, now having learned the value of families.  Old Man Marley returns the favor by saving Kevin’s life when the “Wet Bandits” have him trapped.  

For my story I am going to be developing a similar relationship between Jeff and Mr. Campbell.  Jeff and Mr. Campbell do not quite get along because Jeff is always ruining something of Mr. Campbell’s and making more work for him and Mr. Campbell just wants to relax and be alone.  But when Mr. Campbell and Jeff both find themselves in the nursing home and in need of each others assistance they are forced to be friends, grow to appreciate each other, and eventually developing a genuine friendship. Which is very similar to that of Kevin and Old Man Marley.  

Jeff is in the nursing home because his mother can not trust him to be home alone anymore (get it home alone) and that is where his mother works.  Mr. Campbell is in the nursing home because Jeff broke his window and his family now thinks he is a danger to himself.  In the nursing home Mr. Campbell and Jeff find themselves missing their senses of independence.  Jeff finds himself in need of something to occupy his time and Mr. Campbell in need of a friend and the two are forced to accept that they each have something the other wants.  They begin to hang out at the nursing home more and more and eventually develop a strong friendship.  

Also watching Home Alone has influenced my decision on how to end my story.  Now I am really thinking that after building their friendship, Jeff is going to admit to Mr. Campbell that he broke the window and Mr. Campbell is going to be upset but advise Jeff to go and tell his mother which would be the right thing.  But in seeing that Jeff is actually going to admit it he will come up with some story about how he himself broke it but wouldn’t admit to it all along all just to protect Jeff from more trouble with his mother.  All Jeff really needs is a father figure of some sort in his life and he has finally found that in Mr. Campbell.