Guide Mentor

Character Role Analysis

Raylene

We could really put all of Bone's aunts and uncles here, because they help her get through some really tough times in their own special ways.

Raylene, though, is the one who fits the job description best—especially toward the end of the novel, when she gives Bone some much-needed blunt wisdom about her abuse and her relationship with Anney. There are moments in the novel when Ruth could be seen as a mentor as well, particularly when Ruth asks Bone directly if Glen has touched her, but that is a moment that doesn't quite succeed in terms of helping Bone along.

Raylene seems to be special in some way, or at least different. When Anney first sends Bone to go stay with her, we learn that this is something that Anney has never done in the past, and that should indicate to us that a change is occurring. Raylene, a kind of mysterious lone-wolf outsider (usually a good fit for a mentor—think Gandalf or Yoda), is probably going to clue Bone in on some things that she wouldn't discover if she stayed in town.