Nice breakdown, but I'd have to argue strongly that Cogburn is the Trickster archetype.

It's a bit of a stretch to place Mattie's father in the Trickster role, as his presence is hardly felt at all. We hear and sometimes feel how strongly Mattie was to avenge her father's death, but at times it seems this journey could have been sparked by any number of reasons -- but the point of the journey is for her to grow into the woman she was meant to be.

Mattie is a very serious, focused girl. She enlists Cogburn's help because she believes he is the same way... and has the skills to do to Chaney what she can't. But she soon finds that Cogburn is not as serious and focused as she first thought. He is selfish and uncaring about her situation. He tests her every step of the way, whether is be testing her patience, her will, or her courage. This, of course, is what a Mentor does, but it is the WAY he tests her that makes him the Trickster.

One need only watch the scene when Cogburn has gotten sloppy drunk off the confiscated whiskey to see that he is not only the Mentor, but the Trickster as well. (Very, very funny scene BTW).

THD: I think you can certainly make an argument for Cogburn being a Trickster, if only since Tricksters oftentimes are humorous figures and Cogburn is definitely that, the scene you described a great example of that.

But when I ascribe a primary archetype to a character, what I'm basically answering is this: What is the core function of that character in relationship to the Protagonist?

If I have any doubts, I look to the end of the story, what I call the Final Struggle. And what happens in the Final Struggle in True Grit? Cogburn saves Mattie's life. I can't look at that remarkable set of scenes where he's carrying her on horseback, then on foot to get her help as anything but a Mentor figure. This will become even clearer on Thursday when I talk about the movie's themes.

So the fact Cogburn is a tracker of criminals, he knows the area and its criminal elements, he has a wisdom about life and shares those thoughts with Mattie, he knows how to kill a man, and he save Mattie's life, I would still choose to look at Cogburn as a Mentor figure.

Now as I get into in the Core II: Character and Style class I teach, characters can take on sub-functions -- what I call "masks" -- from scene to scene. That is a Mentor figure can act like a Trickster in this scene or a Nemesis in that one and an Attractor in yet another scene. Just like you and I act differently in different contexts, so, too, can the characters in our stories. That makes them much richer characters, as well as reflecting reality. But while they may swap this mask for that does not change their primary function. Once a Mentor, always a Mentor (and so with the other archetypes), which again goes back to that question: what is the character's core function per the story and in relationship to the Protagonist.

Very interesting article. I have to second The High Dweller's comment that Mattie's father does not fit into the role of the Trickster. He is an absent figure in the novel. He could fit into the Fool archetype--his folly (trusting an untrustworthy and volatile man) leads to his own death. His only role in the novel is to serve as the catalyst for Mattie's hero's journey.