Mentoring in 100 Years of Solitude

      One of the most interesting characters in 100 Years of Solitude is, I believe, Melquiades, a member of a wandering band of gypsies who appears very early on in the story and teaches alchemy to José Arcadio Buendía and many other members of the Buendía line. His personal history is not the plot of the novel, but he is very well traveled and incredibly learned, having sailed across the globe. At one point he dies but comes back to life, only to later die again and return as a ghost to teach some of the last members of the Buendía line.
      I think this spectral presence is unique because, though he is not in the physical realm, he appears to have the greatest affect, at least on some members of the family, in this state. He teaches the last member of the family, Aureliano Segundo, as a ghost, and arguably he is his most successful pupil, having been able to decode the manuscript which detailed his complicated family history only moments before being destroyed by a hurricane. I was actually struck by how spectral mentorship might represent a great opportunity as a literary advice as the dead have all the experiences they gained during their life from which to offer advice. However, I find it difficult to think of many examples of this trope being used (though I'm sure it is used at least some time, I haven't come across it much in my readings). Some that stick out to me are Hamlet's father (who is somewhat of a mentor figure, at least insofar as he warns him of his uncle, which can be considered a kind of advice) as well as the ghost parents in Neil Gaiman's the graveyard book (though I would argue the vampire, Silas, is really the mentor in the story). I'd actually say the best example I'm aware of, in terms of dead mentors communing from the void, would be not in literature but in film; Obi Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars franchise, who manages to return as a "force ghost" to talk to Luke about his personal history.
      At the same time, Melquiades fulfills another trope as the wise old man, and his Roma heritage also offers an interesting permutation on this idea (with possible magical connotations applied to this group, his alchemical credentials seem more refined). However, I'd say his return from the dead, subsequent second death, and then his return as a ghost are by far what make him such an interesting character, and teacher, to have.