How is William Forrester a male influence on Jamal in the movie Finding Forrester?

Gus Van Sant's movie Finding Forrester is an excellent coming of age story about an inner city youth who meets a reclusive writer. Jamal Wallace is sixteen years old when his friends dare him to break into the apartment of a mysterious man they call "the window." He loses his backpack in the process, and when he retrieves it, he finds that the man has marked in his notebooks. Jamal loves to write and has...

Gus Van Sant's movie Finding Forrester is an excellent coming of age story about an inner city youth who meets a reclusive writer. Jamal Wallace is sixteen years old when his friends dare him to break into the apartment of a mysterious man they call "the window." He loses his backpack in the process, and when he retrieves it, he finds that the man has marked in his notebooks. Jamal loves to write and has several notebooks full of writing. Eventually, as the boy and man become acquainted, Jamal learns that William is really the famous writer William Forrester. Forrester wrote one acclaimed book and retreated to the family apartment in the Bronx. The character is a veiled reference to J.D. Salinger, who dropped out of the public eye after his book Catcher in the Rye became famous.

William mentors Jamal's writing and also becomes something of a father figure (Jamal lives with his mother and hasn't seen his father in many years). William teaches him to write from the heart. In one scene he gives the boy one of his essays as a starting point for a longer piece. William also encourages Jamal to attend a private school that has recruited him because of his test scores, but also because he is a very good basketball player. Even though Jamal is a black high school student, he has an uncanny ability to remember anything he has read. William recognizes Jamal's brilliance and nurtures his talent. They talk about writing and also become very close friends. Jamal helps William to overcome his fear of the outside and William ultimately stands up for Jamal when he is accused of cheating by an antagonistic teacher at the private school he attends.

The friendship and mentoring is reciprocal. Jamal makes Willam realize what he is missing in life. At the end, because of Jamal, he travels to his homeland of Scotland. William is an important influence on Jamal's life in several ways. He gives the boy advice on writing, love, and how to deal with his problems, much as a father would.