Question #3: Function of a Foil
Sample Essays
Sample VV
In John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, Gene and Phineas are the ultimate foils to each other’s characters. Gene’s self-depreciation serves to make himself minor and secondary to Finny’s overwhelming presence; it is this dismissal of this own self-worth that highlight’s Finny’s supposed greatness and talent: Gene’s portrayal of himself is what fuels his and the reader’s perception of Finny.
Gene always emphasizes his own ineptitude: he is scrawnier (those famous ten punds lighter), less athletic, less popular, and his can talk his way out of very little: he is less pervasive and personable. Finny can be seen as vivacious and manipulative but Gene’s depiction of himself overshadowed by Finny rarely lets these traits come through.
Sample X
In the Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, the character Huang Taitai serves as a foil for main character Lindo Jong. Huang’s personality emphasizes Lindo’s qualities by contrast. The distinct relationship between the two aids to illuminate the meaning of the literary work. In reaction to Huang’s actions, Lindo reveals who she is and finds her inner, at first unknown, strength.
Lindo Jong finds herself engaged to Tyan-yu, son of Huang, when a flood in their village destroys Lindo’s home. Lindo must separate from her family, but promises she will behave and not destroy the family’s reputation. But Lindo soon finds out this arrangement is not as easy as she thought it would be because Huang does not seem to be in her favor. Huang treats Lindo as if she were an ordinary servant, forcing her to do menial tasks such as cooking all the meals and cleaning the house. But through these endless tasks, Lindo builds her character. She learns to do things with dexterity and perfection. She can smell if something she cooked was too salty without tasting it, and could sew so well, it looked as if the designs were painted on. Lindo learned to pride herself in these accomplishments because they were all she had. Lindo received no love or appreciation from her soon to be mother in law and husband. Tyan-yu did whatever he could to upset her and Huang criticized everything she did and thought Lindo was not good enough for the family. Due to the treatment Lindo received on a daily basis, Huang was able to brainwash Lindo into thinking she had a good life here, and that she owed everything she had to Huang, and in turn had to do all that she wanted.
But later on, Lindo recognizes what Huang had done to her on her wedding day. Huang had taken away Lindo’s spirit and mentality of herself worth, and replaced it with what Huang wanted. As Lindo looked into the mirror before she got married, she once again felt empowered. She decided she would get out of the marriage, without bringing shame unto her family. When a servant performed a night long ritual of watching a burning candle last all night to represent the never ending marriage between Lindo and Tyan-yu, Lindo looked on because she couldn’t sleep. She hated Tyan-yu and Haung and wished the candle would be blown out by the wind. When this actually happened is he realized her power and was even more determined to escape the belittling marriage. And so Lindo cleverly came up with a plan about how if the marriage continued, Tyan-Yu’s grandparents would kill him because the marriage was not meant to be. When she told Huang her story, she persuaded the whole family it was true. Then Huang let Lindo leave with her pride, and a unknown but new future ahead of her.
All the actions in the relationship between Huang and Lindo illuminated the meaning of The Joy Luck Club. The book is all about the strength of individuals knowing self worth, and being true to yourself. Because of Huangs treatment to Lindo, she found the power within herself to not just accept this forced marriage, and do something to change it. It shows that everyone has a say in what his or her future is, and that not standing up for yourself is just quietly giving up. By coming up with the ingenious plan, Lindo stayed true to herself, by doing what she thought was best for herself and would make her happy. But by leaving in a seemingly respectful and truthful way to Huang, Lindo proved to be still obedient to her parents wishes and orders, which she held in high esteem. The Huangs could not therefore curse and lookdown upon Lindo’s family, because Lindo was a good daughter in law and wife. Lindo in the end, realized herself worth. During her days in Huangs house, she was taught to think of herself as nothing, but soon formed her new ideology in knowing her worth. She said that “everyear I buy myself 24 carat gold bracelets because I know what I am worth.” She learned to respect herself and therefore illustrated the themes and meaning of the book.
Amy Tan’s book the Joy Luck Club wisely uses the minor character of Huang Taitai to act as a foil to Lindo Jung. Huangs relationship with Lindo emphasized Lindo’s qualities and strengths she did not even acknowledge she had possessed. The dinstinct relationship between these two characters serves to greatly illuminate the meanings of the book. Huang Taitai helped to highlight and emphasize all of Lindo’s good qualities.
Sample A
In Frankenstein, the monster was Victor’s foil. The monster did both, he hilighted his strengths as well as showed his weaknesses.
When the monster’s life was created it showed Victor’s brilliance in the science laboratory. With the creation of the monster, Victor became scared and ran away to start a new life without completeing the past.
Sample CCC
Jane Austen’s Emma is initially described as “clever, handsome, and rich,” but her faults are evident through her actions. She is self-assured as she thinks she set up Miss Tayler into her marriage. When she tries to set up Harriet she repeatedly fails. Harriet’s character is almost the complete opposite of Emma’s. As a foil character her traits contrast wonderfully with Emma’s even evolving as Emma does. While Emma think she is helping Harriet by being her friend, the reader realizes that the friendship is only for her own amusement.
Harriet is introduced as a girl without family who is poor, and owns a dull wit. Emma’s family is everything to her, she is praised for her cleverness, and perfectly capable of living off of her own inheritance. What Emma lacks is Harriet’s good tempered will and nicety. While she finds Harriet a nice girl without social ambitions, her identity is fluid. Emma molds her into the monster of her own creation and she is repulsed by what she sees in herself. When Mr. Martin asks Harriet to wed Harriet is delighted. Of course, Emma’s thoughts on marriage and society would never allow for this marriage. Her own hypocrises and society’s mean edge are expressed in Mr. Elton who seems glamourous and fine, but treats women as a dowry. Harriet values character in her husband, the Martins offer her a family and a home, Emma’s evils are the only thing that stop Harriet’s happiness. Harriet is a nice girl who takes care of her old school teacher. Emma, blessed as she is, insults the poor Mrs. Bates and refuses to give a warm welcome to Jane Fairfax. Harriet is a girl alien to Emma’s ways, the infiltration of social climbing into her life brings out the worst in her.
Having been brought up without money and with a poor education, Harriet is unprepared for Emma’s acts. The two men whom Harriet goes after while intoxicated with the social ladder each want on an attribute which Harriet can never obtain. Mr. Elton makes it clear that he wanted to marry money. Mrs. Elton is a much worse wife than Harriet would have been, but he seems to pay no notice. Harriet’s chances of being born poor bring out Emma’s riches. She feels pity for Harriet and Mrs. Bates for being poor, and it speaks to the rigid roles of society which Emma thought she could bend and break. Harriet could never afford tutors and her stupidity is shown when she is confused by a simple riddle. Emma solves it quickly, but falls victim to her own fault of turning it into whatever suits her best. Harriet is molded by Emma, which ultimately must be reversed.
Emma learns in the end that her own composure is too rigid. Like Harriet, she must be able to change at the recommendation of her betters. Although she is fortunate to have money and wit, she learns from Harriet that she must have contentment with her situation. Her fears of losing her home or money are gone when she reforms and agrees to marry Mr. Knightley. She is ashamed of her outburst to Mrs. Bates during their outing. Blessed with fortune, everything Emma lacked was present in Harriet. Both girls go through changes that are necessary to their well-being. They end up where they belong within the social structure and both happy with their husbands and their lives.
Sample G
“For you, a thousand times over,” Hassan replies when Amir asks him to run his kite. Hassan loves Amir. Hassan has strength and bravery that Amir could not dream of. Amir only thinks of himself, while Hassan puts others first. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses the minor character of Hassan to show everything that Amir is not.
Hassan and Amir seem to be the best of friends. When faced with a choice, Hassan backs Amir one hundred percent. While Amir refuses to stand up against Assef for Hassan, Hassan will risk getting beat up to save Amir. Hosseini uses an early example of this to show how dedicated Hassan is to Amir, and by contrast how Amir is ashamed of Hassan. Hassan believes Amir no matter what. When Amir is cruel and tells Hassan incorrect meanings of words, Hassan trusts Amir’s words completely. Amir is cruel to Hassan to boost his own confidence, and Hassan does not even notice because he loves Amir so much. Finally, Hassan sacrifices himself for Amir. Assef rapes Hassan because he will not give up Amir’s kite. Amir contrasts Hassan because he sees this happening but does not try to stop it for fear of losing his prize.
Hassan proves his strength more the more Amir shows his weakness. He never tells about the rape. He is strong because he wants Amir to have what he wants, Baba’s love. Amir is weak, because he cannot bear to look at Hassan or apologize. Instead, he seeks punishment for atonement. He asks Hassan to hit him, but this plan backfires because Hassan takes the pomegranate and hits himself. Hassan’s strength directly contrasts Amir’s weakness. Amir thinks of himself first. He frames Hassan for stealing so he will get kicked out of his home and Amir won’t have to look at his guilt every day. Hassan still does not betray Amir. This final straw causes the reader to see Hassan as all good and Amir as all bad.
However, near the end of the book, Amir quests for atonement, and the foil changes sides. We see Amir’s change through comparison with Hassan. He becomes brave and fights Assef to save Hassan’s son and gets a harelip like Hassan. The harelip represents Amir beginning to sacrifice himself for Hassan and thus becoming more like him. Amir gains Hassan’s bravery, too. He faces things that scare him to death. His strength and bravery increase to closer to Hassan’s level. Finally, Amir adopts Sohrab, Hassan’s son, and reaches Hassan’s level of dedication. He runs a kite for Sohrab and tell him, “For you, a thousand times over.” This symbolizes the completion of his transformation into a Hassan-like servant.
Though the book begins using Hassan as a contrast to Amir, Amir’s transformation is shown through comparison to Hassan. Hassan had embodied the suffering servant, and Amir reached atonement for everything wrong he did to Hassan by becoming a suffering servant himself. The interesting comparison-contrast technique of these two foil characters effectively reveals Amir’s characterization from beginning to end. Though Hassan is a minor character according to his appearance in the novel, he is a huge force on Amir and on the reader throughout the moving story of two friends and one’s redemption.
Sample Z
In The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, all three brothers contribute to the downfall of their sister Caddy Campson. The relation between the minor character’s and the major character in this novel are signifigant.
All of the brothers in this novel are all important to the downfall of Caddy. When Caddy becomes pregnant at a young age and is married by the time she is 18, her brothers become furious. They used to be overprotective of their sisters but no longer are they. They all play an important role in Caddy’s life and she respect’s them for that. In The Sound and the Fury their are three long chapters. Each different one focusing in on a different brother. Caddy serves as the mother of the house when MaMa dies in the beginning of the novel. All of the brothers at young ages learn valuable lessons from their sister.
These are some ways in how minor characters contruble to the foil of the main character. This is evident in The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.
Sample NN
The Color Purple highlights the life of Celie, as a young black girl, raised in an oppressive male society. With no mother, Celie’s father took complete control of her life, forcing her to even have sex with him. Celie continued to face male dominance and a lack of free will. However, through the help of female relationships, Celie finds her true self. Although he only appears in the first of the novel, Celie’s father’s actions impact the rest of her life. As Celie faces traumatic experience from the oppressive men, her close friends help her find meaning in life and reach self-actualization.
Before Celie can reach her full potential, she must complete the lower levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. However, the second level of needs of love and belonging cannot be met through her father. In her early teens, Celie’s father rapes her, leaving a lasting memory. With noone to turn to, Celie has no means of coping with her fears; therefore she believes she should sucuumb to a man’s demand. When Celie’s father forces her into a marriage, he merely wants to rid himself of the burden of having a daughter. Whenever Celie’s new husband orders her to cook or clean, she obliges. Therefore, she submits her free will and cannot reach self-actualization. As Celie encounters other women through the novel, they too believe in obeying their husband’s every command. Being oppressed by this, male dominance gives Celie no freedom to choose; furthermore, she lives a life dependent on the dominant males. Celie’s father’s one small action at the start of the novel dictates her actions through the first half of her life. Celie has no voice or opinion and feels that she has found her place in the world. Celie did not realize that she sacrificed her free will and cut herself short from her true potential.
Had Celie not found strength in her strong female bonds, she would have never reached self-actualization. When Celie meets Shug, her entire life changes. Shug was an independent woman whom no one could stop. Therefore, Shug teaches Celie how to be her self. When Celie first encounters Shug, she was singing Karaoke at a bar. Shug has a domineering personality who does not listen to any men. By helping Celie learn to say “no” to oppressive men, Shug ultimately leads her to her true self. Celie discovers her passion for making jeans. She can make jeans for every size and shape with unique designs of the customer’s choice. With Shugs love and affection, she inspires Celie to reach for her dreams. Rather than being constrained by men, Celie separates from the oppressive male figures in her life and declares herself independent of all others. When Celie establishes her own business for making jeans, she becomes completely economically independent. Since Shug gives Celie the love and sense of belonging that she needs, Celie can continue up maslow’s hierarchy. With Celie’s new sense of free will, she can identify her true self. The strong female bonds Celie develops allow her to reach self-actualization and establish her self-worth.
Although Celie’s father makes a brief appearance at the start of the novel, he attempts to affect Celie’s life. Serving as a foil, he represents every characteristic that Celie learns not to be. Therefore, with the help of her female friends, Celie finds her true identity. She learns to overcome the traumatic experiences of her adolescence and continues life with a new sense of hope. Shug provides the love and belonging Celie needs to complete Maslow’s hierarchy; therefore, she ultimately reaches self-actualization. Through this process,. Celie becomes independent from all dominant males and finds her true self.