Robert Cohn Foil

Character foils are important to any story or play as they compare and contrast character traits as the story unfolds. The use of character foils allows the audience to understand a characters way of thought and the actions that they take. Character foils show the moral behaviour and can help the audience see contradictory factors that help advance the plot. Although characters may seem similar, the use of character foils can show their differences. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the use of character foils proves Fortinbras is a stronger political leader over Hamlet, the contrasting view of Laertes as a son in comparison to Hamlet and Horatio being thought of as the better man in contradiction to Hamlet.

Foils in The Crucible In literature, a character’s true personality is revealed through the use of foils. A foil is a minor character that contrasts with a main character and highlights his or her particular characteristics. They are found in movies, television shows, novels, and plays. Foils can reveal both positive and negative traits. Throughout The Crucible, literary foils reveal the true personalities of many characters.

From his first mention in the novel--“[Mr. Kurtz] is a very remarkable person”--it is made clear to readers that Kurtz is no ordinary member of the Company. Before narrator Marlow actually encounters this man, he is described as “exceptional”, “of the greatest importance to the Company”, and a “universal genius”. Readers learn that Kurtz came to Africa “equipped with moral ideas” and has brought in an unprecedented amount of ivory, which is the primary goal of the Company. Overall, Kurtz is a prodigy, expected to move up the Company hierarchy quickly, and becomes a sort of obsession for Marlow. Despite this, higher-ups in the Company seem to fear, and

As he assumes his tack, Marlow says that work is a way of keeping hold on "the redeeming facts of life." What do you think he means? Why is this attitude toward work important for him in Africa?

(If we look back to all the books we have read over the course of our life, we may see that a literary device commonly used by almost all writers would be foils. Foils are often put right next to one another, to emphasize the nature of each character, by putting a good character next to a presumably bad character, so that the bad character will look worse, but the good character will look exceedingly better. We have seen this writing technique in many different types of literature. For example, in mythology with the movie Troy, the foils were King Priam, and King Agamemnon. They may both be kings, but they have very different personalities. King Priam care not just for power, but he also cares for the people of his kingdom; however, King Agamemnon only cares about power.) (This idea of placing somewhat similar, yet mostly opposing characters side-by-side is also undoubtedly presented in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee does an incredible job of creating these opposing characters for Jam and Scout to encounter, so that they can learn what is right and wrong, and so that they could go from innocence to experience.) (In To Kill a Mockingbird, three foils are very highly valued in the children’s transition from their state of innocence to their state of experience; these three foils include, Miss Maudie Atkinson & Miss Stephanie Crawford; Calpurnia and Lula; finally, with Atticus Finch and Mr. Gilmer.)

British Literature contains literary foils. Foils serve as a contrast to the characters. Foils are usually the antagonists and protagonists of stories. Literary foils are evident throughout British literature in the stories of Beowulf, Julius Caesar, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

A foil is a minor character that helps the audience better understand a major character. A foil may exist as a comparison character, with similarities between the two, as well as differences that bring to light an important contrast between the foil and the main character. A foil may also just be someone for the main character to talk to, so we can know and understand their thoughts and feelings. Foils help us understand the obvious as well as the arcane. In the classic tragedy Hamlet, we see William Shakespeare employ foils to illustrate both examples. They become important literary tools that help the reader rationalize the concurrent theme of the play -

“Opposites attract.” This is a very cliché quote used by physicists and other scientific personnel, but it rings true in many different ways. In literature, the correct term for a character that sets off or enhances another character by contrast is called a “foil.” Pairs of characters that are foils to each other have very opposing views and personalities, but their presence with each other illustrates the qualities in a better light. The book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a fictional novel which includes a main character named Okonkwo. Okonkwo has some very distinguishing features about him, but the fact that he has a foil in the novel

Like Marlow, Kurtz began his employment with the ivory company with noble intentions: he wants to create a better way of life for the natives. However, because of extreme hardships placed upon him by the manager, Kurtz becomes the "dark" half of the soul: he symbolizes what Marlow may have become if placed in Kurtz' position.

Marlow is the wanderer into the unconscious mind; he is meandering through his deepest understanding of himself. In other words, he is a symbol for the archetype meeting himself in the depths of his unconscious mind. Not only is he initially finding meaning through his encounter with Kurtz but also he is attempting to find meaning through the retelling of his story. Marlow’s voyage ventures “deep into his own personal heart of darkness, where lurks the impulse to savagery that he had never acknowledged while in the deceptive milieu of a sophisticated city” (Spivack 432). Marlow is the principal character through which

The true purpose of the book is to reveal to the European people that Africa is being raped by the ivory traders. Kurtz, the villainous ivory hunter, is portrayed in a captivating manner due to his eloquence. Kurtz is a representation of all European ivory traders, specifically Belgium, who journey to Africa in hopes of striking it rich. Europeans come to take the ivory, but while there, they destroy the land and kill the people. Marlow then meets an accountant after arriving at his post in Africa. The accountant seems to be a representation of the trading companies due to the fact that he is an accountant and dressed immaculately in all white. The trading companies just like the accountant only care about the money being made off of the ivory. The accountant is dressed so perfectly, however is corrupt on the inside.

Mr. Kurtz was the "chief of the inner station" (Conrad, pg. 28). He was "in charge of a trading post, a very important one, in the true ivory country." Kurtz sent in "as much ivory as all the others put together" (Conrad, pg. 22). The company described him as the "best agent, an exceptional man, of the greatest importance to the company" (Conrad, pg. 25). Kurtz went to the jungle for many reasons, but mostly to make money to return to Europe and marry his intended. Marlow "heard that her engagement with Kurtz had been disapproved by her people. He wasn't rich enough or something." He had given Marlow "some reason to infer that it was his impatience of comparative poverty that drove him out there" (Conrad, pg. 74). He had been driven into the jungle to procure money for the company and for himself and for his life with his intended. Greed is what kept him out there so long and clouded his mind regarding thoughts of nobility.

Many characters have foils. A foil is a character that opposes another character, quite often the protagonist. Character foils are similar to the main character in some ways but often have one key difference. Sometimes, at some point the foils develop traits characteristic to the other. Often times, there is a factor, whether it be physical or psychological, which aids in the apparentness of the foils. In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Marlow and Kurtz represent foils driven by the wilderness.

 Marlow's journey leads him in an urgent search for Kurtz, the one man who can provide him with the truth about himself. Like Marlow, Kurtz came to the Congo in hopes to bring "light" and civilization to a backwards society. He is a highly-educated, refined gentlemen; yet, in the end, the brutal nature of the Congo forces him to resort to the life of a murderer and pilferer. The name Kurtz itself has symbolic meaning. "The physical shortness in Kurtz implies a shortness of character and spirit" (Heart of Darkness: A systematic evaluation). Marlow and Kurtz both symbolize the two conditions of human nature. "Kurtz represents what man could become if left to his own intrinsic devices outside protective society. Marlow represents a pure untainted civilized soul who has not been drawn to savagery by a dark, alienated jungle." (Heart of Darkness: A systematic evaluation). When the two come face to face, each man sees a reflection of what he might have become in the other. In Kurtz, Marlow sees the potential

Marlow’s attempt at recreating his subjective past is met with unease on the part of the narrator and like a litmus paper he brings out the intellectual and emotional effect the author is seeking. When the effect has been so affirmed, the author proceeds to manipulate it. When, for example, we see Marlow’s desperation for having missed the chance to speak to Kurtz as absurd, Conrad makes the listeners sigh with the same reaction. Marlow reacts heatedly- “Why do you react in this beastly way, somebody? Absurd? … This is the worst of trying to tell… Here you all are, each moored with two good addresses, like a hulk with two anchors, a butcher round one corner, a policeman round another.” Pp 53 This chastisement by Conrad gets displaced from Marlow’s companions to the reader. Marlow is trying to prevent us from judging Kurtz and by doing so highlights his importance in the tale’s critical discourse.