The textbook, Literature for Composition, defines the term "foil" in the following way: "a character who makes a contrast with another, especially a minor character who helps to set off a major character" (Barnet et al. 1331). Starting with the sources listed on the course links page, elaborate on this definition; then, identify the characters who are foils in the stories "Boys and Girls" and "A Clean Well-Lighted Place." What attributes of the major character do they help to set off? Document the sources you use.

A Handbook to Literature says that the word "foil" literally means a "leaf" or a sheet "of bright metal placed under a piece of jewelry to increase its brilliance" ("Foil"). Thus when applied to literature, the term refers to "a character who makes a contrast with another, especially a minor character who helps set off a major character" (Barnett et al. 1331). For example, a foolish character may show a wise character's wisdom in a stronger light, or a cowardly character may make the hero's actions appear even more courageous. A foil is frequently either an antagonist or a confidant, but whomever the foil might be, the purpose is to illuminate one or more significant traits, attitudes or actions of a main character ("Foil" NTCE). The traits, attitudes, or actions set in relief by a foil may indicate the writer's attitude toward this subject and thus suggest his meaning.

In the short story, "A Clean Well-Lighted Place," Ernest Hemingway gives a good example of how a foil can highlight the traits of another character. This story is about the different reactions of two waiters at a late night cafe toward an old man who comes to sit and drink until the early hours of the morning. While the older waiter is sympathetic with the old man, the yonger waiter is impatient with him. The young man then provides a foil for both the older waiter and the late night drinker. The main idea of this story is the disturbing notion that death may be a better alternative than an empty and lonely life.

The young waiter says that the old man had tried to kill himself, but when asked why, he asserts that he did it in unjustified dispair over "nothing" because "he has plenty of money" (1170). He dislikes the old man staying so late at the cafe because he is anxious to get home to his wife and to sleep. He actually says to the old man, who is deaf, "You should have killed yourself last week" (1170). The young waiter has no sympathy because for him happiness is defined materially: a job, money, a home and a wife. He does not understand that loneliness drives the old man out into the night.

In contrast, the older waiter is sympathetic with the old man. He understands that there are many lonely people who need a safe, well-lighted place at night. The older waiter makes the comment that "each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be someone who needs the café" (1172). And after the old man is sent home by the young waiter and the cafe is closed, he himself seeks a bright and pleasent place to drink rather then to return home and lie awake until dawn. He confesses that " I am of those who like to stay late at the café, with all those who need a light for the night" (1172).

Thus the younger waiter in his youth, impatientence, and sence of well being provides a foil to emphasize the lonely, empty existence of the two old men. The story conveys a negative and pessimestic attitude that is explicitly illustrated in the old waiter's sacriligioius parady of a prayer which negates both hope and faith. Hemingway seems to be saying in effect that the old man would have been better off if he had succeeded in killing himself.

Another example of the effective use of a foil to emphazise the attributes of a main character is illustrated in Alice Munro's story, "Boys and Girls." This story is about a girl who grows up on a fox farm in Canada with her parents and younger brother, and while she at first wants to work with her father, and to avoid helping her mother, the act of allowing a horse to escape that her father is trying to kill to feed the foxes makes her see that she is not like the men in her family. The main idea is that males and females are not alike and that a girl is predestined to react to the world with female sensitivity.

In the story, " Boys and Girls," by Alice Munro, Laird is the foil for his sister, the narrator of the story. When the children are young, Laird's behavior contrasts with the maturity and responsibility shown by the girl. While she is busy watering the foxes, he goes off and swings "himself sick . . . going around in circles" or tries to catch caterpillars (987).

But when the children are older, Laird's actions emphasize the girl's feminine characteristics. While she tries to save the horse, Flora, by letting her run free, Laid calls to his father and the hired man who are going to chase the horse, "Let me go too, let me go too!" When they return, he has a streak of blood on his arm and says, "We shot old flora. . . and cut her up in fifty pieces" (992). The blood thirsty young male contrasts sharply with the soft hearted girl.

Thus, in each of these two stories, a minor character, the younger waiter in "A Clean, Well Lighted Place," and the younger brother, Laird, in "Boys and Girls" serves as a foil to emphasize the qualities of a major character.