ipl-logo

Use Of Foils In Purple Hibiscus

790 Words4 Pages

Matthew Sloan Solove Literary Foundations 4/14/23 Foils in Purple Hibiscus When there is a pair of characters in a story that are complete opposites of each other, but strangely, they complement each other’s personalities, this is a foil. Authors use foils in many ways, but they always do one thing – reveal a deeper understanding of the characters. “Purple Hibiscus” by Chimamanda Ngoza Adichie, is a bildungsroman about Kambili Achike, who is a quiet, insecure girl whose father is abusive. As the story progresses, Kambili finds herself and learns to truly use her voice. Adichie uses foil characters to show a contrast in personalities – some examples are Kambili and Amaka, Eugene and Ifeoma, and Mama and Ifeoma. The first and most obvious foil is Kambili and her cousin Amaka. Kambili is a shy, quiet, and insecure girl whilst Amaka is outspoken, …show more content…

Eugene is controlling and oppressive, and Ifeoma is fun and supportive. They are complete opposites of each other: Eugene is full of anger, whilst Ifeoma is a fun and happy person. He controls his family, and Ifeoma loves and supports her family. Papa silently manipulates his family, and this is proven when it says that “He [Papa] poured the hot water on my feet” (194). Eugene tells his children that he wants them to drink the tea because he loves them – calling it a “love sip.” Instead, he is doing this to subconsciously manipulate his children into being less powerful than him. Ifeoma is nothing like this – she is incredibly supportive of her children. Kambili and Jaja discover this when they visit her. This can be proven when the book says, “setting higher and higher expectations for them in the way she talked to them, in what she expected of them” (226). Ifeoma is a loving, supportive person that would never harm her children or family deliberately. Two siblings being complete opposites is quite a common foil scheme, The happy one being Ifeoma and Eugene the angry

Show More
Related

Clean Getaway Character Analysis

494 Words | 2 Pages

This book repeatedly brings up the theme of people not always being as they seem. Many examples portray this theme of people not being as they seem. One is when G’ma started changing her license plate. “This time he can see what she's carrying: a license plate. Except it’s green” (Stone 43).

Read More

Tangerine Character Analysis Essay

503 Words | 3 Pages

Have you ever wondered how an older brother feels about the younger one? For example, in Tangerine, a novel by Edward Bloor, the main character Paul, had feared his older brother, Erik, for his entire life. In the book, Erik is described as a selfish character that didn’t care for Paul in the very least. Just the opposite, Erik often likes to make choices that would make Paul feel bad. Erik’s choices have caused Paul to be blind, made him think himself as a coward, and weakened the friendships between Paul and Joey.

Read More

Pride In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

164 Words | 1 Pages

When we think of siblings we all think of someone to play, run, fight, and talk to with but, narrator wasn’t able to do those things with his little brother Doodle The narrator often failed to appreciate Doodle. Doodle was very small and fragile. He was born with a very weak heart so, he couldn’t do much. The narrator thought that because Doodle couldn’t play, run, fight, and talk to him his brother was “crazy”. One time he even

Read More

Diverging Paths And All That By Maryanne O Hara Analysis

560 Words | 3 Pages

One would expect the President of the United States to be a model citizen and hold himself to high standards, but in the short story “Diverging Paths and All That” by Maryanne O’Hara, President Nixon does not exhibit these traits. The author uses foils to help impress central idea that the narrator is heading in the right direction in life and Billy is not on the reader. The author does this by contrasting Billy’s readiness and lack of remorse with the authors hesitation, feelings of sickness, remorse, and eventual bailing out, when stealing. There are many examples of foils being used to impress the central idea that the narrator is heading in the right direction in life and Billy is not on the reader. One example of foils being used is when Billy nonchalantly steals with ease, while the narrator is

Read More

Comparing Symbolism In Blue Against White And The Shivering Tree

1321 Words | 6 Pages

Being lost psychologically is one of the most overwhelming challenges to overcome in one’s life. In both “Blue Against White” by Jeannette C. Armstrong and “The Shivering Tree” by John Mcleod, the trickster are shown as two extremely different characters, but both demonstrating a despairing side of human nature. In “Blue Against White,” the protagonist Lena prescribed the trickster as a coyote that is lost within a building after entering an elevator, a symbolism for indigenous people that are lost within the colonised dominant society. Whilst John Mcleod describes the trickster as one that is lost within one’s arrogance, overwhelmed by a sense of pride and confidence that it was unable to see the obvious lie from the protagonist, Nanabush.

Read More

Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice Foil

503 Words | 3 Pages

In almost every book ever written, there are characters that bring out the differences of others. Whenever the author, rather than plainly stating the characteristics, uses other characters to imply the traits of another character, it is called a character foil. In “Much Ado About Nothing,” there are many people that act as foils of each other. In the book “Much Ado About Nothing” written by William Shakespeare, Beatrice is a foil to Hero because of their differing personalities, actions, and opinions. Beatrice and Hero are foils to each other because of their contrasting personalities.

Read More

Unbroken, By Laura Hillenbrand: Character Analysis

616 Words | 3 Pages

In Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, the theme people often reveal their true natures in their darkest moments is illustrated through the use of character. In many cases, people show their true colors when exposed to hardship and suffering. During his time as a POW, living under the harsh

Read More

Summary Of Hidden Intellectualism By Gerald Graff

1653 Words | 7 Pages

In Gerald Graff’s article “Hidden Intellectualism,” from the 2003 copy of They Say I Say, the author explores the idea of what true intellectualism is by recalling pieces of his childhood. The way schools and society view intellectualism comes in to questions as being one sided or false altogether . There remain several sides to the argument regarding education and include anything regarding what should be taught, how it should be taught, and what marks the mastering of a subject. With true education as well as the proper way to teach being a heavily debated topic of controversy, the question of the right way to teach is heavily sought after. Public education has always been a topic of intense controversy in the United States since its early founding years.

Read More

Book Report On Night By Elie Wiesel

1496 Words | 6 Pages

Personification, juxtaposition, irony, and imagery are not the only devices used, as the author also uses antithesis to show the contrast between characters personalities before and during the

Read More

Foils In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

623 Words | 3 Pages

Some say that opposites attract; in some cases they do and in some they do not. A foil is a character who is opposite of another character in order to highlight certain characteristics in both characters. An example of foils in a play that Shakespeare wrote, Romeo and Juliet, including rambunctious Tybalt and the tranquil Benvolio. Another example is the obnoxious funny Mercutio and the lovey dovey Romeo. Romeo and Juliet was a Shakespearean play written 1595 by William Shakespeare.

Read More

Examples Of Misjudgement In The Outsiders

593 Words | 3 Pages

Many people are misjudged in today’s world, but this social idea is also present in books. Misjudgement is a very prominent topic in the world today, and has been implemented into literature alongside society. Misjudgement is often used to help the reader learn more about a character, which is very good to have while writing. In the books “The Outsiders” and “The Odyssey”, Darry and Polyphemus are two characters who’s misjudgement helps the reader learn more about them. One person who is misjudged in literature is Darry from “The Outsiders”.

Read More

Foil Characters In Antigone

1009 Words | 5 Pages

In the most well known and the least read pieces of literature, narratives all have one key idea in common: the good guy and the bad guy. Whether the piece is about superheros, elves, or robots, the idea of these two opposing characters continues, the most common type of foil. A foil is two characters that contrast each other on many regards. The antagonist, or bad guy, often is a foil to the protagonist, or the good guy. In Sophocles’ Antigone, the antagonist, Creon is a foil to the protagonist, Antigone.

Read More

Foil Pairs In The Great Gatsby

2342 Words | 10 Pages

When reading a novel, a reader will often imagine the outcome of the story based on the scenarios built by the author or narrator. In Pudd’nhead Wilson, The Great Gatsby and The Reservation Blues, however, the distinction between the expectation of the readers and the outcome of the story generates a sense of irony. The authors in all three texts use foil pairs to create that kind of conflict. They plot the story so that what we expect to happen on one person, according to one’s characteristics, actually happens on the other. The contrast between readers’ mind set and the ending of the stories suggests that all readers judge the characters based on their actions and assume a denouement for them.

Read More

Icarus Girl Analysis

1468 Words | 6 Pages

This essay will argue what is meant by the representation of the Other in the novels The Icarus Girl and Shadow Tag. The other is a representation of the questions surrounding identity that arise in these texts. The Icarus Girl focuses on the alternate identities of Jessamy Harrison and her struggle to find a fitting identity because of having a multi-national heritage. Shadow Tag takes a different approach to the question of identity, as Irene America attempts to escape her identity as a domestic abuse victim in the blue diary that she keeps hidden from her husband Gil. There is also the question about the identity of the narrative voice of the novel.

Read More

Great Expectations Foil

928 Words | 4 Pages

In literature, many authors utilize minor characters to significantly add to the meaning of the work. In Great Expectations, three minor characters have important functions, such as serving as a foil to the main character, and adding on to the theme. To begin, Herbert, a minor characters, illustrates a direct foil of Pip. A foil can be defined as another character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist). Even though Pip and Herbert share a great friendship (since opposites seem to attract), many differences between Herbert and Pip exploit the presence of a foil.

Read More

More about Use Of Foils In Purple Hibiscus

Related Topics

Open Document