Using Foils in Stories

I first learned about foils when studying "Jane Eyre" in highschool. Foils are two or more characters that show opposite characteristics in similar situations. In "Jane Eyre," Mr. Rochester and St. John are foils. They are different men but both play Jane's romantic interests. St. John's personality makes Jane realize she cannot live without love and so she returns to Mr. Rochester.

I personally love using foils. They show character growth and help the main character solidify what he/she feels, thus giving them an extra reason to go after what they want.

In "Daniel's Garden," Catherine and Mary are foils for Daniel. Both women play similar romantic interests for him, but they are completely different. In the beginning of the story, Daniel is 'ready' to marry Catherine. But after discovering she only cares about him because of his potential to be a law partner, his feelings for her wane. By the end of the story, he falls in love with Mary - not because she wants him to be anybody different, but because she accepts him for who he is: a soldier.

I'm currently working on some scenes in the beginning of "The Heart of a Lie." I have two male romantic interests for Esther - one is a playboy farmhand and the other is a playboy rich businessman's son. Both are charming, both are suave, both have confidence and ease. There is nothing underneath the farmhand's playboy charm that indicates a deeper character or a willingness to mature and accept responsibility. Whereas, the playboy businessman's son is putting on a facade of charm to hide the fact that he lacks confidence in himself to assume the role he's meant to play. When Esther convinces him he has everything he needs, then he is able to fully accept responsibility and become the great man of the city he's meant to be.

I also have two mother figures, two father figures and two sisters. Each pair acts as a foil for Esther, presenting different challenges for her as well as different blessings. In many ways this novel has been more difficult to write than "Daniel's Garden" because the character development of each person has to be real.

In "Daniel's Garden," I relied pretty heavily on 'stock' characters - the religious soldier, the bookish soldier and the courageous soldier. I fleshed them out as much as I could, but they were ultimately there to serve their purposes.

Whereas, in "The Heart of a Lie," the lines between protagonist and antagonist are blurred and the characters are more like real people. It's been a challenge!

Writing this story has given me GREAT respect for Jane Austen. Nothing 'happens' in her stories - there are no voyages or quests, no war, nothing huge or upheaving. Her scenes are constructed around conversations and dances. And she was a genius at making ordinary everyday living compelling and page-turning. That's hard to do!

So, using foils help give more oomph beneath the surface of my characters' motivations. They generate more conflict and more depth, transforming conversations and dances and dinner parties into page-turning scenes. When it comes to character development in "The Heart of a Lie," I need all the help I can get! :)