Foil

Character Role Analysis

Caddy Compson

Hmm… if all the boys are protagonists, it makes sense that the girls are foils, right? That sounds pretty sexist, we know. But it’s actually pretty true. How many times to do we hear about Caddy? We admit, we’ve lost count. Each one of her brothers defines themselves against (and through) his relationship with her. And that, my friends, is a foil.

All the Boys

Yes, yes, we know we’ve already mentioned the Compson brothers once. But here’s the thing: each one is a protagonist (or antagonist) in their own right, and they’re also great foils for each other. Quentin deals with the loss of Caddy differently that Benjy does. Jason gets angry at Caddy, while Quentin desperately loves her. You get the picture, right? After all, Faulkner’s sort of shoving the comparison in our faces. Three brothers = three sections of the narrative. Right?