Heart Of Darkness Foils Character Analysis

Character development is the heart and soul of a story. When one reads a book, they want to connect with the characters.This literary technique allows one to see who they are, why they are the way they are, how they think, etc. Authors often use character foils to develop characters and to move the plot along. They also utilize character foils to make the protagonist look better and to show off the characteristics of the protagonist, usually with another character that is the complete opposite or someone who has many different traits than the main character. In the novels, The Sun Also Rises and Heart of Darkness, the authors Ernest Hemingway and Joseph Conrad respectively both use foils to develop their protagonists.

In the Sun Also Rises,

Jake refers to Robert as his friend and in multiple sections of the book, is spotted hanging out with him. However, there is a certain antagonism that Jake shows towards Robert. Underlying his feelings and jealousy, Jake acts like there is nothing wrong. In spite of that, his true feelings surface when he finds out about Robert’s affair with Brett. He starts to do things to annoy Robert like not hand over the telegram from Brett that stated Brett’s and Mike’s delay to Pamplona. Robert on the other hand still considers Jake his friend with no strong feelings of dislike. We see this opposite duo face challenges of their friendship. The purpose of the foil of Robert and Jake “Robert Cohn is the character that sparks the whole plot of the book. It’s his affair with Brett and its fallout that sets off the whole chain of jealous explosions that pepper the novel and fuel its action. While he’s not the hero, or even a particularly sympathetic character, he is central to the novel’s plot” (shmoop). In addition, Jake states "I have never seen a man in civil life as nervous as Robert Cohn--nor as eager. I was enjoying it. It was lousy to enjoy it, but I felt lousy. Cohn had a wonderful quality of bringing out the worst in anybody." (Chapter 10, pg. 98). This statement holds true since not only Jake but Bill, a friend of Jake, brought out their darker side, such as both making Anti-semitic

On his journey, he comes to learn about Kurtz, the current manager of the ivory company that Marlow is going to work for. As he learns more about Kurtz and the other workers characteristics, he becomes disgusted of who they are. He disagrees with their viewpoints and even pause multiple times in his narration to collect himself. Even with his distaste of the workers, everything seems to shift for Marlow. He starts to ponder like the workers and even go against his viewpoints he had earlier in the book. “By the end of the novel, Marlow is almost unable to reintegrate himself into European society, having become convinced of the lies and "surface-truths" that sustain it. He tells his story to the men aboard the Nellie to share with them what he has learned about the darkness of the human heart — and the things of which that darkness is capable.” (cliff notes) . The foil in this novel is between Marlow and Kurtz,once almost complete opposites, their relationship turns complex where the reader can not seem to distinguish one from the