Foil

Character Role Analysis

Vera and Olga

Tip of the day: If there are only two named female characters and one is rich while the other is poor, it's a good sign that they are foils. There is hardly even enough character description to say anything about either of their characters, but it's easy to see that Vera is everything that Olga was supposed to be. She is rich, married, and has a summer resort just like Olga used to before the revolution. Olga, on the other hand, is poor, unmarried, and can't even afford a pack of cigarettes. Since Olga is supposed to represent Russia, the foil becomes even larger. Vera is what the émigrés hoped their country would be. Olga is what their country actually became after the revolution, in their eyes at least. Poor, washed up, and about to die.