Foil

Character Role Analysis

Birdy Morris and George Hook

Both Birdy and Mr. Hook are influential in Tom's life. For a long time, Birdy is Tom's only male role model, and he continues to be a strong source of knowledge and help for the whole novel.

Let's put it this way: Birdy and Mr. Hook have different skill sets. While Birdy is an expert craftsman and a wise observer of the natural world, Mr. Hook is a successful businessman. Mr. Hook helps Tom with business in town and helps him with his farming goals, giving him a carpentry book and tools and finding him new horses.

The skills of both men are valued, but each man remains mostly relegated to his own sphere: Mr. Hook in the economic world and Birdy in the natural world. Ponder this: will Tom be able to assume an identity that melds both worlds when he is a grown man?