Foil

Character Role Analysis

Nora and Vee

Nora and Vee are best friends, but they're also polar opposites. Compared to the fun-loving, flirty, and unapologetically obnoxious Vee, Nora is studious and reserved. Their romantic interests also reveal their character trajectories. Vee jumps into a relationship with the unchanging and irredeemably bad Jules; Nora is drawn to the deeper Patch. As Nora goes through an intense experience of developing strong feelings for Patch, uncovering her role in a complicated supernatural struggle, facing death, and sacrificing her life for the benefit of another, Vee remains the same as ever. For crying out loud, when she calls Nora the day after the climatic fight at the school and finds out Nora has to talk to the police, she freaks out:

Vee's tone shot up with panic. "They know you were at the school? You didn't give them my name, did you?" (30.72)

Vee is only worried about herself even after Nora saved her butt at the school, but Nora has grown into a person who understands sacrifice.

Chauncey and Patch

Just as Vee's lack of change highlights Nora's evolution as a character, Chauncey's static evilness emphasizes Patch's complexity as his plans and motivations change. According to Nora's handy-dandy Google search, we learn that both Nephilim and fallen angels are classified as evil. Sure enough, both of these characters certainly do evil things: Patch possesses Chauncey's body and uses it for his own selfish pleasure; Chauncey (as Jules) manipulates Elliot; and both Patch and Chauncey plot to kill Nora.

Patch, however, grows to care about Nora. His feelings prohibit him from going through with his plan to kill her, and he chooses to sacrifice his desire for a human body so she can live. While Patch morphs into a dynamic character, Chauncey remains the selfish, whiny, bad seed he's always been. Boo and hiss.