Foil

Character Role Analysis

Ritchie and Marv

Ritchie and Marv are both foils to Ed, but in different ways. Ed doesn't have much going for him and wastes away his life, but Ritchie is even worse—he has no job and no desires—and this shows us that Ed could actually be doing even worse than he generally is.

On the other hand, Marv has gone and saved $40,000 because he's got a secret kid and wants to help out. Ed's blown away by all of this of course, because his buddy is more mature and responsible than he ever realized… and than Ed himself is.

Ritchie and Marv provide two comparisons to Ed, and stand on either side of him on the coming-of-age spectrum. If we were to rank them from lazy to go-getter, Ritchie would be taking a nap on the lazy end while Marv would be showing up at work on the go-getter end. Ed, of course, would be driving around in the middle.

Before we go judging these guys, it's also important to note that none of them are about to win a Nobel Prize or anything. In fact, they are mostly in the same boat when it comes to their lives and the options that are readily available to them. Ritchie and Marv are around to show us that even within Ed's life though, there are different ways of living on the wrong side of the tracks.