Foil

Character Role Analysis

Joshua

A foil is a character that provides contrast for another character, usually the protagonist. Joshua is this story's foil, and he provides contrast for Guido.

During the movie's first half, Guido's an innocent (read: nice way to say naïve). When Eliseo warns him that he'll be the target of anti-Semitic attacks, Guido dismisses the idea: "With me? What could possibly happen to me? The worst they can do is undress me, paint me yellow, and write, 'Achtung, Jewish waiter.' [Laughs.] I didn't even know this horse was Jewish."

During the movie's second half, Guido's learned in the intervening years exactly what can happen to him. When he and his family are taken to the concentration camp, Joshua remains naïve of the situation. With Guido's help, he thinks the whole rotten experience is a game—a difficult and unpleasant game, but a game nonetheless.

Here we see the contrast. Guido is a character who loses his innocence of how cruel the world can be. Not wanting his son to see the world for what it is, he uses his quick wit and imagination to hide that cruelty so that Joshua manages to maintain his innocence as long as possible.