Foil

Character Role Analysis

Marty and Herb, Teresa and Catherine

Pair 1

Next to Clara's greasy blind date Herb, Marty is none other than a classic white knight. It's a "Spy Vs. Spy" situation. The rest of the of the men in Marty's life sit on the spectrum between sweet and jerky, but it's Marty facing off ever so briefly with Herb that teaches us about what this story's male world values in women, dating, and romance.

Pair 2

Marty's mother Teresa likes to give her sister a hard time for the cartload of sorrow she drags around everywhere she goes. While Teresa is optimistic and nurturing, Catherine is dreary and a little mean, unable to give her son the freedom he now needs as a grown man with a wife and baby.

But as opposite as these two are, Catherine is somewhat of a Ghost of Christmas Future for Teresa: Once Marty settles down, all bets are off and his ma can say goodbye to the stable household role that once gave her life meaning.