Foil

Character Role Analysis

Nailer and Richard Lopez

Shmoopers might have guessed this one. Richard Lopez is violent for no reason, while Nailer is only violent when there is a reason. Richard is addicted to drugs, but Nailer avoids them. Richard could care less about anyone around him, and Nailer consistently empathizes with people. Even though they're related by blood, their moral makeup could not be more different.

Pima and Nita

This one's pretty easy. Pima is a hard-working ship breaker who has crawled her way to where she is, while Nita was born into privilege, and she's as soft as swanks come. Pima knows how to survive in the ship breaker society, whereas Nita is smart but inexperienced when it comes to survival. Both girls have misconceptions about what it means to be a swank or a rust rat, and despite their differences, the two girls learn that the social level one is born into doesn't mean a person can't cross social boundaries.