Foil

Character Role Analysis

Lily/Rosaleen

As with the antagonist, defining the foil relationship is kind of tricky, so Rosaleen and Lily will have to do. You may have noticed that they aren't really polar opposites—after all, they both spend the novel as runaways, which is a big thing to have in common. Ironically, however, it's when they start out "on the lam" together that their differences become most clear. Lily becomes a runaway without really thinking beyond wanting to get away from T. Ray, whereas Rosaleen is dealing with a much more serious problem: jail (and, you know, all the widespread bigotry and prejudice that put her there). When Rosaleen calls Lily out for not thinking about the impact of her scheming on others, it gives Lily a reality check.