Foil

Character Role Analysis

Customers, Dan

These are the nameless folk who drive into Socrates' gas station seeking service for their vehicles. They function as examples for him to point to as he's lecturing Dan about what ways of life are wrong and what ways are right.

For example, there's the formally dressed older couple who are too rigid to deal with the spontaneity Socrates advocates (3.9-11). These foils don't show up often, however. Fundamentally, this is a book about Dan and Socrates, with Death lurking in the background as the foe.