Foil

Character Role Analysis

Pops and Will

Sometimes foils are super different from each other, but in the case of Pops and Will, they're so similar that their small differences really illuminate who they each are. They both have a hard time expressing their feelings, and neither really acknowledges their losses to one another. However, in Pops's decidedly unemotional state, Will's overly emotional behavior becomes clear—he isn't sad, Shmoopers, he's wallowing. And we get this partially because Pops doesn't indulge in his sadness at all.

On the flipside, Pops's lack of active sadness over the death of his son doesn't look so hot next to Will's endlessly sad reaction. Just as he shows us that Will is too extreme, so, too, can we see that Pops is in his stoicism.