The use of foil characters in "The Dead"

The use of a foil character in pieces of literature is a very popular technique that greatly accentuates and helps us better understand the main character. It has been used by many authors ranging from William Shakespeare, in his play Romeo and Juliet, to Mark Twain, in his novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Another example can be seen in the short story "The Dead," by James Joyce. The author uses the long dead character, Michael Furey, to help us better observe the main character, Gabriel.
Gabriel and Michael Furey are different in almost every way. Gabriel is a very educated man,…