Foil

Character Role Analysis

Miss Amelia and Cousin Lymon

Masculine, quiet Miss Amelia and the delicate, ribald hunchback make quite an odd couple.

A good man may be the stimulus for a love both violent and debased, or a jabbering madman may bring about in the soul of someone a tender and simple idyll. (Ballad.81)

…or maybe Miss Amelia's love for Lymon may just be a statement about love itself.

Joshua Ferris and the Bailey Family

It isn't until the protagonist of "The Sojourner" finds himself at his ex-wife's door that we realize how far off Ferris is from a traditional kind of life. When his ex-wife's son answers that door, it's only the first moment in a parade of scenes of sweet family life. For Ferris, it's overwhelming, and causes him to lie about his nonexistent trips to the park with his current gf's little boy.