Absalom, Absalom!
by William Faulkner

Absalom, Absalom!: Foil 1 key example

Chapter 2 
Explanation and Analysis—Sutpen and Coldfield :

Goodhue Colfield and Thomas Sutpen serve as foils for each other in the first chapters of the novel. Faulkner underscores the sharp contrast in their characters in his depiction of a scene in which Thomas Sutpen surprises the locals in Jefferson by attending church in an attempt to court Goodhue Coldfield's daughter, Ellen: 

They watched in shocked amazement while he laid deliberate siege to the one man in the town with whom he could have had nothing in common, least of all, money—a man who obviously could do nothing under the sun for him save give him credit at a little crossroads store or cast a vote in his favor if he should ever seek ordination as a Methodist minister—a Methodist steward, a merchant not only of modest position and circumstances but who already had a wife and family of his own [...]