Foil

Character Role Analysis

Ned Logan, the Schofield Kid, Little Bill

Foils abound in Unforgiven. Nobody—and we do mean nobody—is like William Munny.

While Ned Logan is similar to Will, and doesn't mind going on a bounty, the fact that he finds himself unable to go through with killing Davey proves that he isn't like Will. The same goes for the Kid. While he goes through with killing Quick Mike, he has a breakdown afterwards, and shows a kind of remorse that Will never does, or never can.

Little Bill is a foil and not a foil at the same time. While he ultimately turns out be a very sadistic and violent man, he at least pretends to be committed to keeping violence out of his town (Will doesn't care either way). Sure, Will forsakes the life of a violent outlaw, but he doesn't commit himself to getting rid of it like Bill does.

Ironically, however, Little Bill proves himself more violent even than Will, who at this late stage in life, is all about killing whom he needs to and leaving it at that (no torturous whippings or public humiliations a la Little Bill).