Fifth Business Essay Research Paper In many

Fifth Business Essay, Research Paper

In many Canadian novels, there are a variety of factors that he author can incorporate to affect character lives. One factor that enrages the characters consciences the most, is guilt. In Robertson Davie s Fifth Business, guilt is the main theme in which affects three main characters dramatically. Because of their guilt, the rest of their lives are forever changed. In the novel Fifth Business, the idea of guild is a constant factor and extensively affects the lives of Boy Staunton, Paul Dempster and Dunstan Ramsay.

In Fifth Business, Boy Staunton, once known as Percy Staunton is one of the characters in the novel that portrays the downfall due to his guilt. Boy is a man of honor and extreme dignity; there is nothing h could not live up to. Unfortunately near the age of 65, he discovers his crime that he committed innocently at the age of 10. Boy threw a snowball with a rock in it at Dunstan and missed hitting the pregnant Mrs. Dempster s head. As a result of this, Boy felt the guilt of his actions. In front of the Dempster s just as Percy threw, and the snow ball hit Mrs. Dempster on the back of the head. She gave a cry and, cling to her husband, and slipped to the ground. (Davies 2) Right after this incident, Mary Dempster was forced to give birth to her premature son. The future of the Dempsters went downhill shortly after, because Mary became insane and deprived her son of a normal upbringing. Learning the cause of Mary s insanity, Boy begins to feel responsible for the accident and for her disoriented life. Furthermore, Mary s lunacy caused her son, Paul Dempster to live a mocked life that eventually made him run away. After realizing that Dunstan has been responsible of taking care of her for over 40 years, Boy feels extreme guilt. In addition to the guilt of neglecting his belated wife, which caused her to commit suicide, Boy s superior life begins to break down. The overwhelming guilt finally forces him to take his own life, which leaves many to question why he did. Why would the President of Alpha Corporation, a man of notably youthful in appearance and outlook, and one of the two or three riches men in Canada, want to kill himself? (Davies 257) Boy discovers that having everything in the world will not satisfy his conscience and the guilty emptiness that he feels. The police find a piece of rock in Boy s mouth, the same one that he put in the snowball that hit Mary Dempster. This act proves that Boy committed suicide:

But the most curious fact of all was that in Boy s mouth the police found a stone an ordinary piece of pinkish granite about the size of a small egg which could not possibly have been where it was unless he himself, or someone unknown, had put it there. (Davies 257)

By having the stone with him shows that he still shows remorse of throwing that snowball and the rock is the origin of his total guilt. His guilt caused his death:

Repressed guilt does considerable damage and ultimately recoils on himself. It is probably tha his realization of what he has done, not only directly to Mrs. Dempster but indirectly to Paul, triggers the suicidal wish which is already close to the surface in his mind. (Monk 154)

Therefore, guilt causes a downfall in Boy s life that cost him is own life. Although Boy felt a negative effect of guilt, the guilt of Paul Dempster shows some positive outcomes.

Paul Dempster, Mary Dempster s son, bears the guilt of taking his mother s sanity away from her, which turns his life for the better. Because of his birth, his mother slowly deteriorates and goes completely insane. His guilt for that is inevitable and his father makes sure of that. Through this passage, he reveals his guilt from childhood:

It was my birth that made her like that. My father thought it is his duty to tell me, so that I could do whatever was possible to make it up to her. My birth was what robbed her of her sanity. I was too young for the kind of guilt my father wanted me to feel; he had an extraordinary belief in guilt as an educative force. I couldn t stand it. I cannot feel guilt now. (Davies 267)

The guilt that he felt as a child has made him to be a stronger and independent person. The townspeople worsen his guilt by keeping a distance from him. The dislike so many people felt for his mother dislike for the queen and persistently unfortunate they attached to the unoffending son. (Monk 122) The disturbing society forces Paul to run away and join the circus in pursue of his dream to become a magician. With all the vengeance and hatred in his heart, he is able to leave his mother and concentrate hard to achieve his own goal. His uniqueness is described in this passage:

He was a novelty a poetic magician who took himself seriously. It was certainly not the role in which I had expected to reencounter Paul Dempster. But this was Paul, without a doubt, so self-assured, so polished, so utterly unlike the circus conjurer with the moustache and beard and shabby clothes

(Davies 204)

Paul is dignified at what he does and is determined to be successful unlike his parents. Because of his childhood guilt, he left home in search for a better life for himself. This leads to his accomplishments and strong character. Therefore, guilt can also play a good effect on characters lives such as Paul and Dunstan Ramsay.

The theme of guilt aff