Dunstable's Life In Fifth Business By Robertson Davies

Money brings the inequality of possessions, also called “the haves and the have not’s.” We may all be equal in the eyes of God, but here on earth some eyes grow green with envy. Children come home from daycare complaining that Little Jimmy’s truck was bigger than his, husbands and fathers are forever eying the Jones; new corvette, and entire wars have erupted over the “you have it and I’m gonna get it” mentality. Inequality of possessions is not bad though many passages in the Bible teach that even in heaven there are different degrees of rewards. Even God’s spiritual gifts are not given equally to each of us, but this does not mean He loves one person more than the other. It is what we do with

Iridescent is a showing of luminous colors that seem to change when seen from different angles. The novel Fifth Business has many angles in which one can approach it. One of these is Marxism, the origins of Marxism come from Karl Marx who was a philosopher that created a definition of what is a perfect socialist society. This perfection would make both the bourgeoisie and the proletariat equal, this is not the case in Robertson Davies novel Fifth Business. Percy is a character in which is all that Marx views oppose. Elements of Marx ideology can be interpreted and used to foreshadow the fate of Percy Boyd Staunton. Percy’s first encounter with these elements will shape his life

In Fifth Business, Robertson Davies attempts to illustrate the quest for self-identity through the life of the novel’s protagonist, Dunstable Ramsay. During the first pages of this novel, a life-changing incident occurs that severely affects the fates of the three main characters: Dunstable Ramsay, Percy Staunton, and Paul Dempster. In the small town of Deptford, Ontario, Percy Staunton, the town’s bully, throws a snowball bearing a stone at Dunstable. Being clever boy, Dunstable quickly ducks out of the way and the snowball collides with pregnant Mrs. Dempster’s skull. As a result, Mrs. Dempster loses her sanity, goes into early labour, and gives birth to her premature child, Paul Dempster. Although Dunstable was not the one to throw the

In “Fifth Business”, Robertson Davies displays how the main character, Dunstan Ramsay’s, childhood friends and family influence him to be incapable of changing the course of action of his life.

Dunstan first got involved with Mrs. Dempster during the snowball incident where “the snowball aimed at him by the town bully instead hits the pregnant Mary Dempster, precipitating the premature birth of her son and her descent into mental illness.” (Bowers). Dunstan believed that by moving out of the snowball’s path, that he broke apart Mary Dempster’s life and so he carries this guilt for the rest of his life. By being caring towards Mrs. Dempster and helping her out in any way possible, it was his way of repaying Percy’s sins. Mrs. Dempster performed 3 miracles that sparked

Diana nursed Dunny back to life after being hit with a flare. Although Dunny never loved Diana, he liked the love that she had for him. Dunny had never really had anyone genuinely love and nurture him the way that Diana had. “I liked having her in love with me.” (Davies, 71) Although Dunny introduced her to the idea of sex and relationships, he could never love her because in his eyes, she was just a motherly figure in his life. “She was too much of a mother to me, and as I had one mother, and lost her, I was not in a hurry to acquire another...” (Davies 79) Diana also gave him a new outlook on life and teaches him the importances of life. By giving Dunstable the new name ‘Dunstan’, it allows him to open up to a new way of living. “I liked the idea of a new name; it suggested new freedom and new personality.” (Davies, 90) Diana put new ideas about life in Dunny’s mind which helped him have a new outlook on life and introduced the idea of change.

Essentially, the topics Gladwell covered in this book include are, being at the right place at the right time, the 10,000-hour rule, timing, upbringing, and pursuing a meaningful career. Although all of these have been proven by Gladwell to be a major component of success, I do not agree with the idea of a particular upbringing will determine success. With this idea, Malcolm also includes that

According to the Oxford Dictionary of British and World English, guilt is a feeling of having committed wrong or failed in an obligation. It is an emotion that all men are familiar with, as all men have committed wrong deeds which in turn incur a feeling of guilt. Like most emotions, guilt can take many different forms, can originate from different sources, and can have different effects depending on the subject of the emotion. Similarly, in both the novel Fifth Business and the play Hamlet, guilt plays an important role in the protagonists’, antagonists’, and character foils’ lives’, but as all emotions are, comes from different sources and affects the characters in different ways.

In the novel, Fifth Business, we are introduced to a boy, Dunstan, whose journey goes through the process of individuation. Thus, his physical journey coincides with his spiritual journey. As Dunstan goes through his journey, with the help Diana Marfleet, Padre Blazon, and Liesl Vitzlipuzli, they serve a purpose of helping Dunstan define himself to grow towards individuation. Dunstan has lived a tough life with guilt in his hands. After being in a coma for six months, he meets Diana Marfleet.

At this point in the book, Dimmesdale is well respected by the townspeople, and looked up to by many. He has a superior reputation and worries about ruining it. Dimmesdale urges Hester on the scaffold to tell the officials and the community the name of Pearl’s father. Though he does not have the courage to, since Dimmesdale is Hester’s spiritual mentor and pastor, he is obligated to question Hester about the crime. He knows that if he admits to his sin, he will lose the respect of the townspeople. The speech is two fold, meaning something different to both Hester and the townspeople. Dimmesdale starts contradicting himself, wanting Hester to name the father, but at the same time also not wanting her to: “Even in the first scaffold scene Hawthorne shows forth the deep ambivalence of Dimmesdale’s position: the minister would like to be named and known for what he is, an adulterer” (Twayne 3). Dimmesdale encourages Hester to give up his name when he says, “What can thy science do for him, except tempt him—yea, compel him, as it were—to add hypocrisy to sin?” (Hawthorne 26). According to his ability to keep in his true emotions, Dimmesdale seems unafraid to the community. Dimmesdale is a healthy Reverend, but his confidence slowly deteriorates as his sin consumes

Business for the Glory of God: The Bible’s teaching on the Moral Goodness of Business

Chapter 12: Standing upon the scaffold, Hester and Pearl join Dimmesdale. Their connection forms an electric feeling. Pearl understands a lot more of the man than she leads Hester to believe. Through the imagery created by Dimmesdale’s self agony, it is felt that his own problem is not just clouding his understanding of himself but of others as well. Not being able to express his problems and come to terms with his actions, he is unable to understand the honest reality of others. This deters his ability to be the revolutionary minister he is thought of to be.

After reading the short story “My Boy Life” which is the memoir of John Carroll, I was from time to time envious of Carroll’s life but also relieved that I was not born in the 1800’s. Born just before the war of 1812 in Upper Canada, Carroll’s life was very simple. His prospective future occupations only consisted of a few and were predetermined from birth. How simple is life when everything is already set in stone? From the age of twelve to seventeen, Carroll worked at a tannery and as a currier. Carroll’s job was associated with his father’s work, his father being a saddler and harness-maker. Only grinding the bark in the tannery, Carroll’s life was consistent and did not require much effort of having to plan out his future. Sadly, much

Dimmesdale in the story has the sin of being the father of purl but does not have the courage to tell the towns people because he is afraid of losing his reverence. Fore to seven years have passed and Rev. Dimmesdale continues to live his life but his sin eats away at his fiscal appearance and the towns people think that the reason why he has bad health is because he works to much. Dimmesdale’s health is becoming worse but it’s ironic because he is becoming more popular in the town whit people respecting him and women want him to propose marriage to them. In the story it is interesting when Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold but nobody sees him except the two people that already know his secret which is heister prin and her little purl, all

People have different interpretations of fortunes, such as inner values and outer values. Many believe that outer values are the most important aspect, which is justifiable considering that the outer values are the first thing we notice. We are born with a set of fortunes in advance, but in order to find them, you must search for it. Those fortunes will determine your destiny in life and will act like a road to find yourself. In the short story “The Journey to the Brothers Farm” Annelie, the main character, goes through a journey to find her fortunes. She is determined at start, but a chain of events changes her course and puts her in a different mindset.