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The Tragedy Of Life Is What Dies Inside A Man While He Lives

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“The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.” Albert Schweitzer suggests that the loss of essential parts of one’s self can in fact be more tragic than death. Robertson Davies implies that tragedy can be an internal force, driven by psychological, subconscious factors, or it can be an external force, thrust upon individuals by their families or society. Individual characters in Fifth Business were allocated both externally, but especially through internal conflict, which led them astray, away from euphoria and inner peace. In each instance, death was the only escape from the hardships forced upon these selected individuals. In his novel, Fifth Business, Davies suggests that an unlived life, one corrupted by inner …show more content…

Dempster; she knew it too” (34). While Amasa had loved Mary before she had lost her sanity, he began to look to his wife as an unwanted responsibility rather than a partner after she had become simple. While Dunny was enjoying “Le grand Cirque forain de St Vite,” he stumbled across Paul Dempster, Mary’s only son. He had run away from home due to the constant ridicule in his life, forced upon him by his mother’s status in Deptford as well as his father’s harsh convictions, one of which stating, “my [Paul] birth is what robbed her of her sanity” (251). Whilst speaking of Mary with Paul, he says to Dunny, “I had to bear the cruelty of people who thought her kind of madness was funny- a dirty joke. So far as I’m concerned, it is over, and if she dies mad, who will not say that she is better dead?” (140) As an “insane” person, one can be relieved of the legal responsibility for an act committed, which can be connected to Mary’s deeds in the pit as well as her overall “simple” demeanour. Deptford, described as a town with “much to show of virtue, dignity, and even nobility,” (10) ironically dismisses the legality of Mary’s situation in order to ridicule her and her family profusely. Davies uses Mary Dempster’s loss of sanity and parallels it with Leola Staunton, who further identifies with Mary on

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