Events that occur in a person’s childhood develop the person that they become later in life. The person is attached to their past because they retain the thoughts and memories that change the person as a whole. The importance of one’s past results in the way one acts in the present. This concept is developed in the Fifth Business as the main character Dunstan Ramsey, Dunny, is reminded of his past wherever he goes. In the novel, Dunny is unable to forget his past and it becomes a large part of his present character. There are many occasions throughout the Fifth Business in which Dunny shows that he is unable to forget a significant event of his childhood. When Dunny was ten, his friend Boy Stauton threw a snowball in attempt to hit Dunny but missed. Dunny ducked to avoid the snowball and as a result the snowball hit a peaceful lady named Mrs. Mary Dempster. Mrs. Dempster, the wife of Baptist minister Mr. Amasa Demspster, became deranged and went into labour prematurely as a result of the strike. Mrs. Dempster gave birth to her son Paul 80 days prematurely with her husband offering no support. During the delivery, Mr. Dempster prays to God to take his wife and spare his son leaving Mrs. Ramsay to help her. Since the incidence, Dunny has felt responsible for the incident because he felt his actions had resulted in Mrs. Dempster’s suffering. Dunny continuously gets tied up and never is able to leave his roots in Deptford.
Dunstan dropped out of school and went to the army in attempt to leave and forget about his roots. He needed to change something in his life so that he could get his mind off Mrs. Dempster. Prior to him leaving to fight in the war he was not allowed to see her very much because she had told him to s...
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...t will relieve him of his guilt. Dunny located Mrs. Dempster in Toronto under the care of her aunt.
Dunny could never escape his past roots from Deptford. His memories always followed him and eventually brought him back to the same place where he started. Boy had no guilt because Dunny took full responsibility placing all the guilt on his own shoulders. As a result, Boy had no problems heading into the future while Dunny was always restrained. Dunny felt that it was his entire fault that Mrs. Dempsters life was ruined and the thought continued to linger even after taking care of her. Dunny could never live up to Boy because Boy had a better start. Boy’s ability to set aside his childhood memories was something that Dunny could never do and also something that Dunny could never do.
Works Cited
Robertson Davies, Fifth Business. Penguin Books., 1970 print
The guilt felt by Dunstan adjusted the way he survives his perfect dedication for Mary Dempster. Dunstan's guilt is the aftereffect of his religious childhood. This guilt is brought about by Percy Boyd Staunton when he throws the snowball that hits Mrs. Dempster, bringing about her insanity and Paul's premature birth. Dunstan ...
Robertson Davies uses wise old man, great mother, and wise old woman who plays significant role in Dunstan’s life. Firstly, the author portrays Padre Ignacio Blazon as the wise old man for Dunstan Ramsay because he is on the quest to prove Mary Dempster is a saint. For example, when Padre and Ramsay meats each other for the first time, Blazon morally teaches Dunstan “I cannot make saints, nor can the Pope. We can only recognize saints when the plainest evidence shows them to be saintly”. (165) Therefore, he suggests to Dunstan to find the answer “in psychological truth, not in objective truth” (169) Furthermore,Padre believes Dunstan is “foolish to demand the agreement of the world” (165). However, he says “miracles are things people cannot explain… Miracles depend much on time, and place, and what we know and do not know” (166). As the result, he teach Dunstan saints are not objective and all the miracles depends on the situation and facts. Because Ramsay considers Mary Dempster actions to Willie, himself, and the tramp are miracles, therefore she is a saint. Secondly, Davies uses Jungian the Great Mother archetype in figure of Mary Dempster due to Dunstan’s Mother Complex. Dunstan recognizes Mary’s sanity qualities because of the lack of his own mother miracles. For example, after Mrs. Ramsay spanked Dunstan because of the stolen egg he says “But what I knew then was that nob...
Dunstan first literally loses a part of himself in the war, when he wakes up six months after falling into a coma to the realization that he has lost his leg. This event played a gigantic role in Dunstan’s loss of self, as it would anybody who loses a limb. He first experiences uneasiness about his injury when he and Diana become lovers, the woman who nursed him back to life after the war, as he compares his “scarred and maimed body with her unblemished beauty” (82). Dunstan has a few sexual encounters after Diana, but they all end with the women leaving quite frustrated and annoyed, as he uses his sense of humour in the bedroom to cover up his feelings of physical inadequacy. “I could not forget my brownish-red nubbin where one leg should have been, and a left side that looked like the crackling of a roast” (117). This feeling of shortcoming is possibly the reason why Dunstan does not give himself completely over to a woman to be loved, or maybe because he does not take women very seriously; not until he meets Liesl, that is. Dunstan initially falls in love with the beautiful Faustina, and is overcome with this boyish and unexplainable obsession for her, until he unexpectedly finds Faustina and Liesl entangled in a passionate and shocking embrace. It was this that began Dunstan’s character development, as he first begins to feel for what he has seen. Liesl confronts him that night, trying to seduce him, and after they fight, and then talk, they make love, as equals. This act reconnects Dunstan with his body, and Liesl becomes the first woman that he ever really experiences intimacy with, as a great cloud lifts from his spirit. “With such a gargoyle! And yet never have I known such deep delight or such an aftermath of healing tenderness!” (231).
The author wants the reader to take another look at Dunstan from a different angle. Seeing that no one has the perfect life.
Throughout his childhood, his mother has taught and influenced him to fear all sins of God which ultimately leads him to feel guilty about almost every lapse of duty. These teachings shapes Dunstan’s serious, lonely, and contemplative character and cause his struggle to untie himself from this burden of guilt. In contrast, Percy Boyd Staunton, the thrower of the snowball, should be the one who bears the most guilt of the snowball incident. However, he is revealed as an ignorant, heartless young character as he chooses not to admit his fault and claims that he “threw [the] snowball at [Dunstan]” (Davies, 16) and hopes “it gave [him] a good smack.” (Davies, 16). By not taking responsibility for his actions, it displays that he is ignorant of the pain that he inflicts on others. Although Percy acts non-remorseful, it is clear “by [...] his tone that he [is] lying” (Davies, 16) and that he is actually “afraid” (Davies, 16). This displays that Percy is secretly aware he is at fault for the incident but will “do anything rather than admit [it]” (Davies,
In his thoughtful retelling of his own life, Dunstan introduces the Headmaster- to whom his autobiography is addressed- to Mary Dempster. He is meticulous in this introduction, informing the Headmaster that his “lifelong involvement with Mrs. Dempster began at 5:58 o’clock p.m. on December 1908” (1). Already, Dunstan has provided some insight into the nature of his relationship with Mrs. Dempster; by reciting the moment this involvement began with such precision, Dunstan emphasizes just how deeply the events that would follow with this woman would affect him. This hauntingly specific reference also appears to foreshadow the guilt that a young, ten-year-old Dunstan could never have predicted he would carry with him; by reciting this exact period of time, Dunstan acknowledges just how deeply his obsession with his own guilt runs. Though it is the incident in which Mrs. Dempster is struck by a snowball aimed at Dunstan that bestows a lifelong sense of guilt and debt to Mrs. Dempster upon him, it is the
Dunstan’s guilt originates in his childhood on account of a traumatizing encounter. The guilt Dunstan continuously endures is with him throughout his life, starting with the snowball incident caused by the vindictive Percy. Percy Boyd Staunton, acting foolish, throws a snowball intended for Dunstan; however, Dunstan ducks, and it hits pregnant Mary Dempster. As a result, Mrs. Dempster develops mental health problems and she is forced to
Interwoven with light and shadows, Robertson Davies’s Fifth Business is penetrated with fantastical elements that rub uneasily against feelings of guilt. A snowball thrown by young "Boy" Staunton misses Dunstan and hits Mary Dempster, causing the premature birth of Paul and the insanity of Mary. Guilt ensues and threatens to envelop Dunstable, Dunny, and Dunstan. One is his name by birth; the other a pet name; and the third, his true name upon being born again. With so many identities, Dunstan struggles to understand his role as fifth business and to learn to untie himself from his burden of guilt. Conventional religion may confine Dunstan Ramsay’s spiritual growth, but it lays a firm foundation for him to mature. Myth finds a place in the heart of Dunstan and teaches him to grow. Magic is the escape of yore that Dunstan seeks and successfully rediscovers. Religion, myth, and magic are intertwined in Dunstan Ramsay’s life, crucial for the completion of Ramsay as a person through the wonder they inspire.
People living in Boston, Massachusetts looked up to and respected Dimmesdale because he was a minister. One of his sins was his inability to publicly acknowledge that he committed adultery with Hester and that he is the father of Pearl, Hester’s daughter. However, adultery was not his biggest sin. His biggest sin is hypocrisy. In chapter ten, he speaks of the concealment of his sins, he says, “It may be that they are kept silent by the very constistution of their nature. Or-can we not suppose it-guilty as they may be, retaining, nevertheless, a zeal for God’s glory and man’s welfare…no evil of the past be redeemed by better service (pg. 137).” While trying to conceal his sins, they take over his conscience and literally confess themselves during his acts of madness.
Jill's father was not caring or kind to Jill regarding any aspect of her life. He wanted a boy and got Jill instead. He treated her like the boy he wanted. She desperately wanted his love and attention, and she spent a lot of time trying to make him happy by acting like the son he wanted. "He wanted a boy. At 12 I made the grand try...For months on end I sat ...
“Moreover, many of the feelings that express character are not about what one has done or should have done, but rather about what one cares deeply about.”(Sherman154) The narrator cared for K., the boy was his best friend. Obviously he cared immensely. It was hard for the narrator to understand, so he blamed
Percy Percy provides the novel with the perfect parallel to Dunstan. He does, however, contrast in many ways to Dunstan. They are best friends, but Percy rivalry results in the formation of the main setting of the novel. Percy also feels more of an attachment to material goods than Dunstan does. He thinks only of himself and is in constant pursuit of total and utter control. Percy was low moral standards in comparison to Dunstan and in some ways, feels he is of a higher stature than other human beings. This awkward relationship between him and Dunstan forms the basis of the novel.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Mr. Dimmesdale’s greatest fear is that the townspeople will find out about his sin of adultery with Hester Prynne. Mr. Dimmesdale fears that his soul could not take the shame of such a disclosure, as he is an important moral figure in society. However, in not confessing his sin to the public, he suffers through the guilt of his sin, a pain which is exacerbated by the tortures of Roger Chillingworth. Though he consistently chooses guilt over shame, Mr. Dimmesdale goes through a much more painful experience than Hester, who endured the public shame of the scarlet letter. Mr. Dimmesdale’s guilt is much more damaging to his soul than any shame that he might have endured.
Arthur Dimmesdale presented himself as an uncorrupted man by his social status. Inside he felt unworthy and corrupt form the sin he has committed. The town’s people looked up to Dimmesdale as a man who could commit no grand sin. “People say that the Reverend Master Dimmesdale, her godly pastor, takes it very seriously to heart that such a scandal should have come upon his congregation.” (48). Little did they know that the scandal that Dimmesdale took to hear was the fornication that happened between Dimmesdale and adulteress Hester Prynne. His sinful ways was affecting his health greatly. “Some declared, that, if Mr. Dimmesdale were really going to die, it was cause enough, that the world was not worthy to be any longer trodden by his feet.” (106). The town’s people respected him so much so that they figured it was the world that is corrupt and not Dimmesdale.
...hen you reach the end the boy has taken a turn and instantly matures in the last sentence. Something like that doesn’t just happen in a matter of seconds. Therefore the readers gets the sense that the narrator is the boy all grown up. He is recollecting his epiphany within the story allowing the readers to realize themselves that the aspiration to live and dream continues throughout the rest of ones life. The narrator remembers this story as a transformation from innocence to knowledge. Imagination and reality clearly become two different things to the narrator; an awareness that everyone goes though at some point in their life. It may not be as dramatic as this story but it gradually happens and the innocence is no longer present.