The novel Fifth Business written by Robertson Davies is about Dunstan Ramsay’s life. The novel begins from Parker’s newsletter that offends Dunstan and triggers him to write about his life to the headmaster. Davies uses Carl Jung’s archetypes to develop his novel Fifth Business which are the archetypal figures, archetypal hero’s journey, and fifth business.
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...
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...ss. Also, Dunstan is the cause of Boy Staunton's death. For example, Dunstan says to Boy in front of Paul “It is the stone you put in the snowball you threw at Mrs. Dempster. 254” which is the cause of Paul’s being a premature baby. For this reason, Paul kills Boy and puts the stone in his mouth. However, when Lies “in the top of the balcony” during “The Brazen head of Friar Bacon” publicly asks Paul who is the murder of Boy staunton, he says “the inevitable fifth, who [is] keeper of his conscience and keeper of the stone.”256. In this way, Dunstan indirectly kills Boy mentally and physically.
Robertson Davies develops the novel Fifth Business based on Carl Jung’s archetypal figures, archetypal hero’s journey, and archetypal fifth business. In this way the protagonist Dunstan counters Parke’s offensive “FAREWELL TO THE CORK (7)” through his letter to the Headmaster.
Danforth and Dimmesdale contrast in the way of their sins of commission and omission. Although Dimmesdale does not openly admit his sins until the end of the story, they feed on his conscience, causing him to engage in self-torturing practices. He confuses the destruction and weakening of himself for penance for his sin. Aided by Hester?s angered husband, Dimmesdale weakens himself so much, that he uses the last of his strength in his confession and he dies in Hester?s arms. Danforth suspects he is sending innocent people to their deaths, but through the love of his office, he does not stop his corrupt practices nor attempt to right his wrongs.
The novel Fifth Business by Robertson Davies does away with the stigma that Canadian literature is dull and boring. A master of his art, Davies creates a cast of vivid characters and skillfully weaves them into a story about love, guilt, myth and redemption. With the effective use of first-person narrative, Fifth Business is written as a fictional memoir of the character Dunstable Ramsey, who grows up in the small town of Deptford in Ontario, Canada. As a boy, Dunstable was unmistakably very intelligent, gifted with an uncanny ability to read others. He was raised in a Scottish household by strict Presbyterian parents, who into him hammered several religious canons and tenets. Thus, Dunstan understood the importance of respect and moral responsibility from a young age. There would seem to be no reason for such an exemplary youth, gifted with an intelligence exceeding of his small-town upbringing, to not go onto to lead a happy, satisfying life. Yet there is a single incident in Dustan’s boyhood that would define the rest his life. While in a quarrel with his friend and rival, Percy Boyd Staunton, Dustan evades a snowball in which Boyd had hidden a stone. The snowball misses Dunstan and strikes the pregnant wife of the town’s Baptist minister, Mary Dempster, causing her to give birth prematurely and subsequently slip into madness. This marks the beginning of Dustan Ramsey’s lifelong involvement with Mary Dempster, and the beginning of his lifelong struggle with guilt. As he is faced with the outcomes of his actions, Dustan’s core values are called into question. Throughout Fifth Business, Dunstan fails to understand both his true values and true self, which develops as a cons...
Academic colleagues like, David Greenburg, would have been exasperated, part from envy of McCullough’s ability in not only story telling but to sell and he would object to the approach of this book. The colleagues would tear at the lack of compelling rationale for an overused topic, as well as the scene setting, and meager analysis.
The book Fifth Business by Robertson Davies is written from the point of view of the narrator; a man named Dunstable Ramsay. From the readers’ perspective, we see him to be the main character, but as the novel progresses, he and those he encounters start to see him as a fifth businessman. The novel shows and follows Dunstan Ramsay in his pursuit of self-knowledge, and ultimately fulfilling his role as ‘Fifth Business’ in the eyes of a number of people. It is evident that throughout the novel, he reminds himself and the reader that in fact his life and the lives of those who are close to him do not necessarily revolve around him however he still plays a large part in influencing their respective lives. The novel constantly shows instances where guilt and competition play roles in shaping a character’s decisions.
The inimitable novel “A Confederacy of Dunces” written by author John Kennedy Toole was not even published until after his suicide. The story in the pages of this novel reveals a hilarious, funny, sidesplitting, yet brilliantly crafted fictional masterpiece. The picaresque novel focuses on the life of the main character Ignatius J. Reilly. The character of Ignatius is a protagonist against the modern age. In his writing Toole saturates the narrative of the novel with an absurd sense of humor that stimulates both laughter and sympathy from readers. With his unique writing style Toole seamlessly combines, symbolism, sadness and humor in a literary
Dunny to understand his function as "Fifth Business." Jung's theory suggests that the conscious part of Dunny's personality is brought out by Liesl.
One of the most unique and strange relationships in modern literature exists between Ignatius Reilly and Myrna Minkoff, the two perceived dunces in John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. The correspondence between them runs throughout the novel. In the beginning, Ignatius feels a certain air of superiority over her, yet she feels that he has lost touch with reality, and her suggestion begin to control his actions, as he tries to win at her own game. She genuinely cares for him and writes her opinion of how to transform his life. In three separate attempts to quiet her unrelenting criticism and suggestions, he heeds her advice, each time failing miserably and causing greater adversity for himself. Yet, at the end of the novel, in a comedic irony, she saves him from mental and physical captivity.
Davies introduces the reader with Dunstable Ramsay and Percy Boyd Staunton. They are depicted as friends yet rivals at the same time. This is shown when Dunstable had a sleigh that was faster than Percy’s. Of course Percy who is the spoiled rich boy becomes jealous, and starts calling Dunstable names. Knowing that Percy hates it when he is being ignored, Dunstable provokes Percy and ends up with him being chased with snowballs. Eventually someone gets hit and it’s not Dunstable, rather it was Mrs. Dempster whom he had ran around of cover. This is where the whole chain of guilt starts right after this incident. Dunstable feels guilty for this because the snowball who was supposed to hit him, ended up hitting Mrs.Dempster who was pregnant at that time.He feels even guiltier when he hears about the premature birth and infancy of Paul Dempster, which gives him a sickening feeling. As well Dunstable was raised in a strict family and has been encouraged to feel guilt even in the smallest of matters. From that day onward Dunstable was a changed individual who became a responsible person to Mrs. Dempster and was a loyal one. Throughout his life he becomes a better person because of the guilt which he accepts and tries to resolve.
... Death of a Salesman. New York: Penguin, 1996. Print. The. Sherk, James.
Lyons, Oliver, and Bill Bonnie. "An Interview with Tobias Wolff." Contemporary Literature. 31.1 (1990): 1-16. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.
	Robertson Davies’ novel, Fifth Business, revolves around guilt, competition, and two men who are foils of each other. Although Dunstan Ramsay and Percy Boyd Staunton are parallels to each other, they contrast in a great number of ways. Their awkward relationship plays a significant role in the number of elements which make Fifth Business such an interesting story.
Stylistically, the book is arranged in rotating chapters. Every fourth chapter is devoted to each individual character and their continuation alo...
Harmon, William, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996.
Arthur Miller's, "Death of a Salesman," shows the development and structure that leads up to the suicide of a tragic hero, Willy Loman. The author describes how an American dreamer can lose his self-worth by many negative situations that occur throughout his life. The structure and complications are essential because it describes how a man can lose his way when depression takes over.
Death of a salesman. : McGraw-Hill, 2007. Print. The. "