Fifth Business Thesis

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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 fifth business. The novel shows and follows Dunstan Ramsay in his pursuit for 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 character’s decisions.
Thesis:
Over the course of the novel Fifth Business, the narrator, Dunstan, after meeting with a number of important character, goes on a search in trying to fulfill his depiction of fifth business; a side character with no opposite, and is neither a hero/heroine or villain however, still plays a big role in progressing the plot. There are three characters that stand out to be the main reasons for Dunstan being fifth business; Mary Dempster, Paul Dempster, and Percy Boyd Staunton. Over the course of this essay, Dunstan’s position in their respective lives will be uncovered, showing that he is in fact Fifth Business. Dunstan plays the role of fifth business in these people’s lives because in the book, he talks more about others than he does about himself. Another reason for this is because he is more of an observer, and likes to watch things go by and people go about their daily lives, instead of being emotionally engaged in eve...

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...r Dunstan’s illusionistic talents. As soon as Dunstan realized that Eisengrim was Paul, he knew that he influenced his life and lead him in the path he followed for his whole life.

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Point: A third character that sees Dunstan as fifth business would be Percy Boyd Staunton. Growing up, Percy was Dunstan’s best friend and enemy (there were ‘foils’ for each other), and as time went on they grew apart from each other when Dunstan went to war. However, they never forgot about each other. They continued to encounter each other a number of times later in the book when they both are much older. An ongoing theme between the two would be guilt and competition. This theme was first brought up during their childhood when the two of them both wanted Leola Cruickshank for their own. Before Dunstan is fifth business to Percy as well as Percy and Leola as a couple.

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