Use Of The Carnival In Percy Jackson's '

Dunstan uses the geographical space Paul creates at the carnival, to meet carnivalesque characters who help him achieve personal freedom. For most of his life, Dunstan has lived in the sidelines of Percy’s life as a bystander and a catalyst. Instead of working to improve his own life, he has devoted it to keeping Percy’s secrets. This has given Percy the opportunity to live a carefree life while Dunstan can never truly enjoy his. He is unable to achieve personal freedom because he is constantly focused on caring for others and being the “low” that helps define them as the “high.” (Lens Group) Without Dunstan, Percy can not define himself, but that also leaves Dunstan unable to control his own life. It isn’t until the carnival where Dunstan

transgresses from the supporting role he has lived all his life. He is exposed to a geographical space full of characters who “[create] a special kind of carnivalesque community: knowledgeable of others’ shortcomings, but capable of trust [and] sincere human interactions.” (Arnold) This is seen in Dunstan’s genuine relationship with Liesl and Paul. They enlighten and provide him with honesty which is something Dunstan was never exposed to in his relationship with Percy. Through magic shows within the carnival, Dunstan watches as Paul highlights the concept of trust when he asks audience members to volunteer their belongings which are at risk of disappearing. That's when Dunstan develops the concept of trust which allows him to share his secrets with the participants of the carnival. In turn, this makes him “look much more human.” (Davies 208) He’s surrounded by characters who constantly transgress against what he is used to. Their limitless and irrational behaviours influence Dunstan to act out, specifically when he is seen “slapping one of the showgirls on the bottom.” (Davies 206) For years, he has been forced to accept the fact that he will be solely regarded as a “Palace Eunuch” (Davies 148) and “the man who could be called at the last minute to come to dinner when somebody else failed, and the man who would talk to the dullest woman in the room.” (Davies 173) At the carnival, Dunstan’s grotesque physical appearance resembles many of the carnival participants. This helps him feel like an equal next to the “classically perfect” Percy. Dunstan also feels in control by the equally grotesque Liesl who uses a carnivalesque approach to a physical fight, in order to teach him a lesson. The sexually charged brawl she initiates by seducing him, helps Dunstan feel more in control of the situation due to being repulsed by her physical grotesque appearance. Liesl stresses to Dunstan that he is a person who does not take action for what he wants. She says “you loved her but you never gave her a gift or paid her a compliment...or tried to give her what Faustina understands as love.” (Davies 213) That explains the relationship Dunstan had with Leola. He let Percy “win” her and then watched while he cared for her more than Percy ever did. Liesl helps Dunstan realize where he truly belongs. He feels “better than [he has] felt in a very long time” (Davies 215) and realizes the only way he’ll be able to achieve personal freedom is by transgressing against the role he played for most of his life. Dunstan can now understand what Mary said about showing no fear. He is able to use Mary’s ideology to reveal the secrets of his past that in turn, free him of the bystander role he’s always played. This essentially allows him to have more control over his life. Dunstan is able to employ the carnival to free himself of being in Percy’s life. Considering he is free in the end, Dunstan is capable of accepting an invitation to join the carnival amongst the characters who helped prove to him that transgressing ultimately guided him towards his personal freedom.

Percy uses the carnival to escape the social order that inevitably causes his loneliness.

At first glance, he does have wealth, the “perfect” wife and his business Alpha Corporations, which grows substantially throughout the novel. However, Percy was thrown into a bourgeoisie lifestyle at a young age that exposed him only to the external and materialistic aspects of life. He always follows society’s rules and expects those around him to mimic the preferred image that he has always followed. He claims, “there’s no such thing as trying too hard, whatever you’re doing.” (Davies 146) Those are the words that end up pushing the people closest to Percy over the edge, leaving him lonely. He’s surrounded by greedy people including his second wife Denyse, who excludes everyone and anything that does not improve his position in society. She excludes Dunstan who helps define Percy’s high position in society. He wants a break from life and ends up discovering his true personal freedom at the carnival. That is where Percy notices that the grotesque carnivalesque characters are truly happy without a “classically perfect” image while he’s unsatisfied with his high-status lifestyle. However, Percy is unable to fully transgress due to “a conservative desire on the part of the upper classes to separate themselves more clearly and distinctly from these popular [carnivalesque] activities.” (Stallybrass and White 103) This prompts him to lie about being in the audience for fear of being caught transgressing. He has never affiliated himself with the “others” of society and was always taught to oppose the people who created their own subculture. Percy finds himself wanting to “get into a car and drive away from the whole damned thing,” (Davies 232) but he eventually gives in to the carnival because of his realization that the “liberation from the prevailing truth and from the established order...marked the suspension of all hierarchical rank.” (Robinson) Although Percy can’t admit to

his enlightenment through the carnival, Paul knows his audience and believes each person who attends his magic show are in search of something. That includes the bourgeoisie who are tempted by the “topsy-turvy” nature of the carnival. This is by reason of how “disgust always bears the imprint of desire.” (Stallybrass and White 191) Percy is a lonely businessman until he meets transgressive characters who help him realize his need for personal freedom.

Despite the fact that society sees Mary Dempster as “simple-minded,” she’s able to take on the domain of psychic forms to help her achieve personal freedom. Psychic forms is defined by characters who provoke thought, reasoning, and logic, as opposed to irrationality. Society sees Mary as a transgressive character who affiliates herself with tramps and does peculiar things, such as breastfeeding in public or laughing for no reason. However, the town of Deptford does not realize that Mary has created a carnivalesque world in her mind to exclude herself from society’s hierarchies and free herself from her controlling husband. Mary’s actions display grotesque realism which “[takes] what is usually considered revolting or ‘bad taste’ [and it then] becomes a way of celebrating human existence by dismissing high-brow abstract speculation and embracing the everyday world of sensual pleasures.” (Mahurangi) Mary prefers to celebrate her body while society sees her actions as inappropriate. She allows for “diverse voices to be heard” by attempting to understand Joe Surgenor and giving him what he craves. Society thinks Mary is objectifying herself and transgressing by degrading her body, but she believes she’s in touch with her body and that everyone else should be as well. Mary is also able to achieve personal freedom through laughter. With her carnivalesque mindset, she is able to "[produce] a complete liberty conditioned on fearlessness” (Robinson) which she learned through the carnival. She is able to find something to laugh at, “so much when nobody else could see anything to laugh at.” (Davies 20) After the death of her husband Amasa, Mary deserts her carnivalesque world that kept her sane during their years together. She was no longer stuck in a marriage where her husband only “seemed to love her on principle” (Davies 34) and confined her to his rules only. Mary’s ability to create an irrational world in her mind was her rational way of escaping society for as long as she needed personal freedom.

Society and marriage also keep Leola from achieving personal freedom but she does not have a carnival to escape to. She chooses to take her own life to free herself from society’s expectations and pressure from her husband to be his “ideal” wife. Leola lives most of her life in a small town leaving her unprepared for the high-status life her marriage forces her into. She is constantly pressured to be someone she is not and to always impress the wrong people. Leola is also lonely as Percy builds his wealth rather than showing her any affection. As Percy’s status grows, Leola struggles to “keep pace with Boy’s social advancement.” (Davies 143) The neglect and pressure Leola faces, leads to her uncontrollable transgression of the image Boy wants her to consistently maintain. Her insecurity grows when she continuously fails to be the perfect wife to a man who is constantly unfaithful. That leaves Leola insecure and struggling for confidence. When Percy states, “now sit here by me, and Dunny on the other side, and be proud of what a stunner you are,” (Davies 149) he is being inconsiderate of their relationship and the privacy Leola believes belongs between a husband and wife. Any effort she makes to be Percy’s “perfect” wife, never has a lasting effect because he constantly points out their social class differences. Percy would leave Leola alone in a big home that was foreign to her. This prompts her to look elsewhere for attention. When she begs Dunstan to “kiss [her] really,” (Davies 179) she reveals her need for affection but is rejected and attempts to take her life. Rather than take the first failed attempt as a lesson, Leola's desperation for personal freedom overcomes any will to live. It’s evident that her personal freedom was achieved when David says, “Poor mum...I guess she’s better off now.” (Davies 184) Leola was never exposed to the carnival where there was no social order and the “capitalist system [was] not necessarily rejected outright, but its dangers [were] highlighted.” (Minescu) Leola could have met carnivalesque characters who would have relieved her from some of society’s demands and demonstrated how little control she had over her life. However, she was not exposed to the carnival and therefore believed the only way out, was through her death.

In Fifth Business, the characters who transgress either by escaping or taking on the domains of social order, geographical space, and psychic forms, are able to achieve personal freedom in their own ways. Feeling confined by society’s norms, leads to the characters search for freedom by death or through the metaphorical or literal geographical space of the carnival. Paul creates a magic show, amplified by the geographical space of the carnival. He is able to free himself from society and convince Dunstan and Percy to take control of their own lives. Dunstan embraces his new lifestyle while Percy refuses to fully transgress. Leola is unwillingly at the top of the social order alongside her husband Percy, who holds her back from achieving personal freedom early on. Mary is unconventional and uses psychic forms to escape her life through a carnivalesque world within her mind. Although each character achieved personal freedom through the carnival or by death, their transgression is what truly frees them from living a life the people of society expected them to endure.