Changes in Identity In Robertson Davies' novel Fifth Business, the
Changes in Identity In Robertson Davies' novel Fifth Business, the author uses the events that took place in Deptford to reveal character identity. Three characters in the novel from Deptford: Boy Staunton, Dunstan Ramsay and Paul Dempster, leave Deptford to look for a new identity to get rid of their past one. Though for some, the journey was a difficult one, it ends up turning out for the best overall. The three main characters of the novel, all of whom to some extent try to escape their small town background, change their identity to become people of consequence. All in some way take on a new identity. Stuck in this transformation is the assumption that one's original self, especially one's small town origins, must be abandoned before one can become significant in the world, which shows how desperate these people are to get rid of their old indentity and claim a new one. The first character in which this is apparent in is, Paul Dempster. Who, as an outsider in Deptford due to his mother?s identity, tries to find a new identity for himself in a number of different ways.
Firstly, Paul Dempster grows up as an outcast in Deptford. Through his mother's ?simpleness' leading the tight social world of the town, to cast out his whole family and force's Paul to leave the town and create a new image for himself. Paul runs away to the circus in his early teens because of the mental abuse he took from the town because of his mothers incident with the tramp. Dunstable comment's, "Paul was not a village favourite, and the dislike so many people felt for his mother - dislike for the queer and persistently unfortunate - they attached to the unoffending son," (Davies' 40) illustrates how the town treated Paul because of his mother's actions. With the way that they did treat Paul and his entire family, it?s no wonder why he wanted to change his identity. Paul leaves his past because of the actions by his mother and the guilt he feels because his "birth was what robbed her of her
Firstly, Paul Dempster grows up as an outcast in Deptford. Through his mother's ?simpleness' leading the tight social world of the town, to cast out his whole family and force's Paul to leave the town and create a new image for himself. Paul runs away to the circus in his early teens because of the mental abuse he took from the town because of his mothers incident with the tramp. Dunstable comment's, "Paul was not a village favourite, and the dislike so many people felt for his mother - dislike for the queer and persistently unfortunate - they attached to the unoffending son," (Davies' 40) illustrates how the town treated Paul because of his mother's actions. With the way that they did treat Paul and his entire family, it?s no wonder why he wanted to change his identity. Paul leaves his past because of the actions by his mother and the guilt he feels because his "birth was what robbed her of her