fifth business

Leaving Fifth Business Behind A tiny pebble is thrown into a pond causing a rippling effect on the surrounding water. Even though the pebble is so small compared to the large body of water, it causes numerous ripples that effectively change the pond, even if it’s for just a while. Likewise, one single character or event in a story can have this same rippling effect on other characters’ lives. The plot of a story contains many different characters, conflicts and significant situations that contribute towards the climax and the final resolution. These elements of a story are very important in creating suspense and excitement. However, the plot of a story would not be carried out successfully if it were not for a “fifth business” character. A fifth business has no rival to the other characters, which makes it the odd one out. He or she often holds secrets about other characters and is indirectly involved in all the problems that occur throughout the story. Also, the fifth business is the character that often carries the twist in the plot. In dramas and operas, “Those roles which, being neither those of Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain, but which were nonetheless essential to bring about the Recognition or the denouement, were called the Fifth Business” (Monk).
Dunstan Ramsay is the fifth business character in the novel “Fifth Business” because, like the tiny pebble, his character seems small and insignificant. However, throughout the novel, Dunstan’s involvement with other characters leads him to realize who he truly is and he eventually progresses out of his fifth business role. The three characters that expose the true Dunstan Ramsay are: Mary Dempster, Percy Boy Staunton, and Paul Dempster. Mary Dempster suffered a pre-mature birth of her son, Paul, shortly after being hit by a snowball which contained a rock. The snowball, thrown by Percy Boy Staunton was originally meant for Dunstan who, moves out of the way at the last second.