Guilt in Robertson Davies' "Fifth Business"
Guilt in Fifth Business
One feeling that may cause mixed emotions such as anger, hate, or fear, a feeling that can also cripple one's mind, is guilt. Robertson Davies' "Fifth Business" demonstrates how guilt is able to corrupt the young minds of children through the characters of Paul and Dunstan. On the other hand, he also shows how a child will suppress an incident into their unconscious mind if it makes him feel uncomfortable, or guilty through the character of Boy Staunton. The outcome of each case is unpredictable and could possibly result in lives being corrupted or constantly having feelings of guilt on ones conscience.
Dunstan Ramsay has lived his life full of guilt, feeling guilty for things he should not. During an incident involving Boy, Boy throws a snowball at Dunstan, however, Dunstan dodges the snowball and it ends up hitting the pregnant Mrs. Dempster. As a result, Mrs. Dempster gives birth prematurely to Paul shortly after. Dunstan feels that since the snowball was directed towards him, it is his fault for Paul's premature birth, "I was contrite and guilty, for I knew the snowball had been meant for me, but the Dempsters did not seem to think that" (Davies 3). Dunstan tries confronting Boy about the incident in hopes of passing the guilt on to him, however Boy denies it, leaving Dunstan no one to blame but himself, "So I was alone with my guilt, and it tortured me" (Davies 16). Dunstan's childhood is mostly spent at the Dempster's place doing chores, which could possibly be his way of making it up to them. During his daily visits to the Dempster's, Dunstan gets to know Paul and introduces him to magic. Paul eventually abandons his mother to pursue a career as a magician, leaving his mother heartbroken, which also contributes to Dunstan's feeling of guilt. Mrs. Dempster believes that Dunstan is keeping her from seeing her son in the hospital, "Dunstan Ramsay, who pretended to be a friend, was a snake-in-the-grass, an enemy, an undoubted agent of
One feeling that may cause mixed emotions such as anger, hate, or fear, a feeling that can also cripple one's mind, is guilt. Robertson Davies' "Fifth Business" demonstrates how guilt is able to corrupt the young minds of children through the characters of Paul and Dunstan. On the other hand, he also shows how a child will suppress an incident into their unconscious mind if it makes him feel uncomfortable, or guilty through the character of Boy Staunton. The outcome of each case is unpredictable and could possibly result in lives being corrupted or constantly having feelings of guilt on ones conscience.
Dunstan Ramsay has lived his life full of guilt, feeling guilty for things he should not. During an incident involving Boy, Boy throws a snowball at Dunstan, however, Dunstan dodges the snowball and it ends up hitting the pregnant Mrs. Dempster. As a result, Mrs. Dempster gives birth prematurely to Paul shortly after. Dunstan feels that since the snowball was directed towards him, it is his fault for Paul's premature birth, "I was contrite and guilty, for I knew the snowball had been meant for me, but the Dempsters did not seem to think that" (Davies 3). Dunstan tries confronting Boy about the incident in hopes of passing the guilt on to him, however Boy denies it, leaving Dunstan no one to blame but himself, "So I was alone with my guilt, and it tortured me" (Davies 16). Dunstan's childhood is mostly spent at the Dempster's place doing chores, which could possibly be his way of making it up to them. During his daily visits to the Dempster's, Dunstan gets to know Paul and introduces him to magic. Paul eventually abandons his mother to pursue a career as a magician, leaving his mother heartbroken, which also contributes to Dunstan's feeling of guilt. Mrs. Dempster believes that Dunstan is keeping her from seeing her son in the hospital, "Dunstan Ramsay, who pretended to be a friend, was a snake-in-the-grass, an enemy, an undoubted agent of