Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

In the beginning of Fifth Business, we meet Dunstan. As he is walking home, one of his friends throw a snowball with rocks in it, and misses and hits the pregnant Mary Dempster, who is out for a walk with her reverend Husband. She falls to the ground and goes into early labor, having a premature boy named Paul. Ever since this event throughout Dunny's entire life he feels guilt for dodging the snowball. Dunstan helped to take care of Paul, because his mother did not trust Mrs. Dempster as a mother. Dunstan worked at a library, and eventually comes to liking the topics of Saints and magic. This is interesting because these two topics almost contradict each other. Dunstan used to teach Paul card tricks and magic tricks when he visited, but Pauls father found out and did not allow Dunstan to come over anymore. When Mrs. Dempster is found interacting with a tramp, she is forced to stay home and not leave. Even though this occured, Dunstan still loved her and found her saint-like. Later on, Dunstan's mother tells him not to see Mrs. Dempster anymore. He then joins the army, where he loses a leg. One important thing in this story is since the beginning of the book until now, Dunstan was referred to as Dunstable. He changes his name to Dunstan because this is the name of a saint who fought off the devil, and he thinks that he has done this as well when he refuses to marry a woman named Diana. Boy eventually marries Leola and moves to Europe.  Back at home, Paul runs away with the circus because he can not stand living with his mothers crazy reputations hanging over him. He uses the card tricks that Dunstan once taught him. Dunstan seems as if he has found love with a woman named Feona, who Paul works in the circus with. But this ended when he found her with Liesl. Liesl becomes friends with him, and helps him realize things about himself. This is when the mention of him being a fifth business comes up. He is always there, but never a main contributor in the action, only watching on the sides. But he is also necessary in the plot. Boy is a Dustan's lifelong friend, and the one who actually hit Mrs. Dempster with the snowball. Boy claims that he does not remember the occurrence even though he was old enough to remember and was very involved in the scene. Dunstan, who is now working as a school teacher, goes back and finds Mary and meets her like a new friend. Eventually Dunstan finds Paul working under a different name in a circus. Dunstan, Paul, and Boy all meet up, and Dunstan tells Paul about the night when Boy hit his mother, and that he is the reason for her insanity. the next day in the show, Boy was killed, and Dunstan suffers a heart attack.

Dunstan is a significant character in this novel. He is the main character, but also the fifth business. He is necessary for the novel to work out, but is never the center of attention or the character who has a big impact on them. He is usually the one who makes impacts on others. He is obsessed with saints, and with magic and is Paul's mentor with magic. He is also in love with Mrs. Dempster, even though she isconsidered crazy. He sees her as a saint like figure, even after her encounter with a tramp.

Boy is also a character in this book that is significant. He is Dunstan's childhood friend, and is in the first scene with him. He is the one that throws a snowball with a rock in it and causes the problems with Mrs. Dempster. During the book, His name changes from Percy to Boy. He becomes a wealthy business man even though the population is suffering from the great depression. He also helps Dunstan out of the depression by telling him to invest in his own company.

Paul- He is the son of Mrs. Dempster who was born prematurely due to the hit. He learns magic from Dunstan, and takes it to the circus with him when he runs away to avoid his mothers reputation. He later becomes a wonderful magicial and changes his name.

Mrs. Dempster- She is the one that got hit by the snowball and is the mother of Paul. For some reason, Dunstan takes a great liking to her, and spends a lot of time with her. Even though she is mentally insane, Dunstan sees her as a saint because of the three miracles he witnessed that were performed by her.

"I was contrite and guilty, for I knew that the snowball had been meant for me, but the Dempsters did not seem to think of that." (page 3) This shows that the guilt hits Dunstan the moment the snowball hit Mrs. Dempster, and he feels this throughout the rest of the book.

"So I was alone with my guilt, and it tortured me. I was a Presbyterian child and I knew a good deal about damnation." (Page 15) This only adds to the idea that he is guilty about what happened to Mrs. Demptster, and the fact that he brings religion into it also brings up the theme of religion and saints that is seen throughout the book.

The Narrative voice in this work is in first person, being told by Dunstan. He has a objective voice at times, and at other times is rather subjective. He is Objective at one point when he is talking about the death of his family members. This is something that one should be subjective about, but he is not. Other times however, he is subjective with his descriptions. If he is talking about saints or Mrs. Dunstan, he feels more emotional about them and is more subjective. There is also some imagery in this piece, but I would say that in general his work is more mattor-of-factly rather than flowery.

THEME: Religion and Spirituality do not necessarily help a person in life.
This is seen through examples from the text. Although Dunstan has a great interest in the saints, he is not being helped by God in some overarching way. especially with Mrs. Dempster. He almost sheds religion on her, yet she is crazy and has a bad reputation.