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Progression Of Dunstan's Guilt In Fifth Business By Robertson Davies

472 Words2 Pages

By examining the progression of Dunstan’s guilt, in Robertson Davies’ Fifth Business, that one can never escape their dark past, which leads to irrationality later in life, resulting in a life-altering ripple effect. The fateful incident on December 27th, 1908, marked the day of eternal devotion and commitment to Mrs. Dempster after the unforeseen took over. This stroke of fate casts Dunstan aside as the main character in his life, promoting Mary and Paul Dempster to this role. Thus proving fate determining the star of his life and demoting him to an extra as he describes, “I have been cast by fate and my own character for the vital though never glorious role of fifth business. Who could not, indeed, comprehend what fifth business is, even …show more content…

But as fate would have it, he runs into Paul years later to discover he has run away to a circus to perform magic professionally. These events further burden Dunstan with the guilt regarding the Dempsters, that even after running away twice he still cannot dismiss the havoc of his past. When Dunstan returned to Deptford he discovered that, “When the circus was here, autumn of ‘eighteen, he run away with one of the shows…it was the best thing Paul ever done, in a way…but Mary Dempster took it very bad and went clean off her head. Used to yell out the window at kids going to school, ‘Have you seen my son Paul?’” (Davies 99). The fact that Paul had ‘run away with one of the shows’ creates an even heavier burden on Dunstan as his guilt grows immensely, while Mary gets worse. As well, Dunstan tries to run around the world on his saint hunts, but ends up revisiting haunting events from his past, which demonstrates how he can never escape. These recurrences lead him to make irresponsible decisions such as attempting to prove Mary as a saint for his peace of mind. Everything in Dunstan’s life relates back to his tragic past, that continues to affect his future endeavours, leading to a path he should not be following. Paul’s running caused Dunstan substantial amounts of guilt, in Robertson Davies’ Fifth

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