FREE ESSAY ON FIFTH BUSINESS

FIFTH BUSINESS

Robertson Davies' novel, Fifth Business, revolves around guilt, competition, and two men
who are foils of each other. Although Dunstan Ramsay and Percy Boyd Staunton are
parallels to each other, they contrast in a great number of ways. Their awkward
relationship plays a significant role in the number of elements which make Fifth Business
such an interesting story. 
While Dunstan Ramsay had never been too interested in competing with Percy Boyd Staunton,
Percy from a young age saw Dunny as a rival. When Percy's brand new expensive sled isn't
as fast as Dunny's, Percy gets angry and throws a snowball at Dunny, which in turn begins
the setting for the novel. The two continue to compete throughout the novel, for things
such as Leola's love, military recognition, and more. 
Percy's and Dunstan's characters contrast in many ways. The most prominent way in which
they contrast is their values. Dunstan values spiritual things, while Percy values only
material things. Percy is impressed by and yearns for money, while Dunstan could care
less about it. Dunstan explains his lack of desire for materialistic things: 
Where Boy lived high, I lived - well, not low, but in the way congenial to myself. I
thought twenty-four dollars was plenty for a ready-made suit, and four dollars a criminal
price for a pair of shoes. I changed my shirt twice a week and my underwear once. I had
not yet developed any expensive tastes and saw nothing wrong with a good boarding-house.
(Page 113) 
This shows us that where as Percy was in pursuit of money and possessions, Dunstan was
concerned elsewhere. Dunstan bluntly states that Percy was materialistic: 
To him the reality was of life lay in external things, whereas for me the only reality
was of the spirit - of mind. (Page 114)
Dunstan is in a search for inner truth and spirituality, and Percy is searching for outer
beauty and appearances. 
Another way in which the two contrast is that while Dunstan leaves a lot of events in his
life up to chance, Percy wants everyone, and everything in control- in his control. When
Percy wants Dunstan to develop some nude pictures of Leola, Dunstan makes the comparison
of himself and Percy to the myth of King Candaules and Gyges. There were two possible
endings to the myth - one being that Percy would lose Leola to Dunstan. This is shown
when Leola later tries to seduce Dunstan at a Christmas party. 
Although Dunstan and Percy are very much opposites throughout the novel, there is one
area in which they are both the same- neither one of them is able to form warm, lasting
human relationships. At the beginning of their marriage, Percy is unable to be faithful
to Leola, but claims that since he still loves her, the encounters with the other ladies
didn't really count. Percy is still unable to be faithful to Leola later on in their
marriage, due to his failing efforts to bring up to his standards. When Leola later dies,
Percy does not even come home for her funeral. Dunstan is not able to form lasting
relationships either. When he refuses to marry Diana, it is because he doesn't want
anyone telling him what to do, like his mother did, ever - he wants to be his own
person:
I know how clear it is that what was wrong between Diana and me was that she was too much
a mother to me, and as I had had one mother, and lost her, I was not in a hurry to
acquire another - not even a young and beautiful one with whom I could play Oedipus to
both our hearts' content. If I could manage it, I had not intention of being anybody's
own dear laddie, ever again. (Page 88)
There are many ways in which Dunstan and Ramsay are parallel, yet contrast each other.
The way in which Davies makes the characters foil each other adds excitement and
stability to the novel. Dunstan and Percy are perfect best friends, and perfect enemies.
Bibliography
jamie