Fifth Business Essay Fifth Business Fifth Business Essay

1. Fifth Business Essay
Fifth Business In the novel "Fifth Business", the author Robertson Davies is successfully able to
relate both the themes of magic and religion throughout. He achieves this relationship between the
themes primarily through the characters and their actions. Dunstan Ramsay, Paul Dempster, Mary
Dempster and Liselotte Vitzliputzli all help to illustrate the close relationship between magic and
religion. One of the characters that Davies uses to relate the theme of magic and religion is
Dunstable Ramsay. Dunny was brought up in a Scottish Presbyterian family in Deptford, Ontario.
While in the war, he kept himself busy by reading the New Testament and states "Arabian Nights
and the Bible were getting pretty close", referring to both...show more content...
She is the mother of a famous magician and the wife of a priest. This freely displays the relationship
between magic and religion. According to Dunstan, she is considered a fool–saint because she
performed three miracles, but without being aware of it. The first involved the rebirth of
Surgeoner by an act of charity. The second was the revival of Willie from the dead and the third
was her miraculous appearance to Dunstan during the war at Passchendaele. Liselotte Vitzliputzli
otherwise known as Lisel is introduced midway through the novel, but still plays an important
element in the theme of magic and religion. The theme of religion is demonstrated when she asks
Dunstan "В…do you know what my name really means?" Lisel's last name is the demons name in
the play The Vision of Dr. Fautus where Faust was a magician who sold his soul to the devil.
During a fight between Lisel and Dunstan, Dustan twists her nose, reliving the story of Saint
Dunstan where he twisted the devil's nose when he came to tempt him in the form of a beautiful
woman. Lisel is Dunstan's devil and companion who adds to the relationship of magic and religion.
Throughout the novel "Fifth Business", author Robertson Davies relates the themes of magic and
religion. He completes this by cleverly using the characters and their actions to reflect the ideas of
magic and religion. By doing this, he is able to relate both themes
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2. Fifth Business
ESSAY OUTLINE With reference to fifth business, show that the author develops a central theme
through a character who is unable to change his/her course of action Paragraph One Our childhood
plays a significant role in defining the kind of person that we become and the type of life that we
live. In "Fifth Business", Robertson Davies displays how the main character, Dunstan Ramsay's,
childhood friends and family influence him to be incapable of changing the course of action of his
life. By his senior years, Dunstan had undergone limited progression in his life as he experienced the
resurfacing of his childhood persona, the haunting reminder of his family's relationships in his own
affairs, and the persistent burden of guilt...show more content...
Dempster, nobody else should do it. She was mine" (180) In addition to his commitment to Mary
Dempster, Dunstan felt responsible for the premature birth of her son Paul Dempster, which led
him to also care for Paul. "I was perfectly sure, you see, that the birth of Paul Dempster, so small,
so feeble and troublesome, was my fault" (23) "In the hot craziness of my thinking, I began to
believe that I was more responsible for the birth of Paul Dempster than were his parents" (23)
"Being unofficial watchdog to the Dempster family was often a nuisance to me" (29) Paragraph 5
Our childhood traits reappear later in our adult lives, and the people we interact with during
childhood mould us into the person that we become. As Dunstan grew old, he re–established the
inner characteristics of his youth, revisited the possibility of becoming someone's laddie, and
dedicated his life to the wellbeing of childhood friend. Ultimately, Dunstan Ramsay had little
freedom to change the course of his life due to the numerous influences of his childhood and
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3. Fifth Business Essay
Fifth Business There are many different paths people can take throughout their lives. In the novel,
Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, the main character, Dunstan Ramsey, takes the path of the
Canadian hero. There are many different steps to be taken by the hero and Dunstan Ramsey follows
his path by completing each step.
Dunstan's journey begins when he gets his call for adventure. The call for adventure lets the hero
know that his or her life is about to change. Dunstan's call for adventure comes when he leaves for
Europe for the second time to search for the little Madonna. The little Madonna was what called
him to come back to Europe. The little Madonna was a bee in my bonnet; I wanted to see her again,
and quite...show more content...
Liesl invites Dunstan to come have lunch with her and Paul. It is because of her insistence that Paul
and Dunstan become friends that Paul is compelled to repay Dunstan the money he stole.
That night when I was making my usual prudent Canadian Scots count, I found that several bills had
found their way into my wallet, slightly but not embarrassingly exceeding the sum that had
disappeared from it when last I met with Paul. I began to think better of Eisengrim.
When Paul repays Dunstan, Dunstan realizes he can now trust Paul. With the help of Liesl, Dunstan
has made a friend with a member of the underworld. These two people will help Dunstan to continue
on with his journey.
The next step of Dunstan's journey is to completely leave his life behind and begin a brand new one.
He enters into a new world. This occurs when Dunstan "became a member of Magnus Eisengrim's
entourage." He begins to travel with Magnus because he still wants adventure and he knows that it
does not occur often. He says: "This looked liked an adventure, and, at fifty, adventures do not come
every day." Dunstan's journey is based on adventure. He does not know what he is getting into by
joining Magnus Eisengrim's entourage. There will be something different each day; something new
and surprising. By entering a new world, Dunstan is completing one more step of his journey.
Dunstan has now reached the point in his journey where he realizes he is completely
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