Childhood
Childhood is an important moment in people's lifetime; it is one of the main guide lines which pull one towards the future. Things that happened in the childhood tend to have either positive or negative influences that will stay with them for the rest of their life. In the novel Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, childhood is the main fact that influences the characters in the novel. These characters were definitely influenced by childhood which tends to changed them that they are in the future. The evident that each character seems to run away due to the insecurities that they faced as children. However, childhood is a line that leads Dunstan Ramsey, Paul Dempster and Boy Staunton to their future.
Throughout the lives of these characters, childhood is one moment that causes the difference in Dunstan’s life. Dunstan lives in the shadow of Boy Staunton, because of guilty and responsibility as the result of a fight. During a fight with Percy Boyd Staunton, Percy threw a snowball that was aimed for Dunstan but instead hit the pregnant Mary Dempster. With this incident, the result was the premature birth of Mary Dempster’s son Paul Dempster. Dunstan felt responsible for what had happened to Paul because he was involved in the fight. He feels like he could drown in his guilt because of the ordeal but he never got the courage to tell the truth to Mary and endured many sleepless nights afterwards. For instance, the snowball incident and Dunstan's relationship with Boy, according to the novel is '' he is my best friend and also is my enemy'' which emphasizes that Dunstan hates Boy at some point because he lied about the snow ball and did not feel guilty at all. Dunstan’s childhood was affected deeply through each situation he faced as a young man, to a highly respected professor. He felt he was the center of all bad things, which occurred around him. Mrs. Demster’s accident was the main influence in his childhood and caused him to feel guilt and become responsible and more caring in his life.
Childhood is important in Paul's life because it affects him as he gets older. Dunstan is very guilty of Paul’s premature birth and so drops by his house every day to take care of him. “I was perfectly sure; you see that the birth of Paul Dempster, so small, so feeble, and troublesome, was my fault. If I had not been so clever, so sly, so spiteful in hopping in front of the Dempsters just as Percy Boyd Staunton threw that snowball at me from behind, Mrs. Dempster would not have been struck.’’ He is satisfying his own time to take cares of Paul when he was young. When Dunstan is playing with cards one day and needs an audience, he decides to show a magic trick to Paul and he tells Paul stories about saints. He finds out Paul has the ability of magic and starts to teach him. ''But worse - much worse than that- I had taught the boy to cheat with the cards, to handle them like a smoking - car gambler, and also to play tricks with money.'' One day, Mr.Dempster found out that Paul is using the money on the table to do the trick, he believes that is the evil thing Paul is doing. He tells Dunstan never to come to his house again, but Dunstan comes to his house when Mr.Dempster is at work. Dunstan is continuously teaching Paul magic. When Paul gets older, Paul joins a travelling circus and he becomes a famous magician.
In other hand, Mary who is his mother is the second facts that influence Paul life. Paul Dempster is overwhelmed with guilt, blaming himself for his mother's simple-mindedness and strange behavior. When Paul Dempster grows up and learns about his mother’s demise, he himself feels guilty. When he grows older and understands things clearer, he blamed himself for causing his mother’s illness, because he was told that his birth had caused it. His guilt is amplified when the residents in the town keep their distances from him. After his mother was caught with the tramp performing sexual acts and being discovered by the townsfolk, Paul gets taunted and teased by his schoolmates who make rude comments towards his mother. Later on in life he remembers about his mother but would repress the idea that she was his mother. He becomes a great success as his talents as a magician becomes well known near the end of Paul’s life.
From Boy’s childhood, it is obvious that he has the stubborn attitude which would lead him to his adulthood. The thing happened in Boy’s childhood is opposite to Ramsey and Paul’s guilty feelings about what has happened to Mrs. Dempster. But reflects his attitude and continuous in his lifelong. Percy, who was the one who threw the snowball, feels absolutely no guilt at all. Throughout the story, readers can see that Percy is a cold-hearted person who is very self-less and only cares for himself and not others. He is ignorant of the pain that he inflicts on others and could hardly care less. ''No, I don't remember what is of no use to me, and I haven't been in Deptford since my father died.'' from that we can see his attitude. He only cares about himself and not guilt at all and live in his own world. At the end of the story, Ramsey reminds him by showing him the stone, which he kept during the years that passed. However Boy is still ignorant and forgot about the incident.
When Boy married Leola, he eventually gets discovered that he was seeing other women. He treats her like an object rather than a person. He only did it for his own social status rather than his own good. Eventually Leola passes away and being the person who feels absolutely no guilt, he doesn’t bother to show up at her funeral. Later on in the story, Dunstan confronts Percy and reminds him of his responsibility for the dreadful event of Mrs. Dempster and the snowball. By that time Percy is around 60 and has completely forgotten about this incident. Dunstan reminds him by showing him the stone, which he kept during the years that passed which results in Percy’s anger. He does not feel sorry or showed any signs of guilt. If he had feelings of guilt, he would have been more sensitive and apologetic.
Childhood characteristics are evident in the characters of Dustan Ramsay, Percy Boyd Staunton and Paul Dempster. Their childhood is one major fact that impacted their life. It is a crucial time in which all three characters went through an ordeal that would affect their adulthood.
