Chapter Summaries of "Fifth Business"

Part One. Mrs. Dempster

Summary:
- Boy Staunton threw a snowball which intentionally to hit Dunstable Ramsay, but accidentally hit the pregnant Mrs. Dempster.
- The event caused premature birth of Paul Dempster.
- Paul was born premature and Dunstable's mother helped Dr. Staunton take care of him.
- Mrs. Dempster had become simple-mindedness.
- Dunstable felt guilty for the accident even though he didn't throw the snowball.
- Dunstable started to fall in love with Mary and ended up defending her when people made fun of her.
- When Dunstable showed him coin tricks to Paul, Paul took the coins and did the tricks better than he did.
- Paul was good with his hands so Dunstable started to teach Paul how to do the tricks.
- Mr. Dempster told Dunstable never to come near any of his family again.
- Mrs. Dempster disappeared one night.
- Dunstable found Mrs. Dempster in the tall grass having sex with a tramp.
- Mr. Dempster kept his wife Mary tied to something in the house so she couldn't leave again.
- Dunstable went to visit Mrs. Dempster when Mr. Dempster was at work.
- Boy Staunton and Mabel Hughinton got caught by Mabel’s mother in the sexual act.
- People blamed the actions of Mrs. Dempster for the actions of the young people in town.
- Dunstable’s brother, Willie was in an accident and was seriously ill.
- While Dunstable was taking care of Willie, Willie quite breathing. Dunstable thought he was dead so he ran to Mrs. Dempster for help.
- Mrs. Dempster prayed over Willie and he started to move and breath again.
- Dunstable believed Mrs. Dempster had brought Willie back to life, but the villagers thought he was going crazy just like Mrs. Dempster.
- Dunstable’s mother asked Dunstable to choose between her and Mrs. Dempster.
- Dunstable chose the third way, he joined the army.
- While he was waiting to head off to war, Leola from school and Dunstable started dating.
- Before Dunstable left Leola told him the she loved him.

Interpretation:
Part one is entirely set in Deptford, a small town in Western Ontario. It tells the readers about boyhood of the protagonist, Dunstable Ramsay, from age 10 to age 17. This part built up the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist, which are Dunstable and Boy. And the conflict applied though out the whole novel. Also, Dunstable’s deep guilt towards Mrs. Dempster had also been built up in this part. Since Mrs. Dempster figures most prominently in this section of the novel, part one was named after her.



Part Two. I Am Born Again

Summary:
- Dunstable was a member of the Second Canadian Division and later the Canadian Corps.
- Dunstable found the army very boring, because he was cut off from everything that could make life sweet.
- The only book Dunstable could read was the New Testament.
- He imitated Charlie Chaplin and after that they called him Charlie.
- Dunstable was in at the Third Battle of Ypres.
- Dunstable was in a small group of soldiers who had to crawl across the field and take out the German machine guns.
- Dunstable had killed three German soldiers.
- Dunstable’s left leg has been hit by a fragment of shell, and seriously injured.
- The last thing Dunstable saw before he lost his consciousness was a statue of the Virgin and Child, which the face of the Virgin was exactly like that of Mrs. Dempster.
- Dunstable woke up about 6 months after.
- Dunstable was in a hospital in Buckinghamshire, England.
- A nurse named Diana Marfleet had been taking care of him.
- Dunstable’s left leg had been amputated.
- Dunstable had been presumed dead
- The V.C. had been awarded to him for bravery in killing the three Germans.
- Dunstable’s parents had both died in the infuenze epidemic in 1918.
- Diana was a romantic girl and they could talk about anything.
- Dunstable received his Victoria Cross from the King.
- Dunstable had sex for the first time, with Diana.
- Diana was expecting an engagement proposal from Dunstable but he felt the relationship wouldn't work.
- They discussed their relationship and parted as friends.
- Diana renamed him as Dunstan
- Dunstan returned to Deptford where he was given a hero’s welcome.
- Boy and Leola announced their engagement.
- Dunstan found out Mr. Dempster had died and Mrs. Dempster’s Aunt had came and taken her away.
- Paul Dempster had run off and joined the circus and people hadn't seen him since.

Interpretation:
This part talked about Dunstable’s life in battlefield and his affair with Diana in England, and also his return as a veteran and hero to Deptford. Notice that the title “I Am Born Again” symbolized two things. The first one is his escape from death on the battlefield. After he regained his consciousness, Diana took care of him like his mother. The second thing is his rename by Diana, which symbolized him born twice.



Part Three. My Fool-Saint

Summary:
- Dunstan studied history in University College in the University of Toronto.
- Dunstan sold his family home and business and Boy helped him invest his money so he could make a profit.
- After university Dunstan took a job, schoolmastering at Colbourne College.
- Boy married Leola at the Presbyterian Church in Deptford and Dunstan was the best man.
- Dunstan was on the same ship as the Stauntons, since he was going to Europe and the Stauntons were on their honeymoon.
- Dunstan was in search of the little Madonna he had seen when he was injured.
- Schoolmastering kept him busy when he returned from his trip. He was also an assistant housemaster.
- Boy was a rising young entrepreneur in the sugar business.
- Within one year, the Stauntons had their first child and named him Edward David Staunton.
- Boy and Leola left the Presbyterian Church and became Anglicans.
- Dunstan discovered that Mr. Surgeioner was the same man he saw with Mrs. Dempster. Mr. Surgeioner told Dunstan he didn't rape Mrs. Dempster, and described his encounter with Mrs. Dempster was a miracle.
- Dunstan went back to Deptford and found out the name of the Aunt who took Mrs. Dempster after Mr. Dempster died.
- Dunstan went to see the priest while he was in Deptford. They discussed his past and his new interest in saints. The priest called him a fool-saint.
- Dunstan went to Weston to see Mrs. Dempster.
- Mrs. Dempster didn't remember the past.
- Miss Bertha Shankin asked Dunstan to come back and visit and get to know Mrs. Dempster over again as her friend.
- Dunstan went on a great hunt starting in England working his way across France, Austria to Czechoslovakia.
- His journeys led to him writing his book "A hundred saints for Travelers".
- While he was in Tyrol he attended a circus.
- When he watched the show he realized Paul Dempster was on the stage and doing the magic tricks.
- Paul was named Faustus Legrand by that time.
- Paul didn't want to discuss his past.
- When Dunstan left he realized Paul had stolen his wallet.

Interpretation:
This part focused on Dunstan’s study on history and saint. It started with Dunstan’s enrolment at the University of Toronto, and ended with his accidental meeting with Paul Dempster in the Tyrol. This part is called “My Fool-Saint” because Dunstan’s study of saints leaded him to think Mrs. Dempster might be one. However, he has been told if Mrs. Dempster was anything, she was a “fool-saint”.



Part Four. Gyges and King Candaules

Summary:
- Boy made a lot of money during the depression.
- Boy always talked to Dunstan about Leola.
- Boy was constantly trying to mold Leola into the perfect executive's wife.
- Boy felt he was getting better and better everyday but Leola just stayed the same and never improved.
- Dunstan went to visit Mrs. Dempster every two weeks.
- Mrs. Shanklin died in 1932, and she had appointed Dunstan as Mrs. Dempster's guardian.
- Dunstan put Mrs. Dempster into a public hospital for the insane.
- Dunstan spent his time teaching and watching Boy’s destruction of Leola as well as taking care of Mrs. Dempster.
- Dunstan became involved with the Bollandists.
- Dunstan had sent the Bollandists some of his notes on saints and was asked to write for their magazine the Analecta.
- Mr. Padre Ignacio Blazon was the editor for the magazine and belonged to the Jesuits of the Societe des Bollandists.
- Dunstan and Ignacio spent time together discussing saints and Dunstan’s past.
- Ignacio told Dunstan that Mrs. Dempster was a saint because Dunstan felt she was.
- Dunstan visited Mrs. Dempster forty Saturdays a year.
- Dunstan finished his first book called "A Hundred Saints for Travellers".
- Boy would always invite Dunstan for Dinner when he was having guests.
- Boy's private life fascinated Dunstan. Boy would always hire young clean cut men in his companies and have meetings with them in private.
- After one dinner party Boy and Leola had a fight and Boy told her he was leaving her.
- Leola was in a deep depression and finally ended up trying to kill herself on Christmas Day.
- Leola left a suicide letter to Dunstan saying she always loved him.

Interpretation:
This part was mainly talking about the relationship between the protagonist of the novel, Dunstan Ramsay, and the antagonist of the novel, Boy Staunton. It began with Boy Staunton’s financial success in the Great Depression, and talked about the family struggle in the Staunton family. Since Dunstan was a very close friend to this family, he was kind of involved in the conflict. The part concluded with Leola’s near-suicide. The part was called “Gyges and King Canduales” because Dunstan’s study of myths made him thought his relationship with Boy was like the modern-day version of the legend “Gyges and King Canduales”.



Part Five. Liesl

Summary:
- During the World War II Boy became the Minister of Food in the coalition Cabinet.
- Leola had become more and more depressed and died in 1942.
- Dunstan took on the temporary position of Headmaster during the war
- After the war they found someone else and asked Dunstan to resign as they though that someone who chases saints shouldn't be in the position of Headmaster.
- Dunstan agreed when then gave his a six month leave of absences.
- Dunstan was in Guadalupe checking the churches for saints.
- Dunstan went to a magic show performed by Magnus Eisengrim.
- Dunstan discovered the Magnus Eisengrim was Paul Dempster.
- Dunstan met with Paul and his lovely assistant Faustina.
- When Liesl and Paul started to argue in German they though Dunstan wouldn't understand them. When he answered in German they were surprised.
- Dunstan became a member of Magnus Eisengrim's entourage.
- They wanted Dunstan to write an autobiography on Magnus but everything would have to be made up and he couldn't use his name as the author.
- Dunstan agreed, but had to be given shares in the company.
- Liesl and Paul would consult Dunstan on how to make the show better.
- Dunstan suggested them a "Brazen Head", the foretold the future.
- The "Brazen Head" was a huge success.
- Liesl and Paul discussed things that Liesl wanted in the autobiography.
- Paul found that he was telling things he had never told anyone else to Liesl.
- Dunstan and Lisel had a fight which ended up with Liesl getting a banged up nose. Dunstan had taken off his leg so it was difficult for him to get around.
- After a few minutes there was a tap on his door and it was Liesl, she offered him a drink.
- Dunstan invited Liesl in and cleaned up her cuts. They spent the night talking.
- Liesl told Dunstan he should shake hands with his devil and change his foolish life.
- Liesl told Dunstan he was the Fifth Business.

Interpretation:
This part was mainly talked about Dunstan’s life with Magnus Eisengrim’s magic show in Mexico. Also, the title of the novel has been explained in this part. The Fifth Business is the odd man out, the person who has no opposite of the other sex. And Dunstan was because he is the one who knows the secret of the hero's birth (Paul), or comes to assist the heroine when she thinks all is lost (Leola), or keeps the hermitess in her cell (Mrs. Dempster), or may even be the cause of somebody's death (Boy). This part was named after Liesl because Liesl’s advice has brought Dunstan’s life into a new stage.



Part Six. The Soiree of Illusions

Summary:
- Dunstan completed the Autobiography of Magnus Eisengrim and it was a great success.
- Liesl insisted that Paul sign a banker’s note to support his mom monthly.
- At the end of the war Dunstan had Mrs. Dempster transferred to a private hospital.
- When Dunstan went to see her he told her about Paul and she seemed to go mad.
- She thought there was a plot to deprive her of her little son and Dunstan was its agent.
- Boy remarried.
- Boy attempted to become the leader of the Conservative party.
- Boy’s new wife’s name was Denyse and she tried to push him into more politics.
- Caroline and David hated Denyse.
- The failure of not winning re-election seemed to devastate Boy.
- Boy felt he had done everything he had ever wanted to do.
- Boy told Dunstan he wished that he could get in his car and drive away from everything.
- Mrs. Dempster died the year after Boys' second marriage.
- Dunstan begged for forgiveness because even though he had done is best he didn't think he loved enough.
- The following summer Dunstan went to Europe and visited the Bollandists.
- Dunstan went to visit the old Padre Blazon in the hospital.
- After visiting with Blazon he went to the see a exhibition in the Cathedral and there at last was his Little Madonna he had seen the bad night at Passchendaele.
- Boy Staunton was found dead in his car in the Toronto harbour.
- Dunstan tells of his meeting with Paul, Boy and himself when they discussed the past and what happened to Mrs. Dempster.
- Boy insisted he didn't remember any of it.
- Dunstan kept the rock in a box with the engraving.
- It mysteriously disappeared and was found in Boys mouth when he died.
- Dunstan went off to Switzerland and joined the Basso and the Brazen Head.

Interpretation:
This part was the ending of the novel, which basically gave a resolution to every conflict through out the novel. The story ends with Dunstan telling the head master that Boy’s death created and uproar and that he went off to Switzerland and joined the Basso and the Brazen Head. It was called “The Soiree of Illusions” because that was the name of Eisengrim’s show, and it also refers to an evening in which illusions are shattered.