Guilt Controls People?

Guilt, the strongest damage to people who have morel. It can make people fidget, can control people’s life, even kill the people. In the novel Fifth Business, written by Robertson Davies, guilt is the most important theme. It appealed through out the whole novel, and it is the most important element that helps the plot move. In Fifth Business, nearly all of the main characters have tied to this theme. The examples of this can be Paul Dempster, Boy Staunton, and Dunstable Ramsay.

Paul Dempster’s guilt towards his mother, Mary Dempster, had caused a great change in his life. When he was old enough to understand, he blamed himself for causing his mother’s simple-mindedness because he has been told that it was his birth that did it. Also, people in the town have worsened his guilt by keeping a distance from him. This can be shown in the quote, “Paul was not a village favourite, and the dislike so many people felt for his mother–dislike for the queer and persistently unfortunate–they attached to the unoffending son.”(Fifth Business. page 32) Also, this quote shows Paul has been looked down upon because of his mother’s simple-mindedness. After Mary Dempster was caught in the act of having sex with a tramp, which was also blamed on her simple-mindedness, people started to make rude jokes about her. This made Paul felt even guiltier about his mother, and chose to run away from home. It was a great change of Paul’s life, and eventually he became a famous magician. Therefore, in Paul Dempster’s case, guilt changed his life.

Unlike Paul Dempster, whose guilt had been lived with him since he found out his situation, Boy Staunton’s guilt had not been found until his 60’s. When he was young, he was a boy who lack with responsibilities. He threw the snowball, and it accidentally hit Mrs. Dempster, and caused premature birth of Paul and Mrs. Dempster’s simple-mindedness. But he refused to admit that by saying, “I threw a snowball at you, and I guess it gave you a good smack.”(Fifth Business. page 14) This quote shows Boy seriously thought he did not hit Mrs. Dempster which resulted in no guilt until 50 years later. By the time Boy Staunton was 60, he totally forgot about the snowball incident, even the Dempsters. So when Dunstable told him about the snowball and the rock inside the snowball, he went through many different feelings, and they were mostly negative emotions. Boy’s repressed guilt damaged and recoiled himself. Since Boy was a person with good moral, his realization of what he has done triggered his idea of suicide. Therefore, Boy Staunton’s guilt killed himself.

And lastly, Dunstable Ramsay, who suffered from his guilt through out the whole novel. His guilt was not as extreme as Boy Staunton’s, but much deeper. Since Dunstable has been raised in a strict Presbyterian family, he has been taught that he should feel guilty about many minor things. So when the snowball, which initially meant to hit him, accidentally hit the pregnant Mrs. Dempster, and caused the premature birth of Paul Dempster, Dunstable had fell into the maelstrom of guilt. The quote, “I had never heard an adult cry in pain before and the sound was terrible for me.”(Fifth Business. page 2) shows the beginning of his continuous guilt towards Mrs. Dempster. His choice of taking care of Mrs. Dempster was a great example of his continuous guilt. Also, Dunstable’s idea of seeing Mrs. Dempster as a saint might also cause by his continuous guilt. His guilt has made him never forget about Mrs. Dempster. And it had not released until he told the truth of the snowball incident to both Boy Staunton and Paul Dempster. Although he released from his guilt towards Mrs. Dempster, but he had fallen into his guilt towards Boy Staunton, because he thought he had killed his best friend, Boy indirectly. Therefore, Dunstable Ramsay’s life has been controlled by guilt through out the whole novel.

In conclusion, the theme guilt played a really important role in the novel Fifth Business, written by Robertson Davies. Most of the characters have tied to this theme, for example, Paul Dempster, Boy Staunton, and Dunstable Ramsay. Guilt has made big changes for their life, and even killed someone. Therefore, guilt is the strongest thing that can change people’s life.