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Fifth Business Character Analysis

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The impact of childhood events determines one’s character in the course of one’s life. This is particularly true in the life of the principal characters of Robertson Davies’ Fifth Business, where one incident, the throwing of a snowball, decides the future of Boy, Dunstan, and Paul. Whether or not a person can move beyond his past has a profound effect on individuals as they age. In the novel, psychological well-being during childhood development is one of the central themes that shapes the characters. Boy Staunton, who is born into the richest family in the town of Deptford, grows from an irresponsible and spoiled boy to an ambitious and arrogant tycoon. His character epitomizes the way many rich people behave when they are unwilling to accept …show more content…

For that other two characters, they change their names subtly, adjusting the personalities in their names from their parents. (Beetz). However, Paul becomes Magnus Eisengrim who completely disconnects with his family and has himself reinvented as he runs away with a circus to escape from the contrition and jeers that are none of his business. At Paul’s early age, Dunstan, who is “contrite and guilty” (Davies 11) for Paul’s premature birth, acts as his playmate, reading to him about and teaching him magic, which leads him to his new life. As a “not[-]ten[-]yet” child (Davies 107), he is fully confident of the fact that his circumstance has condemned him to move beyond it. He takes such a firm action and courageous decision that later Dunstan wonders how he comes “by this new self” (Davies 202), which remains a mystery to Dunstan. When Dunstan is hired to write a fictional autobiography of Magnus’s, he says about the book and Magnus’s character that “[t]he autobiography of Magnus Eisengrim was a great pleasure to write, for I was under no obligation to be historically correct or weigh evidence.” (Davies 229). Finally, Magnus manages to step forward in his course of life from an innocent son considered guilty to a world-famous magician going on his world tours. At the end of the novel, Magnus’s magic is implicated to be the murderer of Boy, and this makes himself becomes “the inevitable fifth, who was keeper of his conscience and keeper of the stone.” (Davies 266). Compared with the other two characters, he is the best at surmounting difficulties and stay psychologically healthy, whereas Boy Staunton cannot accept the fact that his fault leads to Mary Dempster’s early labour. Magnus manages to minimize the negative impact of his past on him although he sometimes ties himself to the way he thinks during his childhood such as having a grudge or feeling insecure. His

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