Fifth Business

Fifth Business is a 1970 novel by Canadian novelist Robertson Davies. Set in the fictional town of Deptford, Ontario, the novel follows the life of Dunstan Ramsay as he recounts formative events from his childhood in the early 20th century through midlife, examining memory, identity, and myth. Its narrative combines elements of bildungsroman, psychological portraiture, and psychological study of religious and mythic archetypes.

Plot

The novel opens with Dunstan Ramsay narrating how a thrown snowball in 1908 injured a local girl, Mary Dempster, setting off intersecting lives in Deptford, Ontario. The snowball incident involves Percy Boyd Staunton and Boy Staunton's friend Leola, leading to a tragic miscarriage for Mary Dempster and reputational consequences that ripple through decades. Ramsay’s account traces his service in World War I with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, his postwar career as a schoolteacher and Latin scholar at Queen's University, and his lifelong fascination with saints, miracles, and hagiography. The plot interweaves Ramsay’s personal development with the rise and fall of Percy Boyd Staunton, the spiritual crisis of Padre Blazon, and the enigmatic life of Boy’s wife, Liesl. Ramsay reconstructs events through letters, psychoanalytic encounters in Toronto and correspondence with archives, culminating in revelations about sacrifice, culpability, and the blurred boundary between sainthood and madness.

Characters

Dunstan Ramsay — narrator, schoolmaster, and amateur hagiographer whose scholarship on saints anchors his interpretation of people as archetypes; survives trauma and becomes a guardian of secrets. Percy Boyd Staunton — affluent businessman and politician whose rise connects him to institutions such as banking and corporate boardrooms; embodies ambition and moral ambiguity. Mary Dempster — the woman affected by the childhood accident; regarded by Ramsay as a mystic and inexplicable "saint" whose visions and perceived miracles affect characters across decades. Boy Staunton — often referred to as Boy; friend of those in Deptford’s elite circles and central to conflicts over responsibility and repentance. Lieutenant Dunstan Ramsay’s wartime comrades — various veterans shaped by Battle of the Somme-era trauma; their experiences inform Ramsay’s reflections on sacrifice. Padre Blazon — a cleric whose crisis of faith and pastoral duties link to institutions such as Anglican Church and parish life; he represents religious authority shaken by modernity. Dr. Magnus Eisengrim — illusionist and performer whose later career intersects with Ramsay and other Deptford natives, connecting stages such as Broadway and international theatrical circuits. Supporting figures include small-town notables, university colleagues at Queen's University, and legal or political agents in Toronto and Ottawa who influence the protagonists’ fates.

Themes and Analysis

The novel explores sainthood and myth through Ramsay’s hagiographical lens, probing how ordinary lives become narrated as sacred or profane within communities like Deptford, Ontario. Themes of guilt and responsibility recur as characters grapple with the consequences of the snowball incident and subsequent choices, intersecting with examinations of memory, trauma, and narrative reliability shaped by Ramsay’s retrospective voice. The tension between public persona and private self emerges in depictions of Percy Boyd Staunton’s corporate maneuvering and political aspirations, implicating institutions including banking and party politics in moral compromise. Jungian archetypes and mythic structures are foregrounded; Davies engages with the works of figures such as Carl Jung and references classical hagiography traditions linked to St. Augustine and medieval saints. The novel also interrogates performance and identity through characters like Eisengrim, juxtaposing theatrical illusion with social masquerades in spheres like theatre and international entertainment. Issues of masculinity, power, and redemption run through wartime experiences (e.g., World War I) and civilian reintegration, informing reflections on heroism and the costs of ambition.

Literary Significance and Reception

Fifth Business is widely regarded as the first volume of Davies’s acclaimed The Deptford Trilogy, followed by sequels that expand thematic and narrative concerns across characters’ lives. Critics praised Davies’s command of language, intertextual erudition, and blending of mythic inquiry with social realism; the novel garnered attention from reviewers in outlets linked to literary criticism and academic study at institutions such as University of Toronto and McGill University. Scholarly commentary situates the work within Canadian literary canons alongside authors like Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro, noting its exploration of national identity through provincial settings. Debates among commentators often focus on Davies’s use of archetype and the reliability of Ramsay’s narration, with some critics comparing his psychological probing to the psychoanalytic literature of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. The novel has received literary awards and nominations and remains a staple in curricula covering 20th-century Canadian fiction, archival studies, and mythic criticism at universities across Canada and internationally.

Adaptations and Cultural Influence

Fifth Business has influenced theatre, radio, and academic treatments; dramatizations and radio adaptations have been presented by regional companies in Toronto and broadcast by outlets associated with public radio. Its characters and themes have inspired stage productions that explore hagiography and memory in settings such as university theatres and professional companies touring through Ontario and beyond. The novel’s influence is visible in later Canadian writers who engage with myth and small-town milieus, with intertextual nods appearing in works by contemporary novelists and playwrights. Scholarly conferences on Canadian literature and Jungian studies frequently include panels on Davies’s work, and the novel features in adaptations or references within curricula and cultural festivals celebrating Canadian letters.

Category:1970 novels Category:Canadian novels Category:Robertson Davies