Fifth Business Character foils of Dunstan Ramsay and Percy Staunton

A detailed Summary of Fifth Business Character foils of Dunstan Ramsay and Percy Staunton

Robertson Davies' novel, Fifth Business, revolves around guilt, competition, and two men who are foils of each other. Although Dunstan Ramsay and Percy Boyd Staunton are parallels to each other, they contrast in a great number of ways. Their awkward relationship plays a significant role in the number of elements which make Fifth Business such an interesting story.

While Dunstan Ramsay had never been too interested in competing with Percy Boyd Staunton, Percy from a young age saw Dunny as a rival. When Percy's brand new expensive sled isn't as fast as Dunny's, Percy gets angry and throws a snowball at Dunny, which in turn begins the setting for the novel. The two continue to compete throughout the novel, for things such as Leola's love, military recognition, and more.

Percy's and Dunstan's characters contrast in many ways. The most prominent way in which they contrast is their values. Dunstan values spiritual things, while Percy values only material things. Percy is impressed by and yearns for money, while Dunstan could care le

Dunstan is in a search for inner truth and spirituality, and Percy is searching for outer beauty and appearances.

This shows us that where as Percy was in pursuit of money and possessions, Dunstan was concerned elsewhere. Dunstan bluntly states that Percy was materialistic:

Although Dunstan and Percy are very much opposites throughout the novel, there is one area in which they are both the same- neither one of them is able to form warm, lasting human relationships. At the beginning of their marriage, Percy is unable to be faithful to Leola, but claims that since he "still loves her, the encounters with the other ladies didn't really count." Percy is still unable to be faithful to Leola later on in their marriage, due to his failing efforts to bring up to "his standards". When Leola later dies, Percy does not even come home for her funeral. Dunstan is not able to form lasting relationships either. When he refuses to marry Diana, it is because he doesn't want anyone telling him what to do, like his mother did, ever - he wants to

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Approximate Word count = 705
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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