Fifth Business Burden of Guilt
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In Robertson Davies' novel, Fifth Business, Dunstan Ramsey is burdened with the guilt of others because he fails to express his own. In fact, Dunstan felt oppressively responsible for Mary Dempster's condition. The life that Paul Dempster was forced to live on account of the accident that set his character up to be an outsider. Dunstan's guilt has negatively played an essential role in the relationships he shares with other characters in the novel. Therefore, Dunstan Ramsey has let guilt depressingly influence and control a big part of his life.
Firstly, after Percy Boy refused to acknowledge his actions and the accident which was caused by them, it persuaded Dunstan Ramsey to accept Percy's guilt for the snowball accident. "So I was alone with my guilt, and it tortured me. I was a Presbyterian child and I knew a good deal about damnation." (p.16)...