Personal Mythology in Fifth Business - Essay Example

Fifth Business Introduction Growing up is a stage wherein one gets confused and learns a lot out of those confusions. Various people are met alongthe way that influences ones beliefs and shapes ones personality. One encounters different situations that show the saintly natures as well as the madness natures of human beliefs and religion. Ramsay's engagement in a snowball fight with Percy Boyd Staunton was his first encounter with the Mysterious. This particular incident has turned him into being the "fifth business" for everyone else until he grows up. (http://www.geocities.com/fossilfreak/books/fifth.html, para 4) The snowball that hit Mary Dempster caused the premature birth of Paul and the insanity of Mary. This episode in his childhood had brought Dunstan an unending guilt that had enveloped him all through his life. There were several people whom Dunstan had met that helps him understand his roles as well as let himself loose of the burden of guilt he had felt since that eventful day with Staunton and Mary Dempster. Myth finds a place in the heart of Dunstan and teaches him to grow. Magic is the escape of yore that Dunstan seeks and successfully rediscovers. Religion, myth, and magic are intertwined in Dunstan Ramsay's life, crucial for the completion of Ramsay as a person through the wonder they inspire. (http://www.geocities.com/echomyst/literature/fifth_business.html, para 1) Personal Mythology (Saint/Madness) in Fifth Business Being a saint and being a mad person depend entirely on how people thought of one's personality. The religious practices and influences of one person according to his or her beliefs affect how people would see one's perception towards him or her. Dunstan Ramsay's taking full responsibility of Mary Dempster had taught him the saintly versions of life. She had shown him several miracles that had brought him closer to her that he regarded Mary as more than his friend, but a spiritual guide - a fool-saint who has nurtured his soul. His feelings towards him were even more than the maternal love he had felt towards his own mother. The miracles that Mary had shown her were those when she brought his brother back to life, that she appeared to him in his own war (World War I) related illness, and that she converts a dirty tramp into a minister - Surgeoner, whose life Mary changed forever and now heads the Lifeline Mission. (http://www.geocities.com/fossilfreak/books/fifth.html, para 3 & 15) However, Dunstan attitudes towards Mary were contrasted by the society such that they regard her as a "mad" woman that even her husband sees her a his "heavy cross." He had a totally different view of Mary's personality even though his innocence ked him to see her sexuality as "madness," he was still able to accept her as a "wise woman" and as a "saint." ("Dialectic") This situation in the novel only shows that a saintly representation of someone else to another person may sometimes be a madness to other people as dictated by his or her religious beliefs and the people he or she is associated with. Furthermore, these representations or views towards other people changes as one encounters other situations that might lead him to discovering new worlds of manly desires and characters. Conclusion There is therefore a thin line separating personal mythologies such as being a saint and being a mad person as perceived by other people. These perceptions are based on how one's personality is able to influence the life of another in a way that would relieve the burdens that a person carries in his life and grow maturely as a person. (http://www.geocities.com/fossilfreak/books/fifth.html, para 23) Works Cited: Dialectic, Morality and Deptford Trilogy. http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/SCL/bin/get.cgidirectory=vol12_1/&filename= LoVerso.htm. December 12, 2006. _______. http://www.geocities.com/echomyst/literature/fifth_business.html. December 12, 2006. Fifth Business Introduction The various religions present in the society encompass various beliefs as well. But this does not mean that every belief - that is every religion - is true or false. In Robertson Davies' Fifth Business, there are several instances where he had pointed out true and false religions in the society. Miracles in life do not have to be grand and exactly seen by the naked eye. Simple miracles in life such as enlightenment of someone else's life brought about by another can already be considered a miracle. On the other hand, there are religious beliefs that are totally at odd in what the group is teaching, such that its practices are more than what had and needs to be done. This sometimes results in hypocrisy that is evident in Davies' novel True and False Religion in Fifth Business True religion speaks of someone's beliefs according to what the teachings of the church dictates. It is not a mere dictation of what the society teaches the people to believe in. On the other hand, false religion entails beliefs that further leads to a deeper sorrow that is identified alone by man. The basis for the false religion's beliefs rely entirely on what man perceives as what he thinks is right, not what the church or his God thinks is right. True religion does not limit the love that one has to offer to other people, consequently false religion does. When Mary Dempster's husband loves his wife "only on principle" illustrates a false religious practice, thus a false religion. His consideration to Mary as a cross that he carries all through his life as condemns the teachings of true religion. Furthermore, the minister has become so proud of himself that he had been entrapped in his own ideals such that Dunstan was able to see this as "one of the cruelties of the theatre of life; we all think of ourselves as stars and rarely recognize it when we are indeed mere supporting characters or even supernumeraries." (http://www.geocities.com/echomyst/literature/fifth_business.html, para 6) True religion does not only rely on the education given by the group. Just as the villagers of Deptford, though all educated in matters of religion, are not truly spiritual. (http://www.geocities.com/echomyst/literature/fifth_business.html, para 7) False religion is characterized by narrow beliefs such as the characters played by the roles of Mary Dempster's minister husband Amasa, Boy Staunton, and Mrs. Ramsay (Dunstan's mother) who were all confined in their own beliefs of human nature that relies solely on materialism. They are the voices of disapproval, the representatives of narrow, repressive social and religious views. ("An Eye") Unlike his colleagues, Dunstan tries his best to explore and discover more of his religious spirituality that further leads him to satisfying and enriching his own spiritual life. (http://www.geocities.com/echomyst/literature/fifth_business.html, para 8) Conclusion True and false religions are determined by one's own spiritual gain. An organized religion such as the practice of the Presbyterians that had been observed by Dunstan and practiced by his family, does not aid one's spiritual growth but instead, it constricts one's creative soul. (http://www.geocities.com/echomyst/literature/fifth_business.html, para 2) True religion has to be something that the soul should be the ones benefiting from the practice and the experience, leaving behind materialism and earthly desires and praises. Pride, if brought by religion, is false religion. False religion are purely superficial that is fed by false beliefs dictated by either man or the society alone. Works Cited: An Eye for an Ear: Fifth Business and La Grosse Femme d'a Cote Est Enciente. http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/SCL/bin/get.cgidirectory=vol14_2/&filename=Reid.htm. December 12, 2006. _______. http://www.geocities.com/echomyst/literature/fifth_business.html. December 12, 2006. Read More