Fifth Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fifth Business - Essay Example 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) 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