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Reactions to Guilt

 

            Reactions to Guilt in Fifth Business.
             There are many people in today=s society who have felt guilty about something that they have said or done. There are many different ways to handle guilt. Anybody who has ever experienced the awful feeling of guilt can relate to at least one of the methods described by Robertson Davies in Fifth Business. Each individual=s guilt stemmed from one snowball which led to a premature birth and loss of sanity. Dunstan Ramsay allowed his guilt to take over his life. Percy Boyd Staunton tried to avoid his feelings throughout his life but learned that it was not possible. Paul Dempster spent his entire life trying to run from his feelings. Each character handled their guilt differently, however, in the end it was clear that the snowball incident had a similarly destructive influence on each one=s life. .
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             Dunstan Ramsay lived his whole life based on the snowball incident from his past. He allowed it to rule his entire life. Dunstan believed he was guilty because the snowball was meant to hit him and if he had not ducked to avoid it, it would never had hit Mrs. Dempster. Even as a child he knew how serious the situation was. When Percy denied that he had any part in the accident, Dunny expressed that, AI was alone with my guilt, and it tortured me@ (Davies 16). One of Dunstan=s greatest fears was damnation. His family had a book which had vivid pictures of what would happen to sinners. After Percy denied everything, Dunstan spoke of the pictures as he realized his fate, ANow I know that they showed the reality of my situation, and what lay beyond this life for such a boy as I. I was of the damned@ (Davies 16). Dunstan was raised to take responsibility for his actions but was too afraid of the consequences, so he allowed his guilt to take over his life.
             Dunstan=s life was spent taking care of Mrs. Dempster. His guilt drove him to take the name-calling from classmates, work double chores at the Dempster=s house, baby-sit Paul, and to constantly defend Mrs.


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