"Fith Business" by Robertson Davies.

FIFTH BUSINESS

BY: ROBERTSON DAVIES

The first important symbol I found was the snowball because it set the novel for upcoming events. The snowball is symbolic of Boy?s character. Boy threw a snowball at Dunny but missed and hit Mrs. Dempster because he was fighting over a toboggan. Boy throughout the novel has no interest in casualties that he causes. This snowball represented the forcefulness of Boy because he always treats people how he feels is right. Like the snowball that hit Mrs. Dempster that Boy took no responsibility for; Boy didn?t care that he had caused Mrs. Dempster so much pain because she was in the way of him when he was trying to make a point. This can also be seen through Boy?s interaction with other characters in the novel.

Dunny the main character in the novel kills three nazi?s in a machine gun nest. On his way back he was wounded by a piece of shrapnel that hit him in the leg.

dunny

Dunny (Wedding Couple) Casing (Final Product)

Ye Olde Dunny Box Setup

He crawled to find shelter but ended up at a statue of the ?Little Madonna?. Just before he passed out he pictured Mary Dempster?s face on the statue. Dunny later went on to believe that Mary was watching over him and that is why he was living. Davies portrays symbolism by showing Mary?s face on the statue. This symbolizes Dunny?s belief that Mary is saint.

Myth is another important symbol in Davies novel. Boy tells Dunny the myth of Gyges and King Canduales. The myth is that this king was so proud of his wife?s beauty that he insisted that his friend Gyges should see her naked. There are two versions of this story, one is that is that the Queen and Gyges fall in love and force the King off his throne. And in...