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Cody Ballantyne
Mrs. Code
ENG 4U
October 24, 2016
Guilty Conscience
Guilt is one of many things that can drive a man mad. It can cause a man to do many
strange and bizarre things without him even realizing it. He could push these feelings to the
deepest depths of his mind until he can no longer re-call why he felt guilty. It can also drive him
to push his guilt on to others because they made similar mistakes. This guilt can even make a
man try to see light out of a very dark situation, in order to make himself feel at peace for what
happened. In the novel Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, characters strong guilt causes their
inability to take responsibility for their actions through suppression, projection, and
rationalization. Boy Staunton, Paul Dempster, and Dunstan Ramsay use these defense
mechanisms to deal with all of their guilt throughout the novel.
Dunstan Ramsay has an absurd amount of guilt throughout the novel. Dunstan has his
own guilt and the guilt that Percy will not take on, to deal with. After Dunstans parents die
during book three, he clearly states I was ashamed because I felt the loss so little. (74) Dunstan
reveals he has so little feeling over his parents death and shows he has suppressed his feelings
for them for thirty years when he states ...in my thirties I was able to see them as real people
(74). Dunstans remorse kicked in a few years later when he sees that his parents tried as hard as
they could to give him a good life and that he shouldnt have just pushed those feelings down.

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Secondly projection is a major key to Dunstan dealing with his guilt about the snowball incident.
At the end of book six where Dunstan, Paul, and Boy are in Dunstans home for a few drinks,
Dunstan lashes out on Boy for never taking responsibility for the incident. He feels that Boy has
suppressed his guilt too much and needs to let it all out. Dunstan exclaims The stone-in-thesnowball has been characteristic of too much youve done for you to forget it forever!(254)
saying that Boy cannot just push all these feelings down and must own up to his wrong doings.
This projection occurs because Dunstan has met with Paul three times and each time he left out
that he had robbed Mary of her sanity. He did not push these feelings down but did keep them
from Paul causing his lash out on Boy. Finally Dunstan copes with his guilt by rationalizing his
problems. When Diana brings news of Dunstans parents death he instantly feels little to nothing
except for relief. As if a burden is lifted off of his shoulders Dunstan states It was years before I
thought of the death of my parents as anything other than a relief (74). Dunstan explains in
this that after the death of his parents he was relieved that they are gone and that [he] was glad
that [he] did not have to be [his] mothers dear own laddie any longer (74).
Boy Staunton had a subconscious guilt that he was unaware of. Boy had a guilt that did
not linger in his thoughts but followed him without him knowing. His guilt was always there but
was never a key thought. Boys major way of coping with his guilt was through the suppression
of the incident (specifically the snowball incident). Boy had suppressed the occurrence of the
snowball to the point where it never even happened and shows this when he states I threw the
snowball- at least you say so, and for arguments sake let that go (254). After roughly sixty
years Boy still believes that he never hit Mary with the snowball. The guilt of taking someones
sanity and putting them through excruciating pain caused Boy to subconsciously suppress the
whole incident. Secondly Boy Staunton projects his feelings of guilt on to Dunny through

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suppression. Immediately after Boy hits Mary with the snowball, Boy starts to push down what
happened and pins the outcome on Dunny. He exclaims I threw a snowball at you, and I guess it
gave you a good smack. (17) where he tries to explain that he had never hit Mary but hit Dunny
causing him to think he hit Mary. He takes the guilt of hitting Mary and projects it on to Dunny
so that he would not have to deal with it. Finally Boy rationalizes his guilt for cheating on Leola.
Boy continuously cheats on Leola with the girls he parties with and calls them pashes saying
that they do not count because he loves Leola. Boy explains they knew what they were doing,
(107) and Though he might fall for one of them for a few weeks he was not in love with
her, as he was with Leola. (107).This shows he believes that cheating was not a bad thing
because his love for Leola is so strong.
Paul guilt was more pushed on to him from his father who told him that it was his fault
for his mothers insanity. In this Paul has no feeling his past or feeling for his mother which he
explains when he says She is part of a past that cannot be recovered (139). He shows he has
lost all feeling for his mother and doesnt think about it and Dunstan sees this when he says I
am sorry you have so little feelings for her. (139). Secondly Paul deals with his pressured guilt
by projecting it on to Boy. Boy was the boy who stole his mother and childhood from him and
when he blows the snowball incident off Paul takes it out on him through murdering him. Paul
takes Boys offer of a ride home and uses this as his chance to kill boy which is proven with the
finding of the stone in Boys mouth. Dunstan explains that he knows Paul killed Boy when he
says after the news of Boys death reached me next morning that I noticed my paper weight was
gone. This outrage from Paul wouldnt have happened if he had not found out of the snowball
incident. Paul finally copes with his guilt by rationalizing his problems. He explains to Dunstan
it was my birth that robbed her of her sanity. So as a child I had to carry the weight of my

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mothers madness as something that was my own doing. So far as I am concerned, it is over, and
if she dies mad, who will not say that she is better dead? (140). Paul explains that he was made
to feel like it was his fault for his mothers insanity and this if she did die then she would be
better off. That if she had died today he would feel relieved that this burden was taken of his
shoulders.
The guilt a man bears can be an awful thing. This guilt can drive them to push down and
project their feelings on to others. They will also try and see a better light of their situation and
see their glass half full. Dunstan, Paul, and Boy all use these mechanisms to cope with their guilt.
And so in the novel Fifth Business, characters strong guilt causes their inability to take
responsibility for their actions through suppression, projection, and rationalization.

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Davies, Robertson. Fifth Business. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1970. Print.