“My lifelong involvement with Mrs Dempster began at 5:58 o’clock p.m. on 27 December 1908, at which time I was ten years and seven months old.
“I am able to date the occasion with complete certainty because that afternoon I had been sledding with my lifelong friend and enemy Percy Boyd Staunton, and we had quarrelled, beause his fine new Christmas sled would not go as fast as my old one.” Robertson Davies, Fifth Business
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Fifth Buisness is the first novel in the Deptford trilogy by Robertson Davies: Fifth Business, The Manticore, World of Wonders. It is the story of Dunstan Ramsay, and it is the most read work by Davies.
The opening scene that follows the above quote is of a snowball being thrown at Mrs. Dempster, a pregnant Mrs. Dempster, who goes into premature labour. The story, as I recall, is Dunstan’s confession. The snowball was apparently aimed at him, he ducked, it hit her. Dunny has a lot of guilt for a Protestant boy.
The beauty of Fifth Business is in the melodrama. Davies creates a world of myth, Jungian archetypes, miracles, circus acts, and lies. It is truly a world of wonders. And what is wonderful is the way that Dunny lulls the careless reader into taking his confession and absolving him of his guilt. He cleverly establishes his credibility, states his confession then appeals to the audience. But it is a bit of a smoke and mirrors show.
The thing to remember with any great magic act is that what you don’t see (or read) is as important as what you do.
Who really did throw that snowball? And who put the rock into it?