Fifth Business Identity Quotes

Throughout the novel Fifth Business, one can clearly see the main character, Dunstan constantly searching for himself in various forms of self identity. Whether it be consuming himself in the world of saints, feeling tremendous guilt for a childhood accident, or falling in and out of love with various woman, Dunstan is constantly searching for a way to create identity for himself. In the novel, the character that truly helps Dunstan find himself is Liesl. By bringing out Dunstan’s suppressed emotions and feelings towards his life, Liesl dramatically changes the way Dunstan views his spirituality, psychology development and truly just himself. Readers are first introduced to Liesel in the 5th chapter, which is ironic in the sense that Lies …show more content…
She does this by showing Dunstan empathy and understanding. She clearly says “I’d like to save you from the revenge of your own life” (235). By doing so, Dunstan can move on from his past but still understand that his past is still who he is. No matter how far he runs, his mystical ties with characters like Boy Staunton, Paul Dempster and now Liesl will always stay in tact. After his visit with Liesle, he begins to live his life filled with more happiness, and ultimately steps out of his role of Fifth Business when he confronts Boy and Paul about their childhood mistake. WIthout Liesel, Dunstan would never have lived his av=actual life, he would have simply lived in the shadows of others. She says to Dunstan in their meeting: “It is not spectacular but it is a good line of work…Are you Fifth Business? You had better find out.” (241). This ultimately makes Dunstan truly think about his life and the way he has lived. It makes him question the things he has done, was he ever the main character of the stories and events? Did he ever step out of the shadows and make a name for himself? Ultimately,