This commentary is based on an extract from the Penguin hardback edition of the novel, Fifth Business by Robertson Davies. The passage begins on p. 114 last paragraph "I was fill with..." to p.116 "... a selfish, envious, cankered wretch, wasn't I?"

Fifth Business

Commentary

This commentary is based on an extract from the Penguin hardback edition of the novel, Fifth Business by Robertson Davies. The passage begins on p. 114 last paragraph “I was fill with…” to p.116 “… a selfish, envious, cankered wretch, wasn’t I?”

Written by Jonas Hahn

IB English A1 (hl)

Shanghai American School

“I recognized that my limp was always worse…” and “… I did not want her, but it annoyed me Boy had her” give the time after the First World War, of a man fighting his own battle. It can be observed, that at surface level, it is about the narrator returning from war with only one leg and not succeeding with the girl he desired. This causes him even more pain that his limp. Yet with closer examination is can be seen that this passage holds more to it, it is a power struggle between Boy and the narrator. Also it is about impressing each other and always wanting more than the other person, not just simply the return of a soldier who is wounded.

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The entire extract is written in first person, seemingly allowing the reader to enter the state of mind and emotions the narrator is in; yet paradoxically his personal affairs are not mentioned, instead the narrator talks about boy’s affairs, he only mentions that he is envies. This technique of omission is extremely powerful giving the reader a different impression of the narrator.

This slice of life story begins with the narrator having a sudden realization. It gives the passage a very controversial tone. The narrator omits his personal pain all through the extract except when he is “[envies]” of boy. Though out the extract the narrators personal life is never mention yet boy’s “occasional weekend visits” were discussed thoroughly. It is also never mentioned that he is lonely just that he is envies and jealous. This omission though out the passage implies to the reader that the narrator wants sympathy for his life with only one leg and that he can’t have the girl he wants. Later in the passage the mood changes, the narrator “would have given much for the strength of mind to tell him” what he really thought of Boy. There is a tension between Boy and the narrator who both fight for power and existence. Boy is rubbing the fact that he has the “possession of Leola,” and “pashes” in the city and a healthy body. The narrator is trying to justify this behavior but he doesn’t succeed. Instead he questions himself: “why did I not find some other girl?’ and ‘A selfish, envious, cankered wretch, wasn’t I” instead of questioning Boy about his affairs with all the “gay girls.” This gives the passage an extraordinary touch to it.

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“…I hobbled away grumbling to myself like Diogenes.” This allusion, used by the narrator is very powerful. It is very clearly stated that hr “didn’t want the clothes… the

girl or the booze” yet he imprisoned himself into a situation, which couldn’t be escaped. Diogenes did the exact same thing and said having too many possessions impressions you, yet this is a contradiction in this extract. The narrator has nothing yet he feels as if he were imprisoned, this is an oxymoron meaning one thing but really something else is going on.

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“…I hobbled away grumbling to myself like Diogenes.” This allusion, used by the narrator is very powerful. It is very clearly stated that hr “didn’t want the clothes… the

This passage moves from envies what Boy has and the narrator does not, towards jealousy that Boy has everything and the narrator has nothing, although he is a cruel person, thus the narrator deserves some sympathy. In the first paragraph the narrator describes the situation he undergoing, then moving on to the “free spirit girls in Toronto,” to the narrators argument amongst himself. Though out the stages of this passage the narrator is very anxious of what he doesn’t have, yet he doesn’t want what he doesn’t have he simply wants Boy not to have it. He uses such words as “deceived Leola” instead of saying he lied to her. He was also a very active listener to Boy when he talked about all his girls who “knew what they were doing” yet he was never critical to with Boy’s decisions. The narrator questioned in his mind if these “pashes count[ed]” or not. In a way he is imprisoning himself with Boy’s affairs yet Boy doesn’t seem to mind at all. The narrator has nothing and nobody in his life and the only thing he relates to are Boy’s affairs and he explains everything Boy does against Leola that Boy truly loves her and that all the other girls mean nothing. Then in the final paragraphs the narrator remembers

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his past experiences with the physical act of love and how much pleasure it provided him. Now “it annoyed [him] that Boy had her,” although he doesn’t want her but he wants to simply find someone to love his disfigured body. The narrator believed that Leola really loved him but that Boy made her believe differently. With this fact in the back of his had he was “sour about the whole business” although he didn’t even want her back. The last paragraph talks about the narrator wanting what he had last when Diana left him since he “often yearned for her.” The relationship between Leola and Boy has revoked the inner feelings in the narrators heart, causing him to want somebody to love and simply become a normal human being again; accepting who he was and what has happened to him.

In the middle of this passage the narrator describes Leola staying an “engaged girl” and about Boy’s weekly visits to do some “heavy petting” with Leola. It also talks about Boy’s experience with “gay girls” who were experts in “French kisses.” This part of the passage as explained very thoroughly. Foreshadowing, which is present in this section. The narrator talks about this so in detail because later on in the passage he mentions that Leola had “once thought she loved him,” meaning the narrator could be the lucky man not Boy. It also foreshadows that the narrator wants to “find some other girl” like Leola, so he can share with her what he had with Diana.

This extract ends with an allegory, the narrator realizes that what Boy has he doesn’t really want but he wants a girl to love and that loves him. He knew Diana would try to make him something he was not but “that did not stop [him], often and painfully,

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from wanting her.” He rejects the fact that he wants what Boy has all along yet what he really wants is a girl like Leola or Diana.

This passage can be very deceiving at first sight, it seems as if it is about the narrator having a struggle between himself and comparing himself to Boy who seems to have everything but he doesn’t want any of it. Yet underneath all this allusion it can be observed that the narrator really wants a girl and someone to love him. He also doesn’t think Boy has earned everything he has since he hasn’t been disfigured like the narrator has. I think this is a very powerful passage, of course I can’t relate to it since I don’t know how it feels to be so disfigured. Yet I do know how it feels to love someone and be with him or her all the time and then all of a sudden lose them. This was the worst feeling I have ever had, and that feeling combined with a disfigured body must be terrifying. Also seeing Boy who hasn’t been injured in the war and has a woman like the narrator wants, using her simply as an object of lust. I believe the narrator couldn’t experience more pain at moment. He has experienced pain, jealousy and envy as thoroughly as anyone will ever experience these feelings.