Fifth Business by Robertson Davies

Setting: 1969 Canada. While the setting changes throughout the novel, Deptford is Dunstan's home.

Key Characters: Dunstan Ramsey, Boy(Percy) Staunton, Mary Dempster, Paul Demptser(Magnus Eisengrim), Liesl

Plot: The whole novel is a letter to the Colbourne College Headmaster as an angry response to his incorrect send off. The opening scene describes Percy hitting Mary Demptster with a snowball with a rock causing her to go into premature labor. This begins his overwhelming guilt. Soon he finds himself in love with Mary Dempster and befriends her son Paul, teaching him magic. Mary has sex with a tramp causing an uproar in the community. Mary brings back Dunstan's older brother. Dunstan believes Mary is a saint and thus begins his love with Hagiology. Dunstan goes to war and sees an illuminated statue of Virgin Mary and Child and takes it as a sign of Mary Dempster. Dunstan continues to live a life for others, meeting a jesuit Padre Blazon. In a sort of extreme series of events, Leola attempts to kill herself. Again Dunstan is a just a supporting character. Dunstan again meets with Paul(now Magnus Eisengrim) and joins the Magic Show. Liesl(seen as the "devil") tells Dunstan that his life is Fifth business and he is just there to be a character in other stories. Dunstan then makes love to Liesl. The book ends with Boy being killed by the rock that caused Mary Dempster to go into premature labor.It is important to remember that the piece is letter persuading the Headmaster that his life is meaningful. He constantly emphasizes the physical appearances of females and even states misogynistic opinions, except for Mary Dempster. Dunstan is considered a non-believer but his Presbyterian roots cause him to carry a tremendous amount of guilt which later defines who he is and can possibly explain his love for Saints(humans who make a difference not divine spirits). To me, Dunstan is a fool-saint because as he acts purely, he does bring unluckiness and tragedy to wherever he goes.

Theme: Mankind writes its own story. Dunstan accepted the role of fifth business and made it his story, figuratively and literally.

Author: Robertson Davies does a great job with this book. His use of Carl Jung archetypes adds an interesting aspect to the novel. Certain archetypes and tarot cards like the Magician and the Devil are seen through out the novel as portrayed in the characters of Magnus Eisengrim and Leisl. Mary Dempster parallels Virgin Mary and is considered a fool-saint. Dunstan is almost the namesake of the novel because he is "Fifth Business". There is a sort of irony in writing a story about having no story. Robertson uses the stone as a symbol of the circle of life, uncertainty and karma. Essential the stone embraces its very shape, a circle. It starts the novel and ends it as well starting Paul's life and ending Boy's.

Quotes

“by himself, by the woman he knew, by the woman he did not know, by the man who granted his wish, and by the inevitable fifth, who was the keeper of his conscience and the keeper of the stone.”

By far the most important quote in the novel. Who killed Boy? Well it has no concrete answer. Only that the members of his story would some way be a part of it. But, isn't that the case with anyone. You could argue that any member of ur life in some way shape or form can lead to your death. I think that's almost the point. In the end, it's just him having to deal with his conscious and karma for the way he treated the ones in his story.

"Percy had been throwing snowballs at me, from time to time, and I had ducked them all; I had a boy's sense of when a snowball was coming, and I knew Percy. I was sure that he would try to land one last, insulting snowball between my shoulders before I ducked into our house."

Thus is the center of all the guilt in Ramsey's life. He thinks of this moment as being responsible for his fifth business role. While he was just doing what he always did, avoid the snowball, the guilt is almost unbearable for him. This moment marks the goal of his life: repay his guilt.

Hamlet by Shakespeare

Setting: Denmark back in the day

Main Characters: Hamlet, Claudius, Ophelia, Gertrude, King Hamlet, Laertes, Young Fortinbras

Plot: The plot centers around the play's namesake: Hamlet. Hamlet sees a ghost of his dead father King Hamlet. Instantly he feels the filial obligation to avenge his dead father, who was killed by his brother and now King, Claudius. Hamlet acts crazy causing Claudius to search for the root cause of such insanity. Hamlet's love Ophelia decides to obey her father and betray Hamlet. Hamlet is enraged by such a betrayal and yells for Ophelia "to go thee to a nunnery". Throughout this scene, Hamlet's words play on two levels. In one sense his words imply those of a lover asking if she is serious. On another level, Hamlet is talking to Ophelia as if she were a prostitute. These two levels emphasize the Madonna-Whore complex in literature. Soon Hamlet's insanity is wide spread but is he actually insane? His words work on many levels implying thought, not gibberish. Hamlet acts as a christ-like figure and asks Gertrude to cast away her sin and incestuous sheets. After Hamlet kills Polonius, Ophelia kills herself and Laertes leads an uprising. Meanwhile Hamlet questions himself and his god and looks for verification by sending players to reenact a play of his father's murder. The final scene, like all shakespeare tragedies, end with every main character dying. However, to me it was a unique tragedy because Fortinbras survived and won! This wasn't a massacre it was a purge of sinners.

Theme: Filial obligation means not taking revenge and acting in your own self-interest, but rather improving the lives of your loved ones. Faith in one's religious and filial duty trumps all other aspirations.

Author: Shakespeare puts so much in this text. By far, his use of language is unparalleled. One of the key tools Shakepeare uses, is the use of foils. Foils in Hamlet as a means to provide meaning to the piece. Having Fortinbras come out as the victor shows that he was the only one not being selfish and the only one to truly follow his parent's wishes. But what of King Hamlet? One of the most interesting details in Hamlet is that King Hamlet is in purgatory for his sins. This is a huge deal to Hamlet, but acting as the hand of god led him to his own downfall.

"Go thee to a nunnery"-Hamlet
One of the most passionate scenes in Hamlet contains this phrase. These words work on multiple levels. On one level Hamlet is angry at Ophelia and asking her to join a Nunnery. On another level he is aking her to go to a prostitution house.

"To be or not to be"-Hamlet
Shakespeare's use of Sililoques are unmatched. In this sililoquy, shakespeare questions his faith with god. He loses his innocence. From now on, Shakespeare is a sinner. Controlled by the desire to avenge his father and save his mother, he acts along his own accord(not that of God)

Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen

Setting: England early 1800's in a rural town

Key Characters: Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley, Mrs. Bennet, Jane Bennet, Mr. Wickham

Plot Summary: A story of love, lust and feminist critique? Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice transforms past a simply love story and becomes an icon for feminist critiquing for the rest of the 1800s. The story begins centering on the Bennet family. They are a lower middle-class family with five daughters who seek social mobility through marriage. The main protagonist is Elizabeth Bennet, a proud and independent female. Throughout the novel she is the icon of feminism. She is smart, independent and unapologetic. Elizabeth Bennet meets Mr. Darcy at a dance and instantly dislikes his snobbish attitude. Her pride and class prejudice causes them to part separate ways. In a sub-plot, Jane Bennet, a traditional and beautiful foil to Elizabeth, falls for Mr. Bingley, a wealthy businessman. During many social encounters the most influential character is Mrs. Bennet. Mrs. Bennet tries to manipulate the social setting to create a favorable marriage. However, her actions do quite the opposite. By far the most influential scene is the cobra dance. Through a lot of useless plot developments the end result is by far Jane Austen’s greatest statement. The marriages describe Jane Austen’s views. The strong independent woman ends up the richest and happiest. Followed by the traditional woman Jane. Thus promoting individuality and intelligence, but not over love and marriage.

Theme: The promotion of female individuality and intelligence, but not over romance and marriage.

Jane Austen is an interesting writer. She in many ways was like an 1800's Stephenie Meyer. She wrote a relatively simply book with no real meat, but the story itself is the message. It's very plot driven. The actions and results of the story are what really shape the message, as opposed to intricate symbolism. Jane Austen's ability to us flowing  sentences and exciting plot has led to her fame in the writing community.


"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
This instatntly materializes marriage. Women are a possession that are to be good at music, sewing, cooking and good grace. This sets the tone of independence and idolizing of Elizabeth.


"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment."-Darcy
Darcy shows his misogynic tone and his opinion of the fragility of women and their desire to fall in love. However, this differs greatly form Elizabeth. This difference leads to their love.

Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Setting: Laguna reservation

Significant Characters: Tayo, Betonie, Auntie, Tseh, Josiah, Rocky, Emo

Plot: The archetypal story of cycles and journeys. Tayo struggles to find his true identity as he is troubled by war and his brothers death. Tayo switches from his white to his native Laguna side throughout the story.  Tayo feels guilty for condemning the rain in the war and realizes the gravity nature plays. Nothing is purely good or bad. Everything has a purpose even rain. Tayo falls into habits of alcholism which is expected from the white washed natives. However as advice from the Indian medicine man Kuo'oush fails, Tayo looks toward Betonie. Betonie is like Tayo because he is half white and understands that ceremonies must adapt to the times. Betonie's Ceremony leads Tayo all through out the Laguna making reference to the cardinal directions and color scheme. Tayo meets Tseh and lives there for a summer. She then warns Tayo and send him on his way. Tayo completes the ceremony and the drought ends. Tayo finds out that Tseh is actually A'moo'ooh, the she-elk spirit. The ceremony and rain is Tayo's rebirth and fulfillment as a hero.

Theme: There is no pure evil or good only a combination of the two and just as sacred as traditions are, they must adapt to the times. Mistakes are much harder to fix than they are to create which is why we must never forget our traditions and values.

Author: Silko is a fairly progressive writer in the native community because she discloses ancient Laguna history and culture. She does this through short vignettes of cultural texts which play a deep role in the story. The poems interrelate to the story to create this full cycle of work. The story works on many levels and is to not be taken as an independent work. It is very much part of a larger scheme in describing native culture and the transforming beliefs. Betonie condemns natives more than whites because she is criticizing the assimilating population. This a key theme in the play and Silko does a fascinating job of playing on the hybrid race and role of Betonie and Tayo. By creating a hybrid character, it eliminates the racial part and creates a bigger emphasis on culture.

Key Quotes:
"They never thought to blame the white people for any of it; they wanted white people for their friends"-Tayo

A key moment when Tayo understand the witchery of the white man. Tayo sees the truth and where his culture and background lies. The white men took everything from them and yet they craved to see their acceptance? They war helped no one. It just spread the white man's hate. Tayo realizes this and understands that drinking at the bar is the last thing he should do.

"They saw his outline but they did not realize it was hollow inside.” -Tayo

Again this is an epiphany moment for Tayo. He sees the hallowness and the emptiness that has consumed him. He is not whole and will never be whole until he completes the ceremony and becomes whole again. He has to discover himself and his identity before the outline fills in.

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Setting: 1950's during the post World War 2 industrial boom. Middle-class house and family.

Significant Characters: Willy, Biff, Ben, Happy, Linda, Charley, and Bernard

Plot: The plot focuses on the endeavors of the Loman family. Willy is Biff and Happy's father. He works as saleman selling his body and soul chasing the ideals of his brother Ben, hoping to sell the dream to his children. Biff is confused about his future goals. On one hand he can follow his father and sell his heart and seek the american consumerist dream, or he can go out west and become a farmer and reject the dream for substance. Biff battles with himself while Willy is simply lost in his dream. He is a slave to consumerism. Driven insane, he can't understand Biff. Lost in the past "glory" days, Arthur Miller uses flashback vignettes to paint progress the plot. By far, the most important memory is Willy's infidelity. This changing moment is when Biff loses his innocence and grows up. This is also the point when Willy is driven insane with guilty. With nothing left but an insurance policy and an unpaid mortgage, Willy gives his life for his dream. He and Linda are "finally free" from the burdens of consumerism. Biff rejects the consumerist age and decides to go west. Happy, however, stays back to continue Willy's legacy. Charley acts as a foil to Willy. Charles decides to study hard and build meaningful friendships, improving himself from the inside, rather than the exterior as Biff does.

Theme: The American dream of consumerism is a fake ideal without substance and true meaning. The dream lacks meaningful relationships and more over provides false hope. Willy lives in the past and the future and never seizes the present(Carpe Diem).

Author: Arthur Miller's heavy usage of flashbacks and dream-like vignettes disturbs the line between dream and reality. This technique adds to the false facade of the american dream. Willy is chasing dust and a memory. There is nothing to it and in the end he dies for it(cashing in on his life insurance thus paying his bills). Willy is constantly battling with a memory of his rich older brother ben. Arthur uses this to show the internal conflict within Willy. The prodigal sun, Biff and his foil brother Happy are used to show the competing schools of thought. Old vs. New. Materialism vs. Substance.

Key Quotes: "We’re free. . . ."-Linda
Free from the material grasp. Free of mortgage payments and debt. Many things conplete Linda's statement but what is most significant is deep slave imagery. Willy was a slave to the dream. He worked day and night with the only escape being his life insurance. This is a very radical belief: economic slavery.

"Walked into a jungle and comes out, the age of twenty-one, and he's rich!"-Willy

This is the dream. To walk into the capitalist jungle and walk out rich. However this dream is very similar to the 1890's dream as well. In fact, the dream is the same except the jungle changed and rich has taken on a different meaning. Jungle can mean a physical jungle as well. In fact the founding frontier philosophy that founded America was exactly this. But monetary wealth was not the primary focus in the old dream. The dream was to live a rich life. A life of adventure and outdoorsman, not fat cat capitalism.

The American Dream by Edward Albee

Setting: Middle-class household

Significant Characters: Grandma, Mommy, Young Man, Daddy, Mrs. Barker

Plot: Absurdist play emphasizing the rejection the American Dream as an empty and fake ideal. It starts with Mommy and Daddy waiting for Mrs. Barker while Grandma bring beautifully wrapped boxes inside. Mrs. Barker arrives and no ones knows why except for Grandma. There is sexual tension and disputes between what color Mommy's hat is. This again promotes the absurdist nature of the play while also emphasizing the meaningless of the American Dream. A young man arrives which Grandma calls the American Dream. The young man is empty inside and only has a hot body. He feels the pain of his twin's death(mommy and daddy's bumble of joy).

More Analysis: The Grandma is the old dream and acts outside of the play as the mediator to the audience. She knows all that is going on and acts more so as an outsider. Mommy and Daddy are the american people. I think Edward Albee works to show the controlling force of women in the relationship and often highlights the negative aspect of men letting their women control and immaculate them. Mrs. Barker is the power authority(government figure) who asserts her power but blindly. She has no idea why she is even in the house or her purpose, emphasizing the clueless nature of government.

Theme: "Emptiness" of the American dream. Just as the typical middle class house is empty and the Young man has no inner emotion, so is the American Dream. It lacks love, feelings and meaningful substance.

Author: Edward Albee uses an Absurdist style to help create an interesting criticism. While some authors use parodies or conceit Albee uses Absurdism. He has the most Absurd and meaningless dialogue regarding hat color to show exactly that, the American dream is meaningless. In fact the whole play is so absurd that you can argue that it is meaningless, thus correctly symbolizing the American Dream.

Key Quotes: "I no longer have the capacity to feel anything. I have no emotions." - Young Man
Shows the emptiness of the American dream. There is no emotion and no love. There is only a false exterior.

"WHAT a masculine Daddy! Isn't he a masculine Daddy?"-Mommy

This is used to patronize Daddy and show the power relations. Mommy has all the power especially after the vasectomy. American Dream in many senses is a criticism on powerful females like Mommy and Mrs. Barker who try to control things.