Essay about Archetypal Fifth Business

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Assignment 4: Archetypal Critical response
The second quotation is greatly significant in the novel as it references a major turning point in the events of the story and in Dunny’s life. The quotation juxtaposes both death and new life. Moreover, the vision and Mary’s face is an inspiration to Dunny. Throughout the second part of the novel, Robertson Davies illustrates Dunny’s experience of war being nothing like he expected. “ It was the boredom that comes of having to perform endless tasks that have no savour and acquire skills one would gladly be without” (Davies, 61). Dunny joined the war in order to find a deep sense of purpose, however, he finds fear and a grotesque physical world. In this quotation, he discovers renewed spiritual enlightenment. Furthermore, this quote demonstrates Mrs.Dempster’s substantial role in the novel. Throughout the novel, Mary Dempster is viewed as a biblical figure. Primarily, she brings Willie back from the dead. Further in the novel, she saves Dunny while at war. In addition, she was also referred to as the “woman who turned me to God” (Davies, 125) by the tramp who she was caught cheating on her husband with. By mentioning her in that quotation, the author stresses her significant role in both the novel and in Dunny’s life.
In this quotation Dunny is at the ordeal stage in the archetypal hero’s journey. The ordeal stage represents the point where the hero faces death and is on the brink of failure. According to Christopher Volger’s book entitled Mythic Structures for Writers, the ordeal stage is “the central, essential, and magical stage of any journey. Through “death” the Hero can be reborn, experiencing a resurrection that grants greater powers or insight to see the Journey to the end”. In this passage, Dunny is facing death and fear due to the blow of the shrapnel. In addition, he states that he wants to quit as he no longer wanted to be part of the war. However, when he sees the face of Mrs.Dempster on the statue of the virgin and child, he is inspired and ‘reborn’. This enlightenment gives him the power and insight to complete his journey.
Dunny’s story aligns perfectly with the various archetypal stages in the hero’s journey. The first stage is the ordinary world, which is represented by Dunny’s childhood and the incident of Mrs.Dempster’s premature labor. This incident provides the reader with great insight regarding the character of Dunny and the society in which he resides in. The second stage is the call to adventure, which is illustrated through the enlistment of Dunny to the war. Dunny signs up to fight overseas, even though he is underage, because he wants to break free from his mother. However, when he gets there, he realizes that the war was not what he was expecting. This results in him regretting his decision and in many instances in the novel, he desired to go back home, which represents the third stage; refusing the call. Moreover, the third stage could be demonstrated though the fact the Dunny doesn’t feel like a hero, even though he played a vital role in winning the battle of Passchendaele. As the reader advances though the novel, more stages of the hero’s journey will be illustrated through various major events. There are several key archetypal figures in the novel. Mrs.Dempster represents the mother figure, while Boy Staunton represents the persona of the rich businessman and also represents temptation. Paul Dempster is clearly the magic figure. Furthermore, Mrs.Dempster is perceived as the enemy and demon by the town people, which represents the archetypal shadow (Jungian Archetypes In Fifth Business, Bluevale).
I believe that the quest for enlightenment is present in everyone’s lives. Our goals, dreams, and whether we achieve these goals or not, are what form the people we fundamentally are. In life, we always have a goal, whether that goal might be academically related, personal, relationship wise, etcetera. In order to achieve these long and/or short term goals
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