Guilty conscience
In psychology, we learn that there are a few stages in childhood that help us develop unique personalities, fears and preferences. Parents play the role model and mark the child’s education and values taught in life. In Robertson Davies’s Fifth Business, the author tries to show that moral values taught in childhood will greatly impact how a person will deal with guilt in the future. The author shows different approach towards guilt with Boy’s guiltless way of living, Dunny’s guilt–driven life and Paul’s total indifference towards guilt.
First of all, Robertson Davies describes Boy as a typical rich boy who isn’t taught proper morals by his busy parents and doesn’t take any responsibility for his actions, leading him to deny any accusations in his own conscience. In the beginning of the story, there’s a perfect example of his guiltless response towards his own wrongdoing. After Boy throws a life-changing snowball at Mrs. Dempster, he feels no culpability for it: ‘‘‘I threw a snowball at you’’’ he replied to Dunny, ‘‘‘and I guess it gave you a good smack’’’ (17). By these words, we can see that Boy’s instinctive response when faced with guilt is to blame his faults on others. In the same manner, Leola was also victim of Boy’s bad conscience over responsibility. As his wife, Leola had to become the perfect wife and Dunny says that: ‘‘‘She had toiled at the lessons in bridge, mah-jongg, golf, and tennis… but…a sense of failure had begun to possess her’’’ (144). Later in the book, Leola is sick from pneumonia and is tired of trying to perfect herself for boy. Dunny finds it suspicious that she opened her window, took a chill and died a week later (184). Ironically, with all the effort Leola put on to please Boy, he, on the other hand shows no grief when she dies. In fact: ‘‘‘ Boy was in England, arranging something…connected with his Ministry. He asked me, ’’’ referring to Dunny. ‘‘‘by cable, to do what had to be one’’’(184). From these lines, we can see that Boy asked Dunny to arrange the funerals of his own wife as he decides to stay in England for some unfinished business. We can therefore conclude with these examples that Boy’s ethical values permit him to repress any acknowledgement of guilt throughout his life.
Continuing with Dunny, Robertson Davies makes up this completely opposite character who has been well educated by a strict Presbyterian family who taught him to fear all sins and shaped Dunny in keeping all his sins for himself. This will lead him to be fearful and guilty of his sins throughout his life. In the beginning of the story, Dunny blames himself for ducking Boy’s snowball that puts Mrs. Dempster in tears. That night, he’s haunted by his guilt and takes responsibility for Paul’s early birth: ‘‘‘So here I was…, tormented by the suspicion that my parents were involved in this hog-wallow of sex that had begun to bulk so large in my thoughts, but I was directly responsible for a grossly sexual act- the birth of a child’’’ (18). By these thoughts we can see that Dunny’s guilt has grown seriously bigger than the norm. His guilt will not only guide him to feel ashamed and disgusted of his young self but also do inappropriate actions. In fact, Dunny has a hard time dealing with Diana as he finds out that he shouldn’t have dated her. He feels horribly guilty for playing with Diana’s feelings but is scared to tell her the hurtful truth.: ‘‘‘We talked till three o’clock, complicating our situation …, and trying not to hurt each other’s feelings, despite the fact that Diana wanted to get engaged to me and I was
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Banquo when it was just a stool. She makes him feel foolish in front of the guests. • Guilty conscience Another example of supernatural imagery is a guilty conscience because Macbeth killed his best friend all because he let his need for power take control of him. Macbeth’s guilt almost causes him to admit in front of the quests and Lady Macbeth that he was the murderer of Banquo. If it wasn’t for his guilty conscience, he would’ve never seen the ghost of Banquo. Macbeth knew he took it too far when…
Ryan Goforth Professor Mattoon English 1A 23 January, 2013 Homework 7: Poe Debate Squads Both stories by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado” & “The Tell-Tale Heart” have a narrator who is set on indistinct motives as to why they are going to harm another human being. In "The Cask of Amontillado," it is the "thousands of injuries" and "insult" that Fortunato had given Montresor over the years. In "The Tell-Tale Heart," it is the old man's staring and vacant eye. Poe leads us on to…
the dagger represented Macbeth’s acknowledgment of the atrocity he was about to commit, as well as his conscience. When Macbeth sees the dagger, he mentions that the longer he stood there fixated on the dagger, the more apprehensive he grew about murdering King Duncan. Even more so, Macbeth admits that he will never sleep again after he’d murdered King Duncan, a sure sign of a guilty conscience rather than an apathetic monster. Macbeth conceding to this idea addresses the idea that he will never…
heroic lord he later has a mental breakdown and encounters many sleepless nights. Macbeth allows the thoughts of being king and so much more, to corrupt his mind and drive him to multiple murders. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s guilty conscience causes him to have visions and hallucinations and he forgets his role as King. The first vision Macbeth has occurs before he is about to proceed in the killing of King Duncan. Macbeth encounters a floating bloody dagger right before him leading…
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Macbeth Conscience is the feeling that doing certain actions is wrong. It is something we have with us from birth, something that is also taught, developed and shaped through parents, especially during childhood. As children, we are taught what is right and what is wrong, by being given reasons and examples through very simple things. For instance, when a child takes another child’s chocolate, parents will teach their child that one must not take others possessions just because one wants to. But…
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you believe in conscience? How powerful is it? In act 2, “Sleep no more” (2.2.47) means that Macbeth can’t sleep because he feels guilty. I believe that conscience is really powerful because after Macbeth murders Duncan; he says that he can’t do this anymore and the blood on his hands cannot wash away; the stain will stay on his hands forever. Therefore, I believe that conscience is powerful because even a bad person has conscience, it only depends on how much you have. Conscience can lead you go…