Origin of Consternation: Development and Beating within Fifth Business Fifth Business is a novel, based in archetypes, about character development, specifically developing all sides of one’s person and not leaving any side “raw”. The main character, Dunny, is subject to this experience of developing largely due to an incident where Dunny steals an egg from his mother, and she, in turn, attacks him viciously (as all friendly mothers do) and beats him. This experience is pivotal in the story because it helps open up Dunny to the notion that people have more than 1 side to them, spawns Dunny’s distrust and lack of understanding of women, and makes Dunny a more “raw” and underdeveloped character which originates Dunny’s need for development. …show more content…
This incident causes these feelings because prior to being whipped, Dunny’s mother was just that, a mother. After, however, Dunny realizes that people have hidden character traits that they choose not to reveal, or even don’t know they have. This realization leads Dunny to understand that “everybody has at least two, if not twenty-two sides to [them]” (63). This has a few positive aspects later in Dunny’s life. It allows him to not judge people until he really knows them. For example, because he is able to understand the side of Mrs. Dempster that came out in the gravel pit. He also understands that there is more than just this in her personality, which causes his views on her to be different than the town’s. Another way Dunny doesn’t judge characters is based on appearance. Similarly, Dunny doesn’t FULLY judge the person in question (grotesques like Liesl or Padre Blazon), although he does initially judge them, but holds off passing a complete judgment on them until knows them and is able to understand their whole character instead of a narrow sliver. This is why he is able to associate with so many grotesques that normal people wouldn't prefer to be …show more content…
This incident causes Dunny to have a less complete view of women and allows him to associate with grotesques due to his ability to understand that people are more than 1-sided. Dunny’s whipping especially relates to the meaning of a work as a whole, which is development and archetypes. This incident does this because it causes him to meet archetypal figures and causes development to be an important part of the plot. This beating creates a hole that Dunny quests to find, a hole that he fills with newfound