Essay on fifth business more than meets the eye

While a question of this sort seems inherently subjective, there are objective ways to approach it. Dunstan is certainly a decent guy, a likable and reliable protagonist. And yet his position as "Fifth Business" makes him largely an observer throughout the novel.

Dunstan is certainly a decent guy, a likable and reliable protagonist. And yet his position as "Fifth Business" makes him largely an observer throughout the novel. Truly, most of the interesting things happen because he has fascinating interests and friends, not because he takes decisive action.

As he ceases to remain "Fifth Business," he tears apart the tapestry - between all the men who came from Deptford - in the novel's final section. Unlike in many novels, we do not get much of a sense of how this change manifests in Dunstan, outside of the knowledge that he leaves to join Magnus's carnival in Europe.

Liesl first quote the term "Fifth Business" to Dunstan, though the reader knows the phrase from the inscription of the novel's first page. A dramatic type that was meant in certain periods of theatre to serve as the confidant character, with little direct influence on the plot, the "Fifth Business" is destined to remain in the background.