Guilt is defined as a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime or wrong Guilt is a major theme in the novel Fifth Business. Dunny has been raised in a strictPresbyterian household which has encouraged him to feel guilt about many minor things. Eventhough Paul was not born at the time of the snowball incident, Paul Dempster still feels guiltytowards his mothers simple mindedness. Percy Boyd Stautons repressed guilt does considerabledamage and ultimately recoils on himself. In Fifth Business many characters feel guilt due to thesnowball incident.Dunny Ramsay feels extremely guilty because he had anticipated that Percy, with whom hehad been arguing, would throw one final snowball at him before he eats dinner. He felt Mrs.Ramsay’s pain when she was crying. “I had never heard an adult cry in pain before and the soundwas terrible for me.”(Page 3) Dunny is still very young, and most likely, he has the perceptionthat the adults should be the strong ones. To hear Mrs. Dempster cry must have been veryemotionally difficult for him. The guilt Dunny experienced, will forever remain with him and hisfriend Paul Dempster for the rest of the novel.When Paul Dempster is old enough to understand, he blames himself for causing hismother simple mindedness because it was his birth that caused it. The townspeople worsened hisguilt by keeping a distance from him. “The dislike so many people felt for his mother - dislike forthe queer and persistently unfortunate they attached to the unoffending son.”(Page 34) PaulDempster is looked at down upon because of his mother’s actions that affect him. Once Paulunderstands his situation, his guilt then lives with him forever, unlike Percy whose guilt isundetected.Percy Boyd Stauton apparently feels no guilt at all throughout the novel. When Ramsaytries to confront him with the responsibility, Percy takes no responsibility when he states, “I th...
