Apperance vs. Reality in Fifth Business
... they attached to the unoffending son" (Davies 40) explains how the town treated Paul because of his mother's actions. Paul leaves Deptford because he thinks his "birth was what robbed her of her sanity" (Davies' 260). Boy ignores his Deptford past, while Paul tries to create a new past. Paul asks Dunny to write an autobiography that "in general terms that he was to be a child of the Baltic vastness, reared perhaps by gnome like Lapps after the death of his explorer parents, who were probably Russians of high birth." (Davies' 231). The this autobiography seems Canadian at times, but Paul does not want his book to represent his past life in Deptford. Paul Dempster is a awkward child because of his mother's actions in Deptford, which cause Paul to leave Deptford and to create a new identity for himself. Dunstable (Dunny) Ramsey is haunted by the guilt of Mary Dempster throughout his life and he creates a new identity for himself. After the rock inside the snowball has hit Mary Dempster in the head (in a snowball thrown by Boy Staunton meant for Dunny), and her preacher husband is crying over her, young Ramsay's only thought is that he is responsible. The actions of Mary Dempster surprise Dunny because Mary committed a serious crime in Deptford. After Dunny loses his leg in WW1 he falls in love with his nurse named Diana who names him after Saint Dunstan, who is "Mad about learning, terribly stiff and stern and scowly, and an absolute wizard at withstanding temptation." (Davies' 93). Dunny never forgets his Deptford past and in fact he becomes obsessed with it, particularly with Mary Dempster, mainly through guilt about his role in Mary getting hit by Boy's snowball. Percy Boyd Staunton (Boy) is at the center of the snowball incident which is the main action of the novel which force's Percy to allow the incident to suppress his memory and leave Deptford to create a new identity for himself. He moves to Toronto and inherits the family sugar business and drops a letter from his middle name, becoming "Boy" Staunton, and begins to build a small empire for himself. As Ramsay explains, ...