Fifth Business Essays - Fifth Business, Leola, Dunstan, Free Essays

Fifth Business Essays - Fifth Business, Leola, Dunstan, Free Essays Fifth Business Robertson Davies novel, Fifth Business, revolves around guilt, competition, and two men who are foils of each other. Although Dunstan Ramsay and Percy Boyd Staunton are parallels to each other, they contrast in a great number of ways. Their awkward relationship plays a significant role in the number of elements which make Fifth Business such an interesting story. While Dunstan Ramsay had never been too interested in competing with Percy Boyd Staunton, Percy from a young age saw Dunny as a rival. When Percys brand new expensive sled isnt as fast as Dunnys, Percy gets angry and throws a snowball at Dunny, which in turn begins the setting for the novel. The two continue to compete throughout the novel, for things such as Leolas love, military recognition, and more. Percys and Dunstans characters contrast in many ways. The most prominent way in which they contrast is their values. Dunstan values spiritual things, while Percy values only material things. Percy is impressed by and yearns for money, while Dunstan could care less about it. Dunstan explains his lack of desire for materialistic things: Where Boy lived high, I lived - well, not low, but in the way congenial to myself. I thought twenty-four dollars was plenty for a ready-made suit, and four dollars a criminal price for a pair of shoes. I changed my shirt twice a week and my underwear once. I had not yet developed any expensive tastes and saw nothing wrong with a good boarding-house. (Page 113) This shows us that where as Percy was in pursuit of money and possessions, Dunstan was concerned elsewhere. Dunstan bluntly states that Percy was materialistic: To him the reality was of life lay in external things, whereas for me the only reality was of the spirit - of mind. (Page 114) Dunstan is in a search for inner truth and spirituality, and Percy is searching for outer beauty and appearances. Another way in which the two contrast is that while Dunstan leaves a lot of events in his life up to chance, Percy wants everyone, and everything in control- in his control. When Percy wants Dunstan to develop some nude pictures of Leola, Dunstan makes the comparison of himself and Percy to the myth of King Candaules and Gyges. There were two possible endings to the myth - one being that Percy would lose Leola to Dunstan. This is shown when Leola later tries to seduce Dunstan at a Christmas party. Although Dunstan and Percy are very much opposites throughout the novel, there is one area in which they are both the same- neither one of them is able to form warm, lasting human relationships. At the beginning of their marriage, Percy is unable to be faithful to Leola, but claims that since he still loves her, the encounters with the other ladies didnt really count. Percy is still unable to be faithful to Leola later on in their marriage, due to his failing efforts to bring up to his standards. When Leola later dies, Percy does not even come home for her funeral. Dunstan is not able to form lasting relationships either. When he refuses to marry Diana, it is because he doesnt want anyone telling him what to do, like his mother did, ever - he wants to be his own person: I know how clear it is that what was wrong between Diana and me was that she was too much a mother to me, and as I had had one mother, and lost her, I was not in a hurry to acquire another - not even a young and beautiful one with whom I could play Oedipus to both our hearts content. If I could manage it, I had not intention of being anybodys own dear laddie, ever again. (Page 88) There are many ways in which Dunstan and Ramsay are parallel, yet contrast each other. The way in which Davies makes the characters foil each other adds excitement and stability to the novel. Dunstan and Percy are perfect best friends, and perfect enemies. Bibliography jamie

How to Conjugate Se Taire (to Be Quiet) in French

How to Conjugate Se Taire (to Be Quiet) in French Se taire is the French verb that means to be quiet. This is a pronominal verb and an irregular one, so there are a couple of special things you need to know about its conjugations. This lesson will explain what those are and help you learn and memorize the simplest forms of  se taire. Se Taire  Is a Pronominal Verb You may already have noticed that  se taire  is a two-word verb. It is what we call a  pronominal verb, meaning that the action can only be performed by the subject itself. The  se  of  se taire  is a reflexive pronoun and it changes according to the subject pronoun. In English, we would use the words myself, yourself, himself, etc. to indicate this.  For example, you can make yourself be quiet or they can make themselves be quiet. The Basic Conjugations of  Se Taire The fact that  se taire  is a pronominal verb does complicate its conjugations, though that part isnt too difficult. All you have to remember is that the reflexive verb is required and that it must change with the subject pronoun. This means you will use  je me  or  nous nous rather than  je  or  nous  alone as you would in most French verb conjugations. To make things just a little more complicated,  se taire  is also an  irregular verb. It does not follow any of the common patterns were used to. This means you have some extra work to do when memorizing it, but it will come with practice. With all that said, lets begin by studying the indicative verb mood because this is the one youll use most often for se taire. Here you will find the common present, future, and imperfect past tenses to use in everyday conversation. Using the chart, find the subject and reflexive pronouns appropriate to your sentence, then match it up with the proper tense to find the correct conjugation. For example, I am being quiet is  je me tais  and we were quiet is  nous nous taisions. Present Future Imperfect je me tais tairai taisais tu te tais tairas taisais il se tait taira taisait nous nous taisons tairons taisions vous vous taisez tairez taisiez ils se taisent tairont taisaient The Present Participle of  Se Taire The  present participle  of  se taire  is  se taisant. While its most useful as a verb, you may also use it as an adjective or noun in certain circumstances. Se Taire  in the Compound Past Tense Another way to express the past tense is the compound known as the  passà © composà ©Ã‚  in French. This requires the  auxiliary verb  Ãƒ ªtre  and the  past participle  tu. Once again, you will also need both the subject and reflexive pronouns. The key to the passà © composà © is to conjugate  Ãƒ ªtre  to the present tense and follow it with the past participle. Since  se taire  can be a bit confusing, well look at all of the possibilities: je me suis tu  - I was quiettu tes tu  - you were quietil sest tu  - he was quietnous nous sommes tus  - we were quietvous vous  Ãƒ ªtes tus  - you all were quietils se sont tus - they were quiet More Simple Conjugations of  Se Taire Among the other simple conjugations youll want to study for se taire are those that question the act of being quiet. If that may or may not happen, use the subjunctive. If that is dependent on something, use the conditional. You should only encounter the passà © simple  and  the imperfect subjunctive  when reading or writing as these are literary tenses for the French language. Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je me taise tairais tus tusse tu te taises tairais tus tusses il se taise tairait tut tt nous nous taisions tairions tmes tussions vous vous taisiez tairiez ttes tussiez ils se taisent tairaient turent tussent The reflexive pronoun is still required when using  se taire  in  the imperative,  though its attached to the end. The subject pronoun is not required, so you can simplify  tu tais-toi  to  tais-toi. Imperative (tu) tais-toi (nous) taisons-nous (vous) taisez-vous