Since Fifth Business is Dunstan Ramsay's autobiography, he is the main character. Most of the other characters appear only as their lives and identities impinge on his. They are not characterized in a conventional novelistic way. The most developed character is Boy Staunton whom Ramsay calls his "lifelong friend and enemy" in his first reference to him in the second sentence of the novel. Staunton is the man who is successful in worldly terms. He has insured Ramsay's material well-being, since his early investment tips have enabled Ramsay to build a nest egg over the years. There...
Source: Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction, ©2001 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.
(The entire page is 1293 words.)
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