Dunny leads a double life that seems to be outwardly ordinary and normal. What he symbolizes is the journey that one sometimes takes in order to find ones inner self. It is Liesl that makes Dunny realize his flaws, and it is Liesl that gives him the initial push which ultimately helps finally complete his journey. The difference between Jordan and Liesl’s approach are that Jordan does it naturally and Liesl just comes out in the open and splurges it out. As a result Dunny was quickly pointed out to his problems, and given a little nudge in the right direction of his fate as his character, and becomes “Fifth Business”.
“I wanted to tell you that you are human, like other people..You make yourself responsible for other peoples troubles.” (pg. 229 ln 11) “But every man has a devil, and a man of unusual quality, like yourself, Ramsay, has an unusual devil. You must get to know your personal devil.” (pg. 230 ln 10) Thus making Liesl’s job complete because as a result of Liesl bringing forth these truth’s about life, it brought Dunny to the last stage of his characters development.
Even though Dunny’s character development bean with Faustina, this also shows that Dunny plays a vital role in bringing forth the characters repressed guilt that brings Boy’s death as well as the end of the novel. Dunny’s character development begins when he falls in love with Faustina. Dunny is first shocked when he encounters Faustina and Liesl in the dressing room. “I saw Faustina naked – she was always changing her clothes – in the arms of Liesl, who held her close and kissed her passionately;” (pg. 224 ln1) Dunny was devastated by this and went almost into a shock and rage because he believed that he was in love with Faustina. It was this that began Dunny’s character development.
He first begins to feel for what he has just seen, “I never knew such a collapse of the spirit even in the worst of the war. And this time there was no Little Madonna to offer me Courage or ease me into oblivion.” (pg. 224 ln 7) Dunny finds himself upset because his morals and values came crashing down when he saw Faustina and Liesl, but he quickly and bluntly confronted by Liesl. “That is you privilege, watching life from the sidelines and knowing were all the players go wrong.
Life is a spectator sport to you. Now you have taken a tumble and found yourself in the middle of the fight, and you are whimpering because it is rough.” (pg. 225 ln 25) This quote helps strengthens Dunny and also gives him that initial push towards his way on developing his character into the vital role, otherwise the novel would not have ended the way that it did. Throughout The Great Gatsby the characters values are exposed for the reader and because of this, the readers are hence allowed a great insight into what a true nature of the character really is. At this point of the novel Jordan seems to be growing on Nick, and Nick is still not bothered by Jordan’s dishonesty. It is important to know that Jordan is not dishonest in the sense that she sleeps around and is immoral in regards to her sex-life.
This is important because Nick begins to feel tender towards Jordan’s behaviour, but he comes to discover that her affections are a result to conceal her dishonesty. “At her first big golf tournament there was a row that nearly reached the newspapers – a suggestion that she had moved her ball from a bad lie in the semi-final round.” (pg. 65 ln 33) “Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever, shrewd men.” (pg. 65 ln 3) Jordan avoided clever men because it made here secure and she could not stand it when she was at a disadvantage.
Nonetheless, assumptions can be made that she was taught this at a very young age in order to keep or maintain her image. Unlike Dunny, Nick take a little longer to develop, and unfortunately realizes in an inopportune moment. This results in Nick still not being bothered by Jordan’s morals because he is approaching a state where he is almost falling in love with Jordan. “Dishonesty in a women is a thing you never blame deeply – I was casually sorry, and then I forgot.” (pg. 65 ln 12) Nick seems to be going through a gradual process of moral decay, because in the later stages of the novel, Daisy begins to have an affair with Mr.
Gatsby behind her husbands back. Yet with such high morals Nick avoids telling Tom and becomes part of the cause, when he helps organize meetings between Daisy and Mr. Gatsby, and he and Jordan are the only ones who know about the affair. The women in Fifth Business and The Great Gatsby both shape Dunny Ramsay and Nick Carraway into the same person. In the novel Fifth Business, the development of Dunny’s character begins when Dunny falls in love with Faustina. It is Liesl that allows Dunny to understand his function as “Fifth Business.” Jung’s theory suggests that the conscious part of Dunny’s personality is brought out by Liesl.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, the “American Dream” will never be a failure if Jordan does not develop Nick into his final character. Nick Carraway’s realization of the equality of man altered through his origin sets him up as a morally sound standard, until confronted by Jordan Baker. Men and Women seem to be in constant battle for certain right but in the end, it is obvious that society has a real difficult time dealing with such issues. It is the job of society to understand this, and come to a realization about themselves. “She lived by a light that arose from within; I could not comprehend it.” Fifth Business(pg. 52) English Essays.
