[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-143817-105":3,"doc-detail-143817-en":81,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":97},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","the-deptford-trilogy-fifth-business","The Deptford Trilogy - Fifth Business","","A first-person childhood narrative from 1908 recounts a sledding quarrel with Percy Boyd Staunton and the rigid village rule of arriving for supper on time. As tension escalates, a snowball accidentally hits Mrs. Dempster, triggering an unexpected public scene and urgent help from Reverend Amasa Dempster. The narrator moves from defiance to guilt, late supper anxiety, and an inward awareness of propriety, shame, and adult emotions.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/","Story & Novel",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-deptford-trilogy-fifth-business/143817/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-deptford-trilogy-fifth-business/143817.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Riley","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-08-25",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",9,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What does the term “Fifth Business” mean in the story’s opening?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It refers to roles that are neither hero nor heroine, confidante nor villain, yet are essential to bring about recognition or resolution in drama and opera.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How does the narrator date the events with certainty?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"He links the moment to specific details: his sledding with Percy Boyd Staunton on the afternoon of December 27, 1908, and his watching the time on his new dollar watch.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What unexpected event changes the narrator’s afternoon?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"While walking back home, Percy throws a final snowball that hits Mrs. Dempster on the back of the head, causing pain, tears, and a distressing scene that draws Mr. Dempster’s immediate help.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},143817,1787696848,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",{"doc_id":79,"user_id":84,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":85,"doc_module":4,"category_id":22,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":86,"file_id":87,"file_url":88,"file_type":89,"file_size":90,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":91,"language":92,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":93,"faqs":94,"seo_title":95,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":80,"read_time":96},1374391975076,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/14000253ca4ec9f6853?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1783305029341752051","Fifth Business  \nThe Deptford Trilogy \\#1 by Robertson Davies  \neVersion 4.0 / See notes at EOF ISBN 0 14 01.4755 1 (Entire Trilogy)  \nFifth Business . . . Definition  \nThose roles which, being neither those of Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain, but which were nonetheless essential to bring about the Recognition or the denouement, were called the Fifth Business in drama and opera companies organized according to the old style; the player who acted these parts was often referred to as Fifth Business.  \n-Tho. Overskou, Den Daaske Skueplads  \n-I  \nMrs. Dempster  \n1  \nMy lifelong involvement with Mrs. Dempster began at 8 o'clock p.m. on the 27th of December, 1908, at which time I was ten years and seven months old.  \nI am able to date the occasion with complete certainty because that afternoon I had been sledding with my lifelong friend and enemy Percy Boyd Staunton, and we had quarrelled, because his fine new Christmas sled would not go as fast as my old one. Snow was never heavy in our part of the world, but this Christmas it had been plentiful enough almost to cover the tallest spears of dried grass in the fields; in such snow his sled with its tall runners and foolish steering apparatus was clumsy and apt to stick, whereas my low-slung old affair would almost have slid on grass without snow.  \nThe afternoon had been humiliating for him, and when Percy as humiliated he was vindictive. His parents were rich, his clothes were fine, and his mittens were of skin and came from a store in the city, whereas mine were knitted by my mother; it was manifestly wrong, therefore, that his splendid sled should not go faster than mine, and when such injustice showed itself Percy became cranky. He slighted my sled, scoffed at my mittens, and at last came right out and said that his father was better than my father. Instead of hitting him, which might have started a fight that could have ended in a draw or even a defeat for me, I said, all right, then, I would go home and he could have the field to himself. This was crafty of me, for I knew it was getting on for suppertime, and one of our home rules was that nobody, under any circumstances, was to be late for a meal. So I was keeping the home rule, while at the same time leaving Percy to himself.  \nAs I walked back to the village he followed me, shouting fresh insults. When I walked, he taunted, I staggered like an old cow; my woollen cap was absurd beyond all belief; my backside was immense and wobbled when I walked; and more of the same sort, for his invention was not lively. I  \nsaid nothing, because I knew that this spited him more than any retort, and that every time he shouted at me he lost face.  \nOur village was so small that you came on it at once; it lacked the dignity of outskirts. I darted up our street, putting on speed, for I had looked ostentatiously at my new Christmas dollar watch (Percy had a watch but was not let wear it because it was too good) and saw that it was 5:57; just time to get indoors, wash my hands in the noisy, splashy way my parents seemed to like, and be in my place at six, my head bent for grace. Percy was by this time hopping mad, and I knew I had spoiled his supper and probably his whole evening. Then the unforeseen took over.  \nWalking up the street ahead of me were the Reverend Amasa Dempster and his wife; he had her arm tucked in his and was leaning towards her in the protective way he had. I was familiar with this sight, for they always took a walk at this time, after dark and when most people were at supper, because Mrs. Dempster was going to have a baby, and it was not the custom in our village for pregnant women to show themselves boldly in the streets - not if they had any position to keep up, and of course the Baptist minister's wife had a position. Percy had been throwing snowballs at me, from time to time, and I had ducked them all; I had a boy's sense of when a snowball was coming, and I knew Percy. I was sure that he would try to land one","cbCaiojrtieFIA1Z","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiojrtieFIA1Z","pdf",4929088,934,"English","# Fifth Business - Definition\n## Mrs. Dempster\n## The sledding quarrel and the snowball incident\n## Aftermath: guilt, lateness, and supper","[{\"question\":\"What does the term “Fifth Business” mean in the story’s opening?\",\"answer\":\"It refers to roles that are neither hero nor heroine, confidante nor villain, yet are essential to bring about recognition or resolution in drama and opera.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the narrator date the events with certainty?\",\"answer\":\"He links the moment to specific details: his sledding with Percy Boyd Staunton on the afternoon of December 27, 1908, and his watching the time on his new dollar watch.\"},{\"question\":\"What unexpected event changes the narrator’s afternoon?\",\"answer\":\"While walking back home, Percy throws a final snowball that hits Mrs. Dempster on the back of the head, causing pain, tears, and a distressing scene that draws Mr. Dempster’s immediate help.\"}]","The Deptford Trilogy - Fifth Business | PDF",1438,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":98},[99,102,106,110,115,120,125,130,134,137,141],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":121,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":122,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":124},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":127,"show_sort_weight":128,"slug":129},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":131,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":133},"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":135,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":136},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":138,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":139,"show_sort_weight":138,"slug":140},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":142,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":143,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":144},19,"General","general"]