Pursuit of

What makes people dream and aspire? People are bound to the belief
that there is a chance. The faith and beliefs of a character alters a characters
chosen path, ultimately determining their fate. Throughout literature, we
follow countless characters that are led through their story by steps they
take to fulfill their dreams. In the novel Fifth Business by Robertson Davies,
we follow the path of Dunstable Ramsay as he searches for a meaning in his
life. In the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner works through his
life following his faith in a better future to power him to succeed. These two
pieces of literature are good examples of faith in a character. The idea of
faith and belief guiding a character is proven in analysis of faith
demonstrated in the works, decisions of each character and philosophies
demonstrated in the works.
Two different examples of faith and following a dream are shown in the
two works chosen. The movie, Pursuit of Happyness, is a good example of
faith in its simplest form. The protagonist Christopher Gardner is introduced
as a business man living in a poorer quality of life in America. Christopher is
an ambitious man on his pursuit for a better life, which is displayed in his
risky investment at the start of the movie. Investing his money in new-age
bone density scanners, he risks the future of his entire family, as their
livelihood is determined by his success. After lack of money, life throws
another obstacle at him as his wife leaves Christopher and his child, Chris.
Becoming homeless, one of his many struggles was being a good father to
his son, something he never had. The story is based around his journey to a
better life and the path he had to take to achieve that dream. The novel, Fifth
Business, is an example of a deeper faith. The story follows Dunstable
Ramsay from childhood to retirement in an autobiography format. His life is
defined by his search for evidence of saints. Starting from his childhood
saint, the nonreligious character of Dunstan is moved into a world filled with
the unknown and is given meaning through fact and reasoning.
Faith is often tied to religious figures and belief in something that is not
present in matter. In Fifth Business, an overlying theme of religious faith is
displayed throughout the book. Many times characters would make decisions
and actions based on their religious beliefs and what they believe to work.
An example of this is Amasa Dempster, the pastor of the town Dunstan grew
up in. His family plays a large role in the story, being the start and the end of
Dunstans Journey. Amasas wife, Mrs. Dempster, was Dunstans first saint,
because he believed she had performed several miracles which qualified her

to be one. Mrs. Dempster suffered greatly throughout her life, becoming

simple after being hit in the head by a snowball. The greatest misdeed was
her birth of a premature son named Paul which was a result of the snowball.
At the time child birth had a high chance of being fatal and with a premature
baby, Mrs. Dempster became incredibly weak and bed stricken. Mrs.
Dempster was left to the care of her husband, and he did the best he knew
how for her, which was to kneel and pray out loud beside her bed.
(Robertson Davies, 15) To the point, Amasa was very religious by profession
and eventually personally as well. His faith rested with God and his
miraculous acts. Instead of substantial care for his wife, he acted out to God
directed by his faith in religion. This caused great deals of stress upon him as
he could not see improvement in their well being. Another instance his
actions were led by faith is through his method of income. Working for the
church, his actual pay comes in the form of generous donations. Due to his
deep faith in God he stayed loyal to the church and never found a source of
financial livelihood. Amasas actions led to his familys bankruptcy and forced
his family to relocate. Faith played a strong role in the decision, Amasa
having to pick between the wellbeing and livelihood of his family, versus a
greater connection to his faith in god. His faith in religion ultimately led him
to neglect reality and focus on his bond with god which led to his life
changing negatively due to the lack of tangible actions.
The Pursuit of Happyness is an example of faith in something simple.
The faith shown by the characters is faith in a tangible idea, their pursuit for
a better life, and overall their pursuit of happiness. His faith is built by human
natures longing for better life. His faith is a driving force due to the fact he
strongly believes he will live a better life. Christophers actions are thus the
outcome of this, all his actions are aimed to be positive for him and his sons
life.
The important thing about that freedom train, is it's
got to climb mountains. We ALL have to climb
mountains, you know. Mountains that go way up
high, and mountains that go deep and low.(Pursuit of
Happyness)
The freedom train acts as a metaphor for his actions driven by faith in
future happiness. The train in this case, represents freedom. The meaning of
the train could represent different things but the train itself represented his
in life. The ups and downs of the track that the train traverses represent the
highs and lows of his life. Finally, every train has an end destination, and for

Christopher it would be a better, happy future. Within the train, the coal that
fuels the train to move represents faith in Christophers life, faith pushes him
forwards and keeps him going. This metaphor was used to better
demonstrate how your actions influenced by faith would change your fate.
Christophers faith made his actions aim to be positive to him and his son,
but many times his faith caused him to be overly ambitious, taking great
risks to continue on the path. You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People
can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can't do it. You
want something? Go get it. Period. (Pursuit of Happyness) As displayed by
his very ambitious quote, this outlines the basis of his actions that move
towards his dream. Even with the risks, Christopher continues to Go get it.
Examples include the instance where Christopher pays for lunch with a rich
sales associate as a gracious act, even though he was not certain he would
make the deal. This risk was great to them as the minimal money they had
could not be wasted on someone elses food. His strong faith in future
happiness allowed him to disregard risks for the possibility of a future. His
faith has driven him positively as well, as he has began working harder to
ensure his future. For instances this is displayed when he devises a more
efficient way of calling and answering the phone, allowing him to achieve
more potential business partners. His faith in a better future ultimately led
him to take risks and work harder, amounting to an improved future.

Fifth Business is an example of faith in a more complex concept but it

still ultimately influences characters actions which change the path they take
in life. Dunstan is on a quest to find evidence that can justify the existence of
saints. At the beginning of the story, Dunstan develops faith in saints and
their miracles. This leads him to attempt to justify their existence, a journey
spanning his whole life, which could have been said to alter his fate.