What is the theme in Fifth Business by Robertson Davies?

Much of Fifth Business is concerned with mythic transformation; all of the major characters undergo a significant change. Dr. Joseph Campbell refers to this phenomenon as the “heroic transformation of consciousness” (Campbell 38).

Percy is transformed from a spoiled boy into an industrial God-king; PaulDempster is transformed into Magnus Eisengrim; and Dunstan is transformed from “Fifth Business” into a man who embraces the shadows of his soul. Frequently, Davies uses name changes to reflect these transformations. (Dunstable becomes Dunstan, Percy becomes Boy, and Paul becomes Magnus.)

And yet the novel also suggests that these transformations offer new potentials in our character while still reflecting the people we were. Each of the major characters reinvents himself, but remains tied to the same childhood fears and resentments that they work so hard to transcend.