marriage of Boy and Leola in The Fifth Business
Marriage is a bond between a man and woman that is special. In a marriage both the male and female are to contribute equally in the relationship. ... In Boy and Leola’s relationship, the love may have been there, but Boy failed to contribute to it. ... Their marriage occurred for the wrong reasons. Their expectations and wants in the relationship were different; as Boy could not get Leola to act and do the things he wanted her to. ... In the end, Boy and Leola’s marriage was a disaster. Even the little things that happened before their marriage, should have shown Boy and Leola that they were not right for each other. ... In the days before their marriage Boy knew that as long as he was with Leola, Dunstan would be a little crazy or jealous, so when Dunstan was still off in England, Boy wanted to make Leola his for life. Boy proposed to Leola and she accepted, as soon as Dunstan came back he wanted to show off his new fiancé or ‘prize. “ Dunny, Leola and I have a secret to tell you—not that it will be secret long, of course—but we want you to be the first to hear—outside our families of course—but we’re engaged.” (98) Boy told this to Dunstan after ceremony they held for Dunstan, with a big smile on this face. Boy wanted Dunstan to be the first to know so he could rub it in his face. If Leola looked into it more, the past history of both Boy and Dunstan, she would have been able come to the conclusion that she was basically being used, the engagement was hasty because Boy did not want to give Dunstan a chance. Leola enjoyed her life in Deptford; she enjoyed the small town ‘simple’ life. Boy on the other hand disliked living in Deptford; he wanted to live the city life where he could grow to be a very powerful businessman. Boy and Leola were two very different people heading in very different directions. Dunstan described Boy on page 109 as a ‘perfectionist’. Boy wanted everything perfect and would settle for nothing less. Leola seemed to just go along with what others told her to do.