The Struggle In Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road

Sister Magdalene and Niska are authority figures for Xavier and Elijah, and their lessons follow the boys throughout Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden. Niska teaches Xavier the strength and necessity of killing but not the desire to kill, while Sister Magdalene’s abuse strips Elijah of compassion and fuels his need for murder to regain his sense of power. Elijah’s experiences with Sister Magdalene teach him to talk his way out of trouble, which leads to his success overseas. Xavier’s heritage and Niska’s lessons in survival result in Xavier’s homecoming, while Elijah’s experiences with abuse, emasculation, and lack of family guidance lead to his death in Europe.
Niska is unaware of her effect on Elijah as a mother figure, and as a boy Elijah
is unable to come to terms with his own mother’s death. Niska does not treat Elijah as a son, but “the moment Elijah first spoke to [Niska] was the moment that he stopped talking to his dead mother,” and he looks to Niska as a mother (332). Elijah is without family, and throughout the novel he is the only one to not be referred to as a member of family. Xavier is Nephew, Niska is Auntie, and Sister Magdalene. Elijah’s lack of an intimate title reiterates his solidarity. Elijah is alone and has no one to rely on, and his lack of family and support results in his extreme actions with morphine and murder.
Niska unknowingly teaches Elijah the impulse to prove himself.
By taking in Xavier and refusing Elijah when he says he would like to live with them in the bush Niska imparts in Elijah the drive to demonstrate his abilities. Niska’s rejection of Elijah to live with her and Xavier causes a feeling of inadequacy in Elijah. Throughout the novel, Elijah tries to prove himself better than Xavier, prove himself to the Frenchmen, and prove that he has control. Elijah often refers to Xavier as “heathen” in conversations, to immediately show that he is more educated than Xavier. Elijah implies that not knowing English is uncultured, and he insults Xavier when he says that “you wouldn’t know that, considering you’re a heathen” after they pass a sign that Xavier is unable to read (163). He often speaks for Xavier, whether it is wanted or not, and usually in a condescending way, as if Xavier were a child. An instance where Elijah makes Xavier sound childish and foreign is after Xavier has gone AWOL, and Elijah makes the excuse of head trauma and that “Private Bird is somewhat fearful of the English form of medicine. He is used to a much more primitive practice of healing…he is disorientated, afraid” (256). Elijah tries to show superiority over Xavier to the Lieutenant, implying that Elijah disagrees with the Cree form of medicine and that he is mentally stronger that Xavier. Elijah knows that he can spin a lie for Xavier, so he will not let Xavier speak for himself. Where Xavier is more skillful in the bush, Elijah rises in rank in Europe, and uses the unintended lesson Niska leaves with him to do
so.
Elijah’s desire for killing is fueled by the Frenchmen and their taking the scalps of their kills. He wants to be known for his deeds and find honour among the Frenchmen (204). His yearning for status and recognition causes him to kill more people, which leads to his enjoyment and need to kill and resulting in his turning windigo. By the urging of the Frenchmen to gain honour, Elijah sees his recognition obtainable through the taking of scalps. Niska instills in Elijah a craving to prove himself and this craving causes him to turn windigo through the increasingly personal way he kills. To take scalps is to be close enough to the person to see them dying, as opposed to shooting from afar. Xavier sees the change in Elijah and realizes that Elijah can no longer be allowed to kill. So it is through Niksa’s teachings that Elijah comes to meet his end.
Throughout the novel Elijah tries to convince Xavier that he is in control of the morphine, until he turns windigo and accepts the morphine’s power. When Xavier tells Elijah to stop taking morphine, Elijah “nods and smiles” but does not agree (128). Elijah downplays his want for morphine by saying he is “just dabbling with it” (192). Soon Xavier is able to see “that it is more than medicine” and that Elijah is losing his fight against the pull of the morphine (153). Although Xavier can see that his friend is becoming addicted, Elijah is able to prove himself to Xavier as still having restraint, which leads to the inaction of Xavier. Elijah eventually becomes unable to prove his control over the morphine to Xavier, but Elijah’s name still comes out of the war as a hero. In the end, Elijah’s desire for recognition and his drive to prove himself allows him to persevere in the war, but leads to his addiction to morphine and to killing. Niska’s rejection of Elijah as a boy and forcing him to live with Sister Magdalene in the school develops a need to prove himself worthy and this need pursues him through his short life. Elijah proves himself to his superiors, his acquaintances, and Xavier until the pressure of hiding his love for killing and addiction to morphine causes his turn to windigo, and causes Xavier to take action.
Niska gives Xavier more lessons because Xavier lives with her in the bush longer than Elijah does. Niska teaches Xavier to be independent, survival skills, and their heritage as windigo killers. Although Xavier relies on Elijah while they are in Europe, Xavier makes the decision to kill Elijah for himself. His independence is learned when Niska leaves Xavier alone in the bush to track the moose himself. He continues on despite being alone and lost, and “bit by bit, as [he] followed the moose’s trail, [he] took a bite of the fear and swallowed it” (359). That Xavier wants to continue on and track the moose by himself for Niska shows that he is self-sufficient. His day in the bush alone also forces him to use the survival skills Niska had taught him, that help him during the war. Throughout the novel Xavier makes references between the war and hunting in the bush. When him and Elijah are making their nests, Xavier pays close “attention to every little detail, the colour of the earth, the surrounding stumps…routes to take if [they] are discovered” which helps them avoid being shot by other snipers (86). Xavier realizes that it “is just like building goose blinds at home” (86). The survival and hunting lessons that Xavier was taught by Niska at home are applied to the war and aid in keeping the boys alive.
Niska’s most important lesson to Xavier is the necessity of killing and strength to kill, while showing compassion and that taking a life is not something to be enjoyed. Xavier learns about his family’s history as windigo killers, which gives him the courage to kill Elijah. Xavier knows that Elijah is “fighting what’s become of him,” but in the end Xavier makes the decision that Elijah cannot keep killing (341). As Xavier is killing Elijah he tries to explain that “‘there is no coming back from where you’ve travelled’” (370). Xavier’s family history is the only thing that keeps him alive, because without the inspiration of Niska, and what he interprets as permission to kill Elijah in her letter, Elijah would have killed Xavier. Niska keeps Xavier alive overseas throughout the novel with her lessons. She teaches him independence that helps him to make hard decisions. She teaches him hunting and survival skills of the bush which Xavier transfers to use in the war. And Niska teaches Xavier that “‘sometimes one must be sacrificed if all are to survive’” (265). Niska’s influence in Xavier’s life causes him to be the one to come home from the war.