Three Day Road

Joseph Bodyen’s, Three Day Road is about survival and difficulties of an Indian soldier on WW1 after returning home. In one situation when Elijah explaining Xavier about their returning home he says, “This is war. This is not home. What’s mad is them putting us in trenches to begin with. The madness is to tell us to kill and to award those of us who do it well” (Bodyen 322). The line shows that with the orders from their superiors the soldiers went into the battlefield and killed innocent people to serve their nations. The Protagonist Xavier is called by different names in different contexts of the novel to reveal relationship, military and honour. Xavier was addressed as Nephew, X and Elijah. Nephew represents the culture, X represents an unknown name or a mystery and Elijah shows a mistake and an honour. The name is used to show the different dimensions of the protagonist in the story. Aunty Niska addresses Xavier as Nephew throughout the novel, which represents his tradition and customs. In the chapter Returning, Niska is told that her nephew is dead. As Niska reaches to town to welcome her Nephew’s friend Elijah, She remains astonished after seeing her own Nephew. Aunty Niska is more anxious about her Nephew because the war had left many scares on Xavier as he lost his leg and has been injured both physically and mentally. Further, in the text she says that Xavier has come home just to die. As he appears so skinny can hardly walk and has lost, hope to live. Niska cannot see him in pain because she loves him a lot and he is a son figure to him. This war made him a strange person and addicted to morphine. Niska calls him Nephew because she cares about him and last hope to expand his tradition and culture to the next generation. He is very proud of himself because he considered himself as a Windigo killer near the end of the novel and follows the path of his aunty. Xavier explains to his friends who ask him about the name he is called by