Three Day Road Analysis

French artist Paul Cezanne once said, “If isolation tempers the strong, it is the stumbling-block of the uncertain” (BrainyQuote). The topic of “the other” recurs so often in Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden, that it can be considered a motif. “The other” is a being who is isolated, separated, or segregated from their surroundings. It can be from their family, friends, co workers, anywhere someone can push them out of a circle. An other is usually considered to be a weak individual, one who doesn’t know what to do with themselves, someone who is lost. But what happens if a stronger, more focused protagonist becomes the other? Boyden decided to create his book around the idea of strong others, and didn’t write about weak or secondary characters.
What happens if an other is surrounded by comrades or companions, but still feels like they are an outsider? This is what occurred during Xavier's time in the army. Despite being possibly the greatest shot in all of the allied forces, a simple downfall of not being able to speak English and having darker skin really held Xavier back and hurt him during his deployment. He observes his fellow soldiers exchange jokes and laughs while he struggles to understand what’s going on. “I am forced by my poor english to sit back and watch it all happen...while I become more invisible. A brown ghost” (Boyden 65). Back then, a life of an Indian was a hard one, especially being in the army. Surrounded by all white males who aren’t used to seeing or talking to an Aboriginal, adding even more pressure to perform well on top of just being in the army. He’s always on the outside of the circle, which a lot of people have experienced in their life, trying to listen to conversations, but constantly being blocked out and not being able to hear anyone talking. “Elijah begins to speak softly, so that the others around him must lean toward him (leaving X out)” (Boyden 242). To put it bluntly, it sucks to be excluded by people you work with, go to school with, or hang out with. Not a single person likes to be left out (except Niska) because it’s damaging to someone’s confidence and feelings. In the
His reputation in the army grew exponentially since he was recruited, and was regarded as a skillful predator in the field, like he was at the top of the food chain. As he became more known, his comrades began to admire and revere him, always giving him praise. Kind of like an other, but one that you look up to or strive to be like, not someone going through a depressing time on the outside of a friend group. But the stress of being a role model and a leader got to him. He slowly started losing himself; using morphine, disobeying orders, solo missions, more ruthless killing techniques, all for the purpose maintaining his position. He even resorted to cannibalism, when asked “Is it horse?” he responded with “No, it is human, German to be exact” (Boyden 310). As one can imagine when someone starts to eat flesh, his comrades start to fear him. They become angry and confused, much like Xavier did, which can lead them to turning on the other. Every terrible thing that Elijah did led Xavier to kill him, which proves that this unorthodox other is the most dangerous to type of all, because it can lead to a subjects destruction. Elijah can also be called a ‘dynamic other’ due to the fact that he didn’t stay the same and seemed to transcend into something else, something that Xavier did not like at all.