Three Day Road Themes

Emma Levy
March 5th, 2014
ENG-3U1
Ms. Maxwell
Work diary #2

4. Themes
The first theme I noticed in the second half of the novel was being powerless. Xavier is ultimately powerless in the sense that he cannot stop Elijah from heading down his path of self-destruction. No matter what he does Elijah will continue to evolve as the monster he has become. Xavier finally has to kill Elijah because he knows that that is the only way to stop him. Niska is also powerless because on their three day journey home there is nothing she can do to cure Xavier of his addiction. As hard as she tries to heal Xavier with her story telling, the morphine will eventually take his life. There is also a point in the novel where Niska believes she has lost her
power of having visions after the Frenchmen takes advantage of her in the church.
Another theme that is more prominent in the second half of the novel is competition.
Elijah has a goal to be a better sniper than Peggy and to prove to everyone else that he is by keeping track and advertising the number of kills he has. Xavier is also trying to compete with Elijah because Xavier knows that he is the better sniper. Xavier becomes increasingly frustrated because other soldiers continue to praise Elijah, to the point where he even gets a medal for his efforts during a battle, but everyone seems to be ignoring Xavier’s success.
Characters being kept in the dark is another major theme of Three Day Road. Throughout the entire war Xavier and Elijah are kept in the dark about what is going to happen next. Firstly they are told the war will only last a few months, then they are there for approximately three years. The Sargent’s also like to keep Xavier and Elijah in the dark by sending them out on missions that they have no idea just how they will turn out. Niska is also kept in the dark as far as knowing what exactly goes on during the war that damages her Nephew so badly and what happens to Elijah.
5. Writing
Style
The first person perspective from both Niska and Xavier goes hand in hand with the theme of being kept in the dark. The stories being told in first person keep the reader not knowing what is going to happen which creates suspense in the novel and makes the reader want to continue reading. I think the stories being told from Xavier perspective create a bias towards Xavier and against Elijah that causes the reader to be sympathetic for Xavier even when he does something so awful as killing his best friend (even though Elijah tries to kill him first, I think Xavier could have tried to talk Elijah down and convince him there was no need for either of them to die). As a reader you find yourself saying “It is what had to be done” or “I feel sorry for Xavier having to kill Elijah”. In reality all Elijah is doing wrong is scalping people he has already killed but Xavier kills his best friend. Yes, scalping someone is disgusting but on a moral level which act is “more wrong”? I think the stories being told from Xavier’s perspective force the reader to automatically assume Elijah is in the wrong, but there are always two sides to a story and Elijah’s is never told.
6. Quotations
“‘I think I got him!’ I say to Elijah, excited. ‘Impossible to say,’ he answers” (Boyden 198).
This is said during a conversation between Xavier and Elijah after Xavier and Elijah both attempt to kill someone in a machine gun nest. This quotation is important because it is the first time Xavier shows excitement over killing someone. As soon as I read this my first thought was that Xavier was going to realize why Elijah enjoys killing and possibly become the monster Elijah has. This also demonstrates the competition between Xavier and Elijah. Since they were both shooting at the same time and Xavier gets the kill first Elijah brushes it off as no big deal and that Xavier may not have even killed him because he doesn’t want to admit that he is the better shot. This incident also builds up Xavier’s hatred towards Elijah.
“I want to bead Elijah with my fists until he is bloody” (Boyden 214)
Xavier narrates this after Elijah confesses that Lisette was w whore that he had hired to sleep with Xavier.
I think this is important because it is the first time Xavier expresses his hatred and desire to be violent towards Elijah, to the reader. To me, it becomes evident that Xavier number one priority is no longer to try and protect Elijah. This is another incident that builds up Xavier’s hatred towards Elijah. “No, it clearly says you are the last of your family” (Boyden 267).
This is said by Fat while he is reading the letter that Niska had written to Xavier. This is important because it explains why Xavier said that he thought Niska was dead in the beginning of the novel. It also explains why Xavier said that the letter had damaged him. I think believing that Niska is dead takes away Xavier’s reason to live making Xavier no longer care what happens to him.
“’You have read moose bones in the past. I have watched you. And often it has worked. You have lead us straight to them before’” (Boyden
268).
This is said by Elijah when he brings Xavier the shoulder blade of a German soldier and asks him to read it like Niska and her Father have read the moose and bear bones earlier on in the novel. I think this quotation is important because this is when it finally clicked for me that Xavier was a windigo killer. After making this connection I predicted that Elijah was going to eventually resort to cannibalism because of his madness and Xavier would have to kill him. I also wondered if perhaps Elijah had really been eating human meat instead of horse meat earlier on and Xavier believed that it was horse meat because he was in denial of what Elijah had become and knew that he would have to take action if Elijah had been eating human meat. Although Elijah never does become a cannibal, this prediction was partially right because I think he becomes a windigo by enjoying killing people and Xavier does end up killing him.