Critical Analysis and Book Review

This assignment involves a critical analysis and book review of Joseph Boyden's novel 'Three Day Road'. The novel explores the themes of identity, war, and crisis in the context of Canadian history. The assignment requires the student to analyze the characters of Xavier, Niska, and Elijah, and how they represent different aspects of war-time trauma and cultural identity. The student is also required to provide a brief excursion into the historical facts blending with the power of imagination. The assignment aims to make it comprehensible to the readers with commendable precision the ways by which militarism and warfare can prove destructive.

Running head: CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND BOOK REVIEW
Critical Analysis and Book Review
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CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND BOOK REVIEW
Three Day Road is a fiction centering round war, trauma, oppression and violence,
survival is written by Joseph Boyden. The author is a professor by profession and an alma mater
of Brebeuf College School, New York University. Set at the backdrop of wild and unexplored
Northern Ontario, the novel falls under the genre of historical fiction and discovers the trauma of
war and violence like many other commendable books like The Invisible Injured: Psychological
Trauma in the Canadian Military from the First World War to Afghanistan. Both the books
explore the intricate and unfathomable relationship between warfare and deep-rooted
psychological trauma. In the novel by Boyden its major themes are depicted through the
remarkable Cree characters of Niska, Xavier and their journey through life.
Thesis Statement: Joseph Boyden masterfully digs deeper into the themes of identity,
war and crisis to paint the picture of the disgruntled First Nations lifestyle and culture, mental
disorientation and spiritual which was severely annihilated by war.
The author Joseph Boyden portrays the lives dissected by an inhumane war period and
exposes the pertinent themes by taking the readers into the abyss of physical, spiritual and
emotional tumult as a consequence of World War I through various characters. The novel
ultimately brings to the forefront the torn and tattered Canada followed by the culmination of
destruction and damage of World War I. the themes of alienation, mental and mental trauma are
delineated through the characters of Xavier, internal war time crisis and estrangement from one’s
self and culture in Elijah, gender based subjugation, torture and woman power in the character of
Niska.
Author creates the character of Xavier resonating with a number of vital themes
like loss of the self, psychological trauma and spiritual desolation due to war. The author

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CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND BOOK REVIEW
makes the narrative poignant through the voices of Xavier and Niska to make the themes more
accentuated to the readers. Xavier Bird, one of the fundamental characters in understanding the
novel is a free-spirited Canadian Cree man who goes through a mental upheaval once he joins
the war. His descend into alcoholism and spiritual barrenness is a result of war however, his
strong bonding with his cultural ties and norms sets him apart from his friend Elijah. Xavier’s
cultural ties and consciousness becomes his saving grace during the banalities of the war that
wreaked havoc on each and every Aboriginal character of the novel. The trauma that he
undergoes induced by the gory picture of men bleeding to death in the battle-field haunts him,
burdening him with a strong and pricking guilt conscience1. The disorientation and final
detachment of identity within Xavier becomes apparent when he gradually becomes indifferent
to the violent killings. Elijah and Xavier survive on drugs to escape from the terrifying
circumstances that surrounded them as a result of the war. With the character of Xavier Bird we
comprehend how Boyden has strived to uncover and weave poetry with the suppressed history of
the marginalized and establish a concrete story with deconstructed records of the Aboriginal
history. The narrative therefore becomes thoroughly dispersed with myths and history, creating
the perfect blend for the novel to keep its readers engrossed2.
Elijah is the epitome of war time crisis that can be traced internally within an
individual and the consequences of trying to break free from one’s roots and ethnic
background. Similarly, the widespread lifestyle shift that is another face of World War I can be
1 Bates, Catherine MF. Use of Canadian Books in Ontario Public and Catholic Intermediate and Secondary English
Departments: Results of a Survey of Teachers of Grades 7 through 12. Ontario Book Publishers Organization, 2017.
2 Bowers, Maggie Ann. "Literary activism and violence against Native North American women: the urgency for
sovereignty." Wasafiri 32, no. 2 (2017): 48-53.

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CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND BOOK REVIEW
analyzed carefully by the character portrait of Elijah whose sense of alienation from Aboriginal
culture is more and more apparent as he tries to accommodate himself into the mainstream
Canadian culture. Elijah is the best friend of Xavier who desperately tries to break away from his
old ties by changing his taste in clothes and apparels. Elijah develops and assimilates within
himself a sadistic pleasure from brutal killing which can be interpreted as an immediate
aftermath of war that plagued Canada. Elijah slow decline into mental derangement becomes
apparent from his obsession with killing and the vast amount of satisfaction that he draws from
it. Elijah’s character is the slow amalgamation of different cultural components and his own
exposure to those elements due to the introduction of a foreign element called war in Canada.
The book employs post-traumatic stress disorder subtly into the character of Elijah. It provides
testimony to Canadian history which has stated how Aboriginals went through a breakdown
regarding the concept of self-identity. War essentially destroyed the tie to their ethnicity Elijah
goes through behavioral identity crisis where he behaves superficially under the all pervasive
influence of war. Conflicted or inconsistent identity slowly engulfs Elijah.
Boyden, uses the character Niska, to highlight a number of themes like
woman empowerment, male dominance, cultural trauma, racism, power equation and the
tale of a strong Aboriginal woman in the novel. Accordingly in the novel, Niska is the victim
of violent gender discrimination as she suffers through random infliction of physical violence,
betrayal and subjugation. The character also paves the way for the exploration of a razor-like
power equation that is another consequence of the war period. She is constantly dominated by
the European settlers and left voiceless due to her identity as an Aboriginal woman3. Gender
3 Wang, Mei-Chuen. "Speaking in the Past Tense: Canadian Novelists on Writing Historical Fiction." British
Journal of Canadian Studies 20, no. 2 (2007): 323.

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CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND BOOK REVIEW
based violence is not only depicted through physical tortures but the mental turmoil that she
experiences throughout the war-time. Racial discrimination is also portrayed through the
characterization of Niska and Xavier which was a product of Colonization that pervaded Canada
till World War II. Niska’s character however, can be analyzed from a feminist perspective as she
finally discovered the hidden potential within her. Niska gives vivid expression to how trauma
and mental wound are associated with white colonialism in the form of war creating cultural
trauma within her. Niska is representative of Aboriginal primitivism which is repeatedly
subjected to white supremacy and power. The author has also assigned her with non-
stereotypical gender roles like hunting and stalking through the bush that one would generally
associate with a strongly built man. Niska is someone who gives us a vivid portrait of a proud
and strong Cree woman emerging victorious even after the upheavals that she goes through. She
is additionally the source of power and replenishment in a war-torn Canada who finally rescues a
wounded Xavier and nourished him physically and emotionally.
In conclusion it can be firmly asserted that war has a number of consequences
apart from the immediate economic depletion. The consequences like mental and physical
trauma, exposure to a foreign culture, emotional upheaval, gender-based violence, racism, and
disorientation of identity, self-detachment and the like are common in the Canadian war
literature that has been chronicled by a number of authors in the past4. The manifestations of
these destructive consequences get coherent reflection through the characters of Xavier, Niska
and Elijah, indispensable to the novel5. As far as my personal opinions are concerned, the novel
4 Bates, Catherine MF. Use of Canadian Books in Ontario Public and Catholic Intermediate and Secondary English
Departments: Results of a Survey of Teachers of Grades 7 through 12. Ontario Book Publishers Organization, 2017.
5 Bates, Catherine MF. Use of Canadian Books in Ontario Public and Catholic Intermediate and Secondary English
Departments: Results of a Survey of Teachers of Grades 7 through 12. Ontario Book Publishers Organization, 2017.

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CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND BOOK REVIEW
is masterpiece when it comes to the portrayal of war time crisis. The readers are not just passive
readers but active participants of the story and take part in the journeys of these three characters.
The book apart from giving the readers the pleasure of literatures gives a brief excursion into the
historical facts blending with the power of imagination. Boyden makes it comprehensible to the
readers with commendable precision the ways by which militarism and warfare can prove
destructive. In the history of Canadian literature, Three Day Road will be invaluable, recording
the lives of the marginalized and the restoring power of family. The transformation in the
character of Xavier Bird due to the presence of war is something very intriguing and keeps me
glued to the pages. Three Day Road makes it explicit the significance of being familiar and
firmly knotted with one’s cultural background, beliefs and set of practices to maintain coherence
and continuity.

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CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND BOOK REVIEW
Bibliography List:
Bates, Catherine MF. Use of Canadian Books in Ontario Public and Catholic Intermediate and
Secondary English Departments: Results of a Survey of Teachers of Grades 7 through 12.
Ontario Book Publishers Organization, 2017.
Bowers, Maggie Ann. "Literary activism and violence against Native North American women:
the urgency for sovereignty." Wasafiri 32, no. 2 (2017): 48-53.
Wang, Mei-Chuen. "Speaking in the Past Tense: Canadian Novelists on Writing Historical
Fiction." British Journal of Canadian Studies 20, no. 2 (2007): 323.