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
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
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