Three Day Road: Character Development

The two main characters in the novel “Three Day Road” by Joseph Boyden; Xavier Bird and Elijah Weesageechack, have many key differences that are illustrated throughout the novel. Xavier is reserved and visceral, while Elijah is self-assured and talkative. Xavier was raised by his Aunt Niska for the Majority of his childhood, opposed to how Elijah was raised in Moose Factory by nuns at a residential school. These factors hold an important responsibility on their personalities and the way that they think and make decisions. The three key differences between them that are paramount to the story and the themes of the novel are; firstly their respect for their Oji-Cree culture, secondly their respect and love for human life, and lastly their personalities. The differences in their personalities create positive chemistry back in their homeland of Canada, but when they are sent to Europe to fight in World War One, their relationship is put to the test.

An important difference between Elijah and Xavier is the difference in their respect for their Aboriginal culture. Respecting their Oji-Cree culture is paramount to Xavier, while it is much less important to Elijah. An example of Xavier’s close association with his aboriginal culture can be seen through the following quote, “All of them stare down at me. I look up, sitting cross-legged with one of the horses sprawled beside me, its head on my lap. I look like I’ve been painted red. The smell of blood is heavy. It covers the wooden walls, the floor, the straw upon the floor. Elijah sees that one of my hands rests on the floor with my skinning knife in it. The horse’s neck gapes open along its big artery.” (Page 189) This example shows Xavier’s connection to his aboriginal culture because having respect for animals is a major part of the Oji-Cree morals. In this exact scene Elijah was willing to shoot the horses, which shows a lack of respect for the animal, which goes against the morals of his aboriginal heritage. A