Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden is an eye-opening novel. The novel describes the story of two young Indigenous men, following their journey as soldiers in the Canadian military during the First World War.
Within the first ten chapters, the story jumps around a lot and information is seemingly thrown around all over the place. It starts off narrated by Niska, the aunt of a young Cree man named Xavier Bird. She hides away in the bushes, far from anyone else in fear of being judged, waiting for the arrival of her nephew’s friend Elijah Whiskeyjack. Months after the news of her nephew’s death, she waits eagerly for days, anticipating the return of the closest thing to a family she has, Elijah. To her surprise, her allegedly deceased nephew Xavier is there to greet her. Both thinking the other has passed away, they go through a whirlwind of emotions and story telling. The narrative jumps around from Niska to Xavier as well as the past to present time, depicting both perspectives to a gruesome tale of heartbreak and horror. Between stories of wartime and happy childhood, it becomes clear that Xavier has only returned home to die. Down a leg, addicted to morphine, and bearing the physical and mental scarring of war, Niska’s last remaining family member will die, only it will be the second time she will experience his death.
Image courtesy of the Orange County Register.
Xavier’s war flashbacks describe the harsh realities of wartime. In chapter 2, Arrival, Xavier has his first flashback. It comes after he is unable to sleep, wondering why Elijah is missing, why his aunt is somehow alive, and suddenly his thoughts drift back to the war. He describes Elijah as “the truly skilled one” and ” the blessed one”(Boyden 10), of his skills as a sniper. He slyly mentions that “at one time I was the better marksman” (Boyden 10).
After a mere 100 or so pages, I find myself hoping to read that Elijah is not actually dead. The story is confusing me a little, as it jumps around so much, but the one thing I can tell is that Xavier and Elijah had an extremely close bond and relationship. The way that the story is being told is puzzling, however I can only assume that jumping back and forth from childhood stories and wartime helps keep the mood of the story in high spirits, as the wartime stories are truly gut wrenching.
When analyzing the characters, Niska’s childhood stories and her clear love for Xavier makes me think that she is going to be a key character in the story. It is immediately evident that her love for the boy is ever so strong, and that she is happy yet heartbroken at his return home, “my body hums with nephew’s pain and with the realization that he has come home only to die”(Boyden 9). I believe that her character’s relevance will only grow and that she will be a big part of the story. I picture her as a frail little woman with thigh length hair and a heart the size of the earth, with such great wisdom.
In the fourth chapter, titled “My Father”, Niska tells the story of the windigo- a supernatural power taking over a person and turning them into cannibals. She speaks so highly of her father, a windigo killer. She idolizes her father and he is clearly a figure of authority in their tribe. I can somehow relate to this. My grandfather, who worked as a fisherman in rural Vietnam, helped my grandmother, their five children, and my great-uncle’s entire family escape during the aftermath of the Vietnam war. My grandfather has always been a figure of great authority and wisdom in my family, much like Niska’s father.
The story describes the Cree Indian traditions with such detail that I wonder, is the author a Cree man himself?
One of the first things I noticed is that the chapters are not numbered, and the titles are in both English and Cree. The “About Joseph Boyden” section in the back of the book states that his “heart is part Irish, part Ojibwe“. This furthered my interest in the matter and prompted some research, where I discovered that Boyden’s claims of Indigenous ancestry may not be true. An APTN National News article titled “Author Joseph Boyden’s shape-shifting Indigenous identity” debates his alleged ancestry. There are conflicting reports as to whether or not Boyden is truly of Indigenous descent. I won’t get into more detail regarding this, but all of this has made me wonder how credible his descriptions and explanations are, and if this novel really is a true depiction of the lives of First Nations people during the First World War.
Lastly, when making predictions on how I believe the story will progress I think to myself, how do I want it to progress? I would love to find out what happened to Elijah, why Xavier was told his aunt passed away and vice versa, why Xavier returned as Elijah, and what Niska did while her last remaining family member was off to war. I also think to myself, are the soldiers in their platoon of any significance? Or does Xavier only think of them because they spent so much time together? This story has only just begun for me, and I can’t wait to read the rest.
Source: Boyden, Joseph. Three Day Road. Toronto: Penguin Canada, 2005. Print.
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