I am currently in the process of preparing for the close reading assignment, which is one that I do look forward to. While I am still yet to solidify my thoughts for the paper, in the mean time, I will say that one scene from Three Day Road that particularly interests me is the climactic point of the novel where Xavier takes Elijah’s life on the front lines and gets wounded in action by enemy fire shortly after. Perhaps this might be the scene that I will use for my close reading, but I’ll have to see whether it resonates with any readings from the Indigenous Foundations website.

During our previous class, we did an informal close reading on the novel’s prologue, where Elijah and Xavier are hunting during their childhood. We made note about how Elijah asks Xavier the question, “We are great hunters and best friends, yes?” and how this question signifies the uncertainty that Xavier feels towards their relationship to Elijah. Amazingly, when I reread the climactic scene of the novel, Elijah again asks Xavier this question shortly before his demise. However, Xavier’s response in these scenes differs quite dramatically. While Xavier simply answers, “Yes” in the prologue, during the battle scene, he does not reply until Elijah physically tries to choke him, which forces him to retaliate aggressively. Afterwards, Xavier replies that Elijah has “gone mad”. This simple, yet radical difference between Xavier’s responses is one indicator that he does grow more indifferent toward Elijah throughout the novel.

Another way in which the climactic scene of Three Day Road resembles the hunting scene novel’s prologue is that Xavier silences the mortally wounded Elijah the same say he clubbed the screaming marten in the opening. As Boyden describes, “the rifle in my (Xavier’s) hands sinks down and I feel through the stock the collapse of his (Elijah’s) windpipe under the rifle’s pressure”. This happens just right after Elijah “tries to whisper words to me (Xavier) but I know that I cannot allow Elijah to speak them”. Based on this, I get the feeling that novel’s prologue does serve a more significant role than I had originally thought in that for Boyden uses it to foreshadow the events that take place at the novel’s climax.

As an extension to our study on the novel, I searched up some information on Francis “Peggy” Pegahmagabow and found out that he was an Aboriginal marksman from the First World War who was a three-time recipient of the prestigious Military Medal. After having learnt about his, I truly came to a realization of the lack of recognition for the accomplishments Aboriginal Canadians during the First World War. Despite this remarkable accomplishment, I am utterly surprised that Pegahmagabow was somehow a name that I had never previously recognized. By comparison, Billy Bishop, a Canadian aviator who downed 72 enemy aircraft during the same conflict, which was the highest among all Allied Forces, is a name that is already on our lips. Based on this finding, I have come to the realization that the stereotypical image of a Canadian soldier has historically been and still remains today as a white person despite the various accomplishments by Canadian soldiers of other ethnicity.

Here’s a link that explains Pegahmagabow’s accomplishments: http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/tresors/treasure/280eng.shtml

Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road was a novel that I found to be thoroughly fascinating. In fact, given that I am a military enthusiast, even prior to reading the novel, I was already stoked when I heard that the novel is about the experience of Xavier and Elijah, who are two Aboriginal Canadian snipers during the First World War. However, what I found to be more intriguing than the series of adrenaline-pumping action that takes place in the novel is Boyden’s use of narrative as a means to bring into light a piece of Canadian history that has remained largely forgotten.

My first impression of Three Day Road is that the novel as a whole really serves to reinforce one of the central arguments that Willie Van Peer makes in his article that we all studied last semester titled, “Literature, Imagination, and Human Rights”. In the article, Van Peer mentions about how literature has the ability to portray characters in a way that would chance the public perception of certain social groups. In Three Day Road, we see that the novel’s portrayals of Elijah and Xavier serve to invalidate the general consensus in Canada at the time of the First World War that Aboriginal soldiers were unable to engage in combat at the level of competence as a white soldier. In the novel, Elijah and Xavier are the most proficient shooters in the predominantly White-Canadian infantry force. Through this, it is evident that Boyden’s novel intends to promote awareness about the role that Aboriginal Canadians played in the war, which has long been marginalized in history.

Xavier, the protagonist of the novel, undergoes a very dynamic change throughout the novel. On numerous occasions, Xavier appears on the most part passive compared to Elijah. While still a student at residential school, he is for the most part submissive towards the unjust treatment by the school’s nun unlike Elijah, who goes as far as stealing her rifle in defiance. While on the front lines during the war, Xavier appears to be more or less dependent on Elijah for support and direction, in part due to his lack of proficiency in the English language as well as the cruelty of his commanding officer, Lt. Breech. However, nearing the end of the novel, Xavier begins to become more indifferent towards Elijah for he realizes and no sooner resents his bloodthirsty attitude. As a result, during his last battle, Xavier makes an incredibly bold move that takes Elijah’s life at the moment he realizes that he will lose his life if he chooses to follow Elijah’s directions. Having been responsible for the death of a fellow combatant, Xavier in the end experiences a profound feeling of guilt.

I don’t know if my interpretations are necessarily correct, for it is based solely on my personal understanding of the novel. Given that the publication of Three Day Road was as recent as 2005, I really was not able to find much scholarly commentary on the novel. That being said, if you have any disagreement with any comments that I made, feel free to tell me for I will be more than happy to hear them.