I have read and seen many pieces of work that revolve around World War I. There are different perspectives, different stories, but at the end of it all I take away one common thing from them all. That one universal factor that makes these stories so alike yet so unique, is experience. Experience that protagonists, or in this case characters remember vividly, with so much attention to the details of things that happened. Three Day Road is a very interesting take on the War. I see it as a cultural definition of relationships formed and molded by time and place, by ethnicity and the drive to avoid steering away from cultural barriers. Even after the end of the war, it seems as though there is an ongoing conflict going on within Xavier and Nisaka. It is an epic story of the relationship between friends, between families. It shows how war can transform characters, or elevate certain immoralities as in the case of Elijah. His passion to kill, turning from enemies, to civilians and eventually to friends is a portrayal of the sad repercussions of war, of the mental state of soldiers, and the effect of drugs on one’s personality. The constant moral and cultural struggle within Xavier as he witnesses Elijah’s downfall while being associated with the same kind of liberties and surroundings is the true definition of a storm within. Which brings us to the question of the change in Xavier’s character throughout the novel, and why this change occurs in a person who could have had the same fate as his friend.

Contrary to what the question demands, I don’t really think Xavier changes much. We see him as a remorseful character, which is part of his moral code that links back to his upbringing and close connection to his cultural values. He feels bad about killing at war, regardless of his participation and evident role in the war. He does not compromise his beliefs over the advent of war, over the hatred for the enemy or in the company of someone like Elijah who we see keeps changing gradually, turning into “something that he’s not”. We do, however see some minor changes with regards to his morphine addiction and eventually losing faith in his ability to live after he returns to Nisaka. But with the help of her stories and motivation he fights to live, and that just proves that he is a man of strong character since the very beginning. As a child, he resisted to change when the nuns tried to eradicate the cultural values his family had, he stuck to speaking his own language and not believing the claims of evil lingering in the Cree heritage. As an adult, he resisted to becoming a war beast, he resisted to his drug addiction as he resisted to dying. Which clearly shows us that the resistance towards becoming someone else has been part of Xavier’s character all along. He has always been someone who cherishes where he came from and will do whatever it takes to keep that alive within him.