Three Day Road Analysis

A man and his son travelling alone amidst the ruins of a previously prosperous nation; a young man venturing into a treacherous land to tie up the loose ends in his life; a broken ranch hand that suspects he had a conversation with death: in the most desolate and uncertain environments, the surrounding world can lend a bleak and lifeless perspective to one’s struggle to survive. In lands without accompaniment from other humans, the will to live can be as difficult to muster as shelter for the night or the first meal in days. Cormac McCarthy explores the difficulties of survival under the tension of barren landscapes and youthful inexperience and their effects on the loss of innocence. Gained maturity enables humans to persist and stay hopeful, even in the least hopeful situations. These environments and mindsets play an important role in the messages of three novels by Cormac McCarthy: The Road, The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain.

In the novel Three Day Road, pain is overcome by the telling of stories. Stories of the past allow one to drift in their memories and relive the event, taking one's mind off of the pain that they feel. Xavier, who is in constant pain, is eased by Niska and her stories. Flashbacks enhance the reader's understanding by filling in the gaps. In the novel Three Day Road, Xavier experiences flashbacks which allow the reader to understand what he went through and what he has to do in order to survive. Also, flashbacks as well as stories help tie the themes together. Flashbacks and stories play an essential role in the novel.

-There is a focus on storytelling as a means of healing: "It is the story of my childhood. Now I tell it to you, Xavier, to keep you alive."(35)

Boyden: “I wanted her to be a strong woman who was doing this [being a

Similarly, Xavier and Elijah from Three Day Road go through a path of losing love and friends eventually turning to enemies. To begin, Xavier and Elijah war quickly noticed by other comrades because of their hunting skills. Xavier and Elijah grew up with a native background where Xavier doesn’t see killing as an ordinary thing to do. This is seen when Xavier is being shot at for the first time. He witnesses how close it was for him to be killed, responding, “The other side wants to kill me, and I’ve never even seen their faces” (Boyden, 33). Much like Paul, Xavier share many similarities to show guilt, shame and innocence. Xavier as well as Paul, thinking for all his comrades and there service for the war. Showing how his culture has

Many times the protagonists become the victims of the story and are eventually defeated. This is the case in Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road. The protagonist, Xavier Bird, is the victim and is eventually defeated by the powers and doings of the people that he encounters during the war, and also by the uncontrollable forces that act upon him during the course of the war. Ultimately, these two factors overpower him and lead to his emotional defeat.

Hope and humanity are two very important aspects of human nature and without it, life would be very catastrophic to mankind. Cormac McCarthy is the author of The Road. The Road is a dystopian story of an adventure of a father and his young child over a period of several months, over a scene impacted by an unspecified disaster that has demolished a large portion of human advancement and, in the mediating years, all life on Earth. The Road, is plagued by absence such as an absent hope and absent humanity. These absences reveal that without hope and humanity people can’t survive. Cormac McCarthy argues that without hope and humanity, humans can't continue to survive because when people lose hope, they lose their ability to dream for the future and humanity as a universal emotion, people must it have in order to survive for a long time.

Understanding oneself is one of the most important factors in living a free life, and living on the road can be a big part of this process. In the novel, Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer writes about a boy who ventures into the wilderness and inevitably learns more about himself on a journey right before he dies. In order to avoid his problematic family, Chris McCandless journeys into danger where he meets people who help him learn more about the world. Although he does eventually meet his end in Alaska, he leaves the world without worries or regrets. By living on the road and in nature, Mccandless is able to live the life that he wants and be free from the clutches of society. While living on the road can prove fatal, it allows a person to find themselves and avoid the problems of society; therefore, people should look to nature in order to better understand themselves.

1) The relationship between characters and their society is constant change. The society the characters live in is constantly changing due to the European presents in the country. This means the the characters must change and develop along side. This is seen in the novel when Xavier and Elijah joint the military and adapt to the European was of combat.

During this part of the book they were inside a toy store at the moment and wondering where they could find the Institute to find out who they really were. Angel was missing from the group in the toy store so Max started off by going to check the stuffed animal section. This was where she found Angel talking to to an old lady. Max’s worries had faded some because the wolf men called Erasers, don’t usually live for more than five to six years. The lady that was talking with Angel decided to buy the stuffed bear that she wanted so badly. The old lady walked up to the register with Angel, pulled out her wallet, paid for the the bear, and walked out of the store like nothing ever happened.

How does Cormac McCarthy’s Novel The Road, challenge a reader’s ideas, beliefs, experiences and values?

Memory provides a sense of personal identity. Memories that were made from the past create the person that they have become today. It helps to ground judgments and with reasoning. As an illustration, one day a young girl was shopping at the mall with a group of friends and they deiced to steal a cute

Langston Hughes uses beautiful symbolism and imagery in his literary work “On the Road”. Hughes offers up the idea that if one is to open ones heart; life will provide unlimited abundance. In this literary work, Langston Hughes uses nature to demonstrate and symbolize the unwillingness of his main character, Sargeant, to participate in life. Hughes also demonstrates the use of a person’s anger and instinct to survive and how they both can be used as powerful forces in breaking down racial barriers. Another more impacting symbol Hughes uses is Jesus Christ as a metaphor. Hughes uses this to show how people experience life and how the traditional church values contradict each other when it comes to the acceptance of human beings. Therefore

In a desolate world ravaged by fire, a boy and his father trudge across the countryside. They encounter people in their most desperate times where their motives are unpredictable and noone can be trusted. The boy and his father try to maintain their morality while facing starvation and having to deal with unpredictable people they encounter on the road. Cormac McCarthy in his novel The Road, uses the theme of hope to demonstrate the human trait that purpose is essential to survival.

The development of characters are one of the main factors that determine if a story is good or bad. In Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road, many characters are shown to have developed both negatively and positively. Xavier Bird is one of the main characters that was portrayed in the novel. He is portrayed as a strong dynamic character throughout the book, however his development turned out negatively despite his strong character traits. Xavier develops negatively through his addiction to morphine due to the pain, and he gets depressed, also turns out aggressive and violent towards the end of the war. The author uses these ways to show readers the negative development of Xavier bird due to the hardship he went in that hellish environment.