Three Day Road: Character Development Essay

In the beginning of Three Day Road, Elijah is a curious, rebellious boy. He looks up to Xavier, but after going to the residential school, and war, Elijah grows independent from Xavier. Elijah

-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)

The novel Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden revolves around the issues of Canadian soldiers at battle during the first World War. This story demonstrates addiction in all different forms, which is a recurring result of the trauma the war has on the characters. These cravings lead to struggling, and result in major consequences for themselves and those around them. The most prominent form of addiction mentioned is to morphine, affecting not only those taking the drugs, but also those around them. A side of Elijah his friend Xavier has never seen before comes out during the war, as a result of his intense desire for recognition.

“Identity is not inherent. It is shaped by circumstance and sensitivity and resistance to self pity,” (Dorothy West). Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road paints a clear picture of the shaping of the three main characters identity in result of their environment and experiences. Xavier Bird, Elijah Weesageechak and Niska each fight a battle within, alongside the conflict that society brings upon them. With each turn of the page the readers are taken through the agonizing aspects of war, the demoralizing events of Residential Schools and the discouraging experiences of racial discrimination. Countless tales are told within the novel allowing one to fully immerse themself into the excruciating experiences the

The damage and trauma of the first world war had devastating impacts for countless individuals all across the world. It caused the destruction of entire cities and claimed the lives of millions. Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road focuses on the stories of three Cree-Canadians and their experiences during the great war both on the battlefield and the home front. In order to shed light on the often historically disregarded sacrifices and contributions of First Nations people during the first world war, Joseph Boyden uses symbolism to illustrate the impact of trauma from the First Nation’s perspective in his novel Three Day Road. The lynx embodies Niska’s strength in the face of adversity, the number three represents Xavier’s difficulty to reconcile

Many Aboriginal populations have been using storytelling as a way of communication for centuries. Storytelling is used on a day to day basis whether it be reading a story to kids or telling friends about an experience. The importance of storytelling is highlighted constantly throughout the book Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden and the entire story itself is a recollection of memories. Niska tells stories of her past to warn and teach Xavier. Xavier tells stories of his haunting and innocence shattering experience at war to help him heal. Elijah tells stories about his life before and during the war as an attempt to maintain what is left of his aboriginal culture and to heal himself by reminding himself of his achievements and what he has proudly accomplished . Storytelling plays a significant role in the novel by teaching and helping to heal the characters.

Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden is a story about Aboriginal struggles in World War One. Boyden’s story is told in the perspectives of Xavier, a fictional Oji-Cree boy, returning home from World War One, and Niska, his aunt. As Xavier’s only remaining relative, it is Niska’s job to take the war-broken Xavier back to the wilderness of Northern Ontario when he is discharged. As Xavier is on the gruelling three day road home, he reflects on his past experiences as Niska attempts to heal him with stories of her life, sharing with him her own experiences with “war”.

Three Day Road takes place in 1919 after the first world war in northern Ontario. An Oji-Cree medicine woman named Niska, who has received the good news of the return of a family friend from war, decided to go and retrieve him from the train station. Yet instead of the expected meeting with Elijah, she finds herself face to face with her supposedly dead nephew Xavier Bird. Although he had survived through the war, it had cost him a leg. Realizing he was surviving off the military’s morphine and his disease was truly from the inside, Niska knew the last thing there was to keep him alive were the stories that kept her alive through the winters of her childhood. In return, Xavier decides to tell Niska stories of the war. He revealed that he and

Aries, Clementine, Mason and Michael have survived the first wave of the apocalypse that wiped out most of the world's population, and turned many of the rest into murderous Baggers. Now, they're hiding out in an abandoned house in Vancouver with a ragtag group of surviving teens, and trying to figure out their next move.

Three Day Road is a complex and layered novel. It incorporates several themes and plot lines to form a classic novel that students will be reading for years to come. The stories of Xavier Bird, Elijah Weesageechak, and Niska are influenced and changed by obsession or fixation. Xavier maintains Ojibwa beliefs and traditions, and seeks to protect himself and Elijah. Yet Elijah seeks only to impress others and to protect himself. Niska wishes to maintain her father’s legacy, and ensure Xavier’s safety.

In the three short stories, “Through the Tunnel,” “The Bet,” and “The Story of an Hour,” the life lesson that is being taught is that the main characters in each story are being reborn, and a new lifestyle is being brought to them. When you become reborn you see life in a different perspective, usually when this happens you overcome a major obstacle in your life, or something dramatic happens.

In Joseph Boyden’s novel Three Day Road, Xavier and Elijah both of Cree decent are sent to fight in World War One. The characters share the same cultural identity; however endure their own experiences in which they differ dramatically. They not only face the hardship of being soldiers, but the stigma attached to being First Nation. Boyden uses a unique form of narration, as well as symbols, and motifs in order to illustrate the transitional relationship of Xavier and Elijah. From being the best of friends early in the novel hey continually grow apart. In the novel, Xavier decides that he must put a stop to Elijah’s madness and ultimately takes his life. Boyden throughout compares and contrasts these two characters in order too demonstrate how when values that are instilled in us are tarnished, it is easy to lose our moral compass In turn, we fade away from our identity, thus leading to, in this p case, Elijah’s ultimate demise. However, in the case of Xavier due to strong cultural ties he is able to withstand the trauma of the war, unlike Elijah.

42 Trethosa Road, Round the Bend, begrudgingly named by my grandfather if only to humour the postman, is a two bedroom bungalow in a small Cornish village, sitting expectedly on the roads turning. A holiday destination to me and a home to my grandparents, this building is linked in its totality with my family. Designed by my great grandfather in 1966 and built over the following [INFO] by my grandpa to provide a home for his wife and [INFO] year old daughter, who had until then been living in a caravan on the site.

During the Character education class I handed out the worksheet and I was giving the instruction and couple of time I warned him. And he refused me he was keep disrupting my class. And I asked him to come and sit next to me. He came and sat. He started to asking me "what did I do" I told him you were disrupting. I said to stop and he refused. After that I opened my coolsis and give him points. I opened but I did not give them yet he got his worksheet crouched it and put it to the trash can by looking my

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.