War Corruption

The Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden was a horrifying but interesting book. The main themes are, friendship, addiction, identity, war, and death. With all of these themes one would think the book would be crowded, boring and slow. However, it instead is a fast-paced and realistic telling of a Cree boy’s life before, during, and after World War 1.  Part of the reason that makes this book a good read, is it’s success at  weaving so many “heavy” topics together. Boyden uses each of the themes to enhance one another and does it in a way that makes sense but at the same time makes you think a lot deeper. This was true when it came to Elijah and Xavier's relationship, which was a bound between two seemingly similar men. They both have distinctive identities which continually get built upon throughout the book. Their reactions to war and death are very different and it is interesting to see how their bond is corrupted slowly. Elijah's acceptance/submission of the western culture has an enduring effect on him during the war. The war slowly corrupted both but it too Elijah first which only made it harder for Xavier. Just entering in the war decided their faith and there would be and was nothing they could do about it.