Throughout the Joseph Boyden’s novel “Three Day Road”, there is an undeniable sense of innocence shattered; purity shredded to rags. Quotes from this novel will bring to light this theme and the areas in which Xavier, the main character, loses his innocence.
“He hoped that I would get a good souvenir from him. And I do. When I find the sniper, I see in the darkness that his face is a black smear. I had hit him dead on the nose. I go through his pockets” (139).
The first way in which Xavier’s virtue is destroyed is in his regard for human life. When Xavier first enters the war, the devastation and incessant killing makes him sick and miserable, in very obvious ways. His narratives describe the murdering that surrounds him as dreadful, and he vomits when he first sees a man get killed by a sniper’s bullet. But the war wears on Xavier, it instils its values into him. As this quote shows, he has gone from the miserable soldier to the accomplished killer, and has successfully ended the life of one of the finest German snipers. Through the cavalier description of the body, it is evident that Xavier has lost his regard for human life. But beyond just disregard, he now sees the enemy life as a prize to be captured; in his twisted mind, a souvenir is almost his justification for ending his opponent’s life. He has lost an enormous part of the innocence he once possessed, and this quote clearly shows this.
“If I am to take all of [the morphine] at once and in this way end my pain for good, I will have to do it soon. Only a few needlefuls are left, and I do not know what I will do when it’s gone” (177).
The second form of Xavier’s innocence that is ruined is his natural aversion to the drug morphine. When he is new to the war, Xavier sees the subtle yet sometimes devastating effects of morphine, and swears to himself never to take it. Another soldier named Grey Eyes is addicted to the drug, and Xavier’s makes continuous disapproving comments, and even goes so far as to blame Grey Eyes and morphine for the death of fellow soldier Sean Patrick. But as time progresses and Xavier’s friend Elijah describes the effects of the drug, disgust turns into curiosity, and a desire to use the morphine. And once again Xavier’s innocence is shattered, as we see him return from the war a morphine addict; the drug defining his life as can be seen in the quote.
“I listen and try to fight the anger that comes to me when Elijah does these stupid things. It isn’t fair” (99).
Although much more subtle than the others, the last area in which the war damages Xavier is equally devastating; his slowly waning friendship with Elijah. When Xavier and Elijah first enter the war, they are as close as brothers, and the only hope Xavier has in the bleak World War I landscape is his friendship with Elijah. But even from the beginning, the two friends take very different paths. Where Xavier resists the dishonourable practices of the war, Elijah embraces them. Elijah also likes to boast and promote himself, and is very talkative, whereas Xavier says next to nothing to the other soldiers. Although these two friends are so close, these differences become planted between them, and Xavier holds bitter resentment towards Elijah.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
I Met A Man Named Daniel
I step quickly and intentionally, a grin of anticipation on my face. A grin of anticipation for the future of my life; who I could become. An unrealistic yet idealistic anticipation, for I have just met myself, nine years into the future.
As I begin to talk with Daniel, age twenty-five, I find that he was in many ways the same as I am now, at the age of sixteen. Reserved and thoughtful, he is quiet as I first start talking with him, and often doesn’t have much to say. This made the beginning of our conversation difficult because our timidity is mutual. But as we continue talking, he becomes more animated and loses the all too familiar discomfort of meeting someone for the first time. He starts by telling me about his life as a medical student at UBC. Coming out of high school he knew he wanted to be a doctor, and was accepted by the UBC science department. He then went on to the faculty of medicine, and spent a summer in Costa Rica, where he was able to experience being a doctor for the first time, without any true doctors experience. I could see the joy in his eyes as he described to me the operations he helped with, the sick that he helped heal. He described to me the sense of calling he felt from God, during that trip and ever since, to become a doctor; to heal the sick for the rest of his life. He will be going back to Costa Rica again soon, to stand in defiance of death and illness with the doctors he learned so much from.
He then told me about his other passion; music. He plays guitar and piano in a band, made up of a closely knit group of friends from his church in Vancouver. Together, they have recorded two full length albums, which they sell at the shows they play every weekend. Daniel tells me how he devotes most of his free time to the band, and how he and the band are planning a tour through British Columbia and Alberta in the upcoming summer. I can sense the elation and peace he feels as he once again describes the calling to use music as a way of honouring God.
He tells me how he still goes to the same church he went to Sunday School at, and how those he was closest to from childhood have remained steadfast friends all these years. He dreams of living in Vancouver for the rest of his life, travelling around the world to heal the sick and play with his band. He will continue following the path his life is on, and will keep the friends that he has loved so dearly all his life.
And as I walk away from the Daniel of the future with that grin of anticipation, I know that even if the future of my dreams doesn’t become reality, whatever God has in store for my life will be brilliant.
As I begin to talk with Daniel, age twenty-five, I find that he was in many ways the same as I am now, at the age of sixteen. Reserved and thoughtful, he is quiet as I first start talking with him, and often doesn’t have much to say. This made the beginning of our conversation difficult because our timidity is mutual. But as we continue talking, he becomes more animated and loses the all too familiar discomfort of meeting someone for the first time. He starts by telling me about his life as a medical student at UBC. Coming out of high school he knew he wanted to be a doctor, and was accepted by the UBC science department. He then went on to the faculty of medicine, and spent a summer in Costa Rica, where he was able to experience being a doctor for the first time, without any true doctors experience. I could see the joy in his eyes as he described to me the operations he helped with, the sick that he helped heal. He described to me the sense of calling he felt from God, during that trip and ever since, to become a doctor; to heal the sick for the rest of his life. He will be going back to Costa Rica again soon, to stand in defiance of death and illness with the doctors he learned so much from.
He then told me about his other passion; music. He plays guitar and piano in a band, made up of a closely knit group of friends from his church in Vancouver. Together, they have recorded two full length albums, which they sell at the shows they play every weekend. Daniel tells me how he devotes most of his free time to the band, and how he and the band are planning a tour through British Columbia and Alberta in the upcoming summer. I can sense the elation and peace he feels as he once again describes the calling to use music as a way of honouring God.
He tells me how he still goes to the same church he went to Sunday School at, and how those he was closest to from childhood have remained steadfast friends all these years. He dreams of living in Vancouver for the rest of his life, travelling around the world to heal the sick and play with his band. He will continue following the path his life is on, and will keep the friends that he has loved so dearly all his life.
And as I walk away from the Daniel of the future with that grin of anticipation, I know that even if the future of my dreams doesn’t become reality, whatever God has in store for my life will be brilliant.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Xavier
In the novel “Three Day Road” by Joseph Boyden, the entire narrative revolves around the main character Xavier, an aboriginal Canadian. But in the novel, time leisurely travels from present to past and back again, dreams becoming more real than reality itself. The contrast between the Xavier of the past and the Xavier of the present is what makes his character so intriguing and heartbreaking.
The Xavier of the past, found in the personal narratives of his reminiscent nightmares, is a young, naive and honest Cree. But he is cast blindly into a new and terrible world when he and his English speaking friend Elijah volunteer to fight for Canada in the Great War. All he knows about the horrors to come are from what Elijah tells him: “Now say, ‘I am a Cree Indian from Moose Factory, and I have come to kill Germans.’ They will like that” (59). Xavier becomes very conflicted as he enters the world of war, as his personal values are contradicted by the bombardment of death and killing. When, for the first time, Xavier believes that he kills someone, he cannot bear the thought of it and “replays...the concussion and screams...over and over in [his] head so that [he] doesn’t sleep” (75). And when Elijah takes a Germans life with a sniper rifle, “the image of the soldier’s head exploding makes [Xavier’s] stomach churn” and he vomits from his empty stomach (88). Despite the endless promotion of murder, Xavier maintains his honesty and looks down upon Elijah and the other soldiers who incessantly exaggerate and boast of their shooting and killing abilities. As the war progresses Xavier becomes more accustomed to the death that surrounds him, but when time returns to the present, we find that even this reserved and righteous young man could not escape the devastation of war.
The Xavier of the present is seen through the personal narrative of his Aunt Niska, and what he has become as a result of the war is shocking and ghastly: “He walks slowly along the aisle, on crutches... He is an old man [and] so skinny. One leg of his pants...hangs down...empty...The ghost of her nephew Xavier looks at her” (6). The once vibrant and young Cree hunter “has experienced more danger than anyone should experience in a hundred lives” and it has left him ragged and torn (7). Beyond his physical ruin is a problem even more terrible, both psychological and physical: “...he can no longer live without the medicine. Their morphine eats men. [He] will not be able to live without it” (10). This deeply contrasts to the past Xavier who saw other soldiers became “a prisoner of the medicine they call morphine”, the “idea of [which] scared [him]” (65). Even Xavier’s temperament and personality have been radically transformed. Whereas before he was a peaceful man, Xavier now is full of unfulfilled rage and sorrow. He reacts to Niska’s attempts to help him by lashing out: “Her words make [him] angry. [He doesn’t] know why...[He] spit[s] in the water. ‘Leave me alone’” (76). Xavier is in such a confused state of pain, drugs and anger that he then goes on to give Niska a morbid description of fields covered in rotting corpses and trees filled with skulls. He is so lost in the misery of war that he doesn’t know how to react to his own violence with anything more than violence.
The character of Xavier is truly heartbreaking, a body hollow of the gentleness and honesty that once filled it. Xavier is a living metaphor for the devastation of war, as the contrast between the past and present Xavier proves that war will greedily devour the morals of the righteous, and leave only a shell to live on.
The Xavier of the past, found in the personal narratives of his reminiscent nightmares, is a young, naive and honest Cree. But he is cast blindly into a new and terrible world when he and his English speaking friend Elijah volunteer to fight for Canada in the Great War. All he knows about the horrors to come are from what Elijah tells him: “Now say, ‘I am a Cree Indian from Moose Factory, and I have come to kill Germans.’ They will like that” (59). Xavier becomes very conflicted as he enters the world of war, as his personal values are contradicted by the bombardment of death and killing. When, for the first time, Xavier believes that he kills someone, he cannot bear the thought of it and “replays...the concussion and screams...over and over in [his] head so that [he] doesn’t sleep” (75). And when Elijah takes a Germans life with a sniper rifle, “the image of the soldier’s head exploding makes [Xavier’s] stomach churn” and he vomits from his empty stomach (88). Despite the endless promotion of murder, Xavier maintains his honesty and looks down upon Elijah and the other soldiers who incessantly exaggerate and boast of their shooting and killing abilities. As the war progresses Xavier becomes more accustomed to the death that surrounds him, but when time returns to the present, we find that even this reserved and righteous young man could not escape the devastation of war.
The Xavier of the present is seen through the personal narrative of his Aunt Niska, and what he has become as a result of the war is shocking and ghastly: “He walks slowly along the aisle, on crutches... He is an old man [and] so skinny. One leg of his pants...hangs down...empty...The ghost of her nephew Xavier looks at her” (6). The once vibrant and young Cree hunter “has experienced more danger than anyone should experience in a hundred lives” and it has left him ragged and torn (7). Beyond his physical ruin is a problem even more terrible, both psychological and physical: “...he can no longer live without the medicine. Their morphine eats men. [He] will not be able to live without it” (10). This deeply contrasts to the past Xavier who saw other soldiers became “a prisoner of the medicine they call morphine”, the “idea of [which] scared [him]” (65). Even Xavier’s temperament and personality have been radically transformed. Whereas before he was a peaceful man, Xavier now is full of unfulfilled rage and sorrow. He reacts to Niska’s attempts to help him by lashing out: “Her words make [him] angry. [He doesn’t] know why...[He] spit[s] in the water. ‘Leave me alone’” (76). Xavier is in such a confused state of pain, drugs and anger that he then goes on to give Niska a morbid description of fields covered in rotting corpses and trees filled with skulls. He is so lost in the misery of war that he doesn’t know how to react to his own violence with anything more than violence.
The character of Xavier is truly heartbreaking, a body hollow of the gentleness and honesty that once filled it. Xavier is a living metaphor for the devastation of war, as the contrast between the past and present Xavier proves that war will greedily devour the morals of the righteous, and leave only a shell to live on.
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