Hollys response to Three Day Road

I have taken a long time to post this, because I have been thinking about it a lot. What I keep thinking about is, who is really Windigo, Elijah or Xavier?
While we know that Elijah has a love for killing and takes great pride in killing other men, it is Xavier who loses touch with reality.
if you look back to page 44, where Niska's father is preparing to kill the female Windigo, it says "she begged and pleaded in a childs voice, first for Micah to help her, then for her child to be brought to her." The woman had killed Micah, and was wel aware of it. Her reaction to ask Micah for help reminds me of Xavier always thinking about Elijah and where he was while he was on his canoe ride home. Xavier defiantely knew that he had killed his friend. Was this denial, or was it madness?
Xavier even says a few times that he wonders where Elijah is, and i seriously question the fact that this is just blocked from his memory.

xaviers loss of hearing during the war forced him to live within himself, because he could not hear or understand what was going on around him. This put him in a sort of solitary confinement, and Elijah was his communicative device. i sometimes wonder if when Xavier lost touch with reality and viewed Eljah as his enemey since he was the reason Xavier was at war. Also, Elijah is what kept Xavier involved with the troops because otherwise, Xavier likely would have left and returned home.

When I switch the context of who is truly Windigo, I also think of the situation where Elijah is awareded medals and recieves praise, and Xavier is always wondering "what about me." At some point in the story he wonders to himself what was different about him, and up until this point I thought that it was because Elijah was such a good killer and such an outspoken person. But what if it was that the others could see Xaviers decent into madness? No one in the troops wanted to get to know Xavier, but Elijah was Xaviers link to the world outside of his deaf ears.

The biggest problem with this theory is that at no point does Xavier appear to enjoy killing people, and as far as we know he does not eat anyone. So from here, I wonder, was there a Windigo, or was there just pure insantiy?
In the scene where Xavier is killing Elijah, I felt that there was a degree of self defence in Elijah. Xavier was paranoid about Elijah for along time, and maybe his paranoya came from his own madness. Elijah asks "why?" when xavier started to strangle him, and sometimes I wonder if Elijah had been trying to help Xavier and that is why he had tried to get time alone with him.

I realise that there are alot of holes in this theory, but can you imagine the difference it would make if it was just Xaviers insanity that caused him to believe that Elijah was a windigo? what if the story was told from the perspective of Elijah?

All in all, i really liked the story. I thought it was great and very well written. I also really enjoyed everyone elses post on it!

Jim's Response to "Fugitive Pieces"

The image above is Idhra, Greece, and to the right is a photo of the reconstructed site of Biskupin, Poland: similar to our Barkerville.

Having read Fugitive Pieces, I am rather dissappointed with the last third of the book concerning the way it was structured. I was moving right along until page 201 when I had to ask myself; " Who is this and where am I?" Reflecting back, I now see the rest of the book from p.201 on, as a separate novel that refers back to the first section before page 201. Even though I believe I now understand why the author did this, I also at the same time believe it could have been done in such a way that the reader did not feel so lost at this point in the book. Of course, the author could have and probably did want the reader to feel lost at this point to emphasize how it must have felt for Jacob or Ben or one the other characters to feel, but for me the feeling of not knowing what was going on totally blinded any insights I might have had as to having felt as the characters did.

Having said that, I realize that in our society we have been raised to expect our stories (in whatever form) to end in certain ways and usually with happy and positive or "resolved" endings, and in real life, stories do not always end that way. Fugitive Pieces does not end this way, so one could argue that it portrays more of a realistic look at what effects war can have on people - even penetrating through different generations. Though the character Jacob does appear to reach some acceptable (to himself) level of healing with help from Michaela, the character of Ben, whose parents were directly involved in the war, does not. Ben seems to be confused about the women in his life and Jacobs life as he leaves Naomi and then is not faithful to her when he sleeps with Petra, who interestingly enough reminded me of the description of Jacob's sister Bella. It also looked as though Ben thought he needed to find love in Greece in order to help him find Jacob's books, and it was because of Petra that he did find the journals - what was the author trying to say with that? I felt I was diving too deep and I had to come up for air.

Fugitive Pieces was an interesting read and for an overall theme I felt the author was trying to express her belief that war doesn't just mess up the lies of those involved, but also can mess up the lives of future generations. I believe the "entering of the fog" beginning on page 201 was done on purpose as the author believed the story was following too much of a path towards a traditional ending and she wanted to steer away from that. By sending the reader into "the fog" and then not revealing how Jacob and Michaela never made it back to the house, and ending with Ben's issues not resolved; forces the reader to focus on the message of the novel: the evil resulting from war can persevere for generations.

Behind the Times

Well, the title of this post speaks to where I am - sorry for the delay in adding comments to your posts/reader responses. I will make some comments over the weekend, I promise. This is a reminder that next week is Reading Week. I will be here, in the office, most days with the likely exception of Thursday. Do come and see me if you want some assistance with your papers.

For those of you who weren't at this week's class, we decided to return to weekly meetings (not during Reading Week of course). We will also continue blogging, and no one who cannot come to the classes during the weeks scheduled as Web Weeks will be penalized. But you will miss some lively discussion!

This is Chorley Park - what a beautiful building.  It is talked about in Fugitive Pieces on pages 106-108.  

I love histories of buildings so I thought I'd add this picture and a link to a brief history of Chorley Park.

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/exhibits/architecture/record_chorley.htm

Aldea Three Day Road

Some themes that I have pondered on, that had also been mentioned by Jim and Rachelle are: Binary oppositions - Native/Caucasion, Male/Female, Good/Bad, Right/Wrong & Alive/Dead

Racism - Fritz, Germans, Canadians, Huns, Natives & French

Traditions - Hunting, Death/Burial, Celebration, Appreciation, Mourning & Stories

Roles - Female, Male, Church, Town, War > Heirarchy vs. Linear

Life and Death.

What a novel! I read this novel wondering the whole time who is the hero? Is this a novel about heroism? and if so, who is the hero? Niska, Elijah, Xavier or Fat. I am overwhelmed by the characters because they are potentially real for someone and they had a role in the first world war that was to change how wars have been fought previously.

Elijah, did he go crazy or was he the normal one, was it Xavier who went crazy because he couldn't understand the dynamics of this war the way that Elijah had. Who went Wendigo???

Niska, was she a real person, or a spirit that many people incommon encountered during different periods of their lives? Was she just the spirit of their past, of the old ways that would bring those back home who were willing to right their wrongs, and was she the angel of death to send someone to their maker if they were unwilling to admit to their wrongs?

Who was right, and who was wrong to do what they had to do? The novel Three Day Road is a story about the war from the perspective of Niska and Xavier, Cre from Moose Factory, but yet there was so much more.

Blanca - you sure know how to make a student think for days on end, and still find no definate conclusion, but yet in being inconclusive, been given a conclusion in that.

Jim's Response to Three Day Road

(photo is Francis Pegahmagabow: Ojibwa World War l hero and inspiration for "Three Day Road" - for his story, go to: http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=history/other/native/peaceful )

Everyone must someday take the journey on the "three day road" - this was a prevailing thought when I had finished reading Three Day Road. It was an excellent novel, though I could not always call it enjoyable. To me this story explored in depth the issues of life and death, and contrasted these two issues within the native and caucasian cultures of that time, and how they all related to World War l.

I found the two sex scenes in book interesting in that both of them involved a coming together of the two races and both of them ended in dissapointment for Niska and Xavier, but not necessarily for the trapper or Lisette. I believe Boyden was making a statement here referring to how First Nations people have always been treated poorly by non-native Canadians traditionally. It could also be surmised that a warning is being issued with the relating of how the trapper died because of Niska. This warning could be applied to either men who choose to treat first nation women in a demeaning manner, or the poor treatment of/or towards first nation people in general. The incident caused me to ponder the idea of curses and how many curses have been put on non native people over the years. Do you beleive in curses?

Similair to Broken Ground, I recieved even more insight into the horrors and senseless loss of human life that is war and I gained an even larger understanding of why veterans that I have talked to did not wish to share their experiences. With incidents such as the killing of innocent civilians, as depicted in the scene where Elijah kills them thinking he is protecting Xavier, these incidents, whether or not they are intentional, are not something one would want to talk of later on. Other attrocities include the scalping, the methods of warfare (nerve gas), the treatment of prisoners, and of course racism.

I feel I have gained much insight from reading Three Day Road I am glad that the issues talked about in it are finally being addressed today.

Jim's Response to Broken Ground

Here are the pictures I wanted to share with everyone. They are both taken near Sechelt, which is across the Strait of Georgia and south a bit from Merville; the area that the story is based upon, so the geography should be similar. In the first photo there is a stump pile and this along with the debris that is everywhere really gives a sense ( at least to me )of the amount of work needed to clear this type of land. The second picture shows the size and amount of stumps present and I have just now noticed that they are both in the same location (note church in background) and the first photo shows work done after the second photo was taken.

In Broken Ground, I found that there were a lot themes being addressed and I was not really getting a feel for what the main theme of the book was as a whole, if there was one. This led to me pondering the title of the book: 'broken ground'. As I thought about this title, I came to the conclusion that perhaps a theme (or one of the main themes) of this book is upheaval, destruction and change. Looking at the photo on the front cover and having not yet read the book, one might just see a man plowing a field; as I did. After reading the book, however, I think that this picture says " Wow, look at what I have accomplished!" The man in the photo could be reflecting on what the land looked like when he first viewed it (pics above) and how impossible it had seemed that he would be able to persevere and survive the task of clearing the land. Because the book also looks at the parallel theme of the men surviving and dealing with the war, this photo could also represent how the characters (especially Matt) survive and learn to live with the upheaval and destruction, or broken ground in their lives that is caused from the war. The man in the picture on the cover, who represents the surviving characters in the book, is proudly showing the world that he conquered the hell that is: 1) clearing the land, and 2) dealing with the war.

Rachelle's Three Day Road Response

The novel "Three Day Road," by author Joseph Boyden, was an enthralling and seductive read. It was one of those rare novels where I found myself not only wanting to know what would come next, but needing to know. The three main protagonists: Xavier, Niska, and Elijah were all emotionally charged characters, each with many levels and layers of emotion. This novel was incredibly magnetizing from start to finish, due to the structure, consisting of a series of flashbacks intertwined with the present. These flashbacks from Niska and Xavier revealed how the both Xavier and Elijah came to live with Niska, how the boys became such great hunters , and how Niska came to accept her destiny as a Windigo killer.

One of the most interesting links in this novel is the link made between Elijah and Xavier's hunting abilities. The boys learned how to hunt animals with one another at home in Canada and then later use those skills to hunt humans in the war. This link made by Boyden, was absolutely brillant and revealed the true gruesomeness to the acts that were committed in the war.

I enjoyed the Canadian perspective on the war in this novel and furthermore, the Native perspectives presented. I felt that it was an important element to the novel that Boyden made it clear to his readers, the important role that Canada's Native played in the war.

In addition to all of these factors, was the different reactions to the war that Elijah and Xavier experienced. For Xavier, he was reasonable about his actions, killed because he was in a posistion where he had to or he would lose his own life and felt remorse for his actions. Elijah however, was unreasonable, killed for personal glory, and felt no remorse for his actions.

Lastly, Niska's stories told to her Nephew Xavier on their journey home about her past familiarized the reader to her. It was interesting to learn how the events of the novel came to be through Niska's memories. Not to mentiont those risking sections where she recalls her sexual past and decision to become a Windigo character.

Essay Topics

Well, your first essays are due on February 26th. These should be short essays of around 4-5 pages, clear, concise, and coherent...

Use the discussion questions from the post on Joseph Boyden to generate your essays. These can be developed to include discussion of Broken Ground. You may write a comparative essay if you like, or focus on one of the two novels. Your reader responses can lead you to some solid essay topics. The questions are quite general - you will need to narrow them down to create a strong sense of your topic. You will also want to think about meaning as you write... Go beyond what the book is about; think about what it means, in larger abstract terms. What are the issues that these novels address? I think about the challenge of representation here, for instance.

Let's get some discussion on topics going here! Note that I will be away for the weekend, and back on Tuesday, so you may not hear much from me until then.

Remember, the idea of using this Blog instead of classtime is for you to develop your own skills in terms of research direction and reading!