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.
2 comments:
I think thats an interesting thought questioning if Niska was a real person or not, good one Aldea!
Hey Aldea
I am glad to see that somoene else questioned who truly went Windigo in regards to Xavier and Elijah, this was one of my biggest questions as well. Xavier certainly seemed to loose touch with reality.
I also pondered the rights and wrongs in the story. I almsot felt that the issue of native/caucasian was an example of right/wrong in the story. The whtie way was the wrong way, with killing violence and insaity, while the native way was peaceful in comparision. Of course, this thought is only in regards to the novel, we all know that all cultures are violent!
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