A key scene in Boyden’s Three Day Road occurs after Xavier has received a letter stating that his Aunt Niska has died. This particular scene is significant to the story because it illustrates how Xavier and Elijah are trying to deal with their pain. Xavier tries to reach to the teaching of his ancestors by preparing a sweat lodge and praying to try and deal with the grief of losing his aunt and the horror of the war that he is experiencing. Xavier wants to escape his body and try and gain some understanding of the chaos of the war. Once he finally leaves the matatosowin and goes back to the tents where Elijah is sleeping, Xavier contemplates using the morphine, but stops and instead attempts to inject Elijah. This is a critical point because it is the first time that Xavier seems to really understand that Elijah needs the morphine to deal with the war. Xavier wants to help Elijah numb the pain.
“I am light-headed leaving the matatosowin, stumble when I bend to pick up my clothes. Still no answers. The heat has sucked everything out of me. My skin is red and tender. The air outside is deliciously cool. My will does not guide me at this point. Something carries me. I’ve been in the lodge for hours. The world now is a colour I’ve never seen, a blue-black so sharp that the sky feels close enough for me to touch it. A half-moon floats above me. I let whatever this is pull me along, take me where it will”. (322)
This scene connects with the rest of Three Day Road in the way that it shows the differences in the character’s upbringing and the changes they undergo as a result of the war. Although Xavier was the more experienced hunter, his education in the traditional ways of his people prevented him from being able to kill men for sport. Xavier has deep spiritual roots because of his upbringing and so he can draw on this to try and gain some clarity. Elijah, on the other hand, feels that he is a good killer of men and numbs his pain artificially. The contrast between the two men is highlighted when Xavier thinks about taking the morphine and then stops. He finally understands the need that Elijah has to stop the pain anyway he can. This scene connects to the rest of the book by showing the horrors of war and how Xavier can draw on the teachings of his aunt to try and deal with the horrors of war and death while Elijah cannot.
