Three day road summary
The story opens in 1919 after the war and we are first introduces to an old woman named Niska, a native American living in Canadaand we learn she is a medicine woman and healer. She’s one of the last of her clan to live in the bush, having fought off going to the reserves and governments wanting to take the Indian out of the Indian at the time. She hears that her nephew who’s been sent off to the war has returned and paddles a long way to get to the train station. She sees just how much the war has left him damaged: he’s lost a leg and is addicted to morphine, which was the pain medicine was used at the time. She understands that he’s actually close to death and as she paddles him home, she realizes that in order to help him all she has to offer are the stories of her life. While she does this, Xavier who can’t even talk and almost deaf internally reflects on the past number of years, on his experience in the war with his childhood friend Elijah. This gives way to two different stories, two different narrators Niska and Xavier. The novel is structured like one of those Russian Matryoshka dolls, the ones where you open up the doll to find other, smaller dolls inside. Niska tells Xavier stories of her life, Elijah is obsessively compelled to tell Xavier war stories and poor Xavier is too damaged to speak of his own stories and so relives them in his morphine-addled head.
One of the many ironies is that the skills of the two friends used for hunting in the bush become incredibly valuable on the battle field. The army quickly realizes their skill as trackers and as marksmen and so they are made into snipers quite quickly once they reach the front.
Although their killing-abilities are remarkably respected and quite well regarded by the rest of the regiment, they still face racism within the army as a consequence of who they are. The characters feel very much like they have to prove themselves as they face prejudice.
Elijah discovers a lust for
One of the many ironies is that the skills of the two friends used for hunting in the bush become incredibly valuable on the battle field. The army quickly realizes their skill as trackers and as marksmen and so they are made into snipers quite quickly once they reach the front.
Although their killing-abilities are remarkably respected and quite well regarded by the rest of the regiment, they still face racism within the army as a consequence of who they are. The characters feel very much like they have to prove themselves as they face prejudice.
Elijah discovers a lust for