Archetypal Theory On Three Day Road

Reading through the novel “Three Day Road”, I have discovered that there are various archetypal themes and characters that dwell in the story. In order to see these archetypes, I had to analyze the text and dig deeper because it was hidden. The characters that I found to have archetypal types of personalities were the three main characters: Xavier who is the protagonist, Elijah who is Xavier’s best friend, and Niska who is Xavier’s aunt, also a protagonist.

From my understanding, Xavier shows the characteristic of an outcast and the hero. Since Xavier is the narrator, he likes to describes events and while analyzing, I found that Xavier is similar to the Hero archetype because he stands for what he is good while showing acts of courage, but also differentiates because he doesn’t feel like he needs to earn the credit for doing good. A good is example is as Xavier hears the other soldiers speaking, “’It’s Elijah that’s the killer,’ Grey Eyes says suddenly. ‘X just spots for him. Elijah told me how X threw up the first time he saw Elijah get a kill.’ …I leave without a sound so that they do not know I have been there, my ears hot” (Boyden 88), he doesn’t let the enemy know that they are not correct, even if it affects his honor. This quote demonstrates how Xavier has a good mindset and in his convictions of doing the right thing by helping Elijah defeat Germans. Another case of Xavier that this statement shows is that Xavier isn’t compelled by a sense of duty. He realizes that what the soldiers are trying to state, is that Xavier is futile and Elijah doesn’t need him, yet he gives them a chance to accept what they need regardless of whether they don’t have the foggiest idea about reality that without Xavier Elijah would not have the strength to overcome Germans.

Xavier is always portraying Elijah as the trickster when he regularly tricks the English-talking soldiers with his fake dialect and accent, influencing it to appear as though he is one of them. The reason why I Elijah is a trickster is by his activities in the private school where he regularly escaped inconvenience by cajoling the nuns. Another basic thing Elijah does is speak like the soldiers to deceive and influence them to trust he is one of them. Elijah utilizes their intonation, as well as utilizes the same type of vocabulary, for example, “’Dear Henry,’ Elijah says, ‘would you be a kind chap and make me a cup of tea?’” (Boyden 125). This quote shows exactly how much of a trickster Elijah can be when speaking with the Englishmen. Although, when he speaks with Xavier, he is truthful, unlike when he talks to the Englishmen, it’s all lies and deceiving.

As indicated by her sustaining of Xavier and the way she uses spirituality to guide her, I imagine that Niska depicts the qualities of a mentor and magician. There were two statements that truly demonstrate a case of this in Niska’s character. The principal quote is when Niska depicts how she showed Xavier when he was a kid,“I taught you [Xavier] all I knew about the bush, the best way to snare rabbits and how to use their fur for protection against the cold… what plants and herbs were edible and which had healing properties” (Boyden 186). This statement implies that all Xavier knows and does would not be conceivable without the information that Niska gave him. Xavier’s mom was miserable discouraged after her dad’s passing, she put Xavier in a private school since she couldn’t deal with him. Niska protected him from the anguish that the school gave him, and raised him to be the man he is. The second statement is from when Niska summons the spirits of wildlife in her tent. She says, “I asked him [the spirit] to go out and find the source of my hurt an extinguish it” (Boyden 151). The core of her torment is the Frenchman that manhandled her, and after she asks for the spirits to encourage her, the Frenchman suspiciously kills himself. It is apparent that Niska has the ability to speak with extraordinary creatures, relating that she has the magician archetype.

“Lost innocence” is a theme that is available all through the entire book. The novel initially portrays how Elijah and Xavier were upbeat as young men, meandering in the hedge, having a great time being children. As the book advances, Xavier turns out to be more discouraged and dependent on morphine with a specific end goal to diminish his torment. Elijah likewise ends up dependent on morphine and turns distraught as he can’t stop his hunger for executing. Elijah ventures to scalp the men he executes with a specific end goal to be perceived as the best expert rifleman.

“The Hunger Games” has the most relation with the book Three Day Road because of how similar the characters are. Firstly, Xavier is like Katniss, both being brave and standing for whats right, and Niska is like Haymitch because they are both mentors. A typical model image in this book is the shading dark color and the number three. The shading dark is utilized relatively every other page while portraying individuals, creatures, and articles. It speaks to death when fighters cover themselves in it for disguise, and distress when Xavier gazes into the caught creature’s eyes, which are depicted as dark. The number three is huge in this book not just in light of the title, three day road, but since of the measure of times it appears in this novel. Three pages of the novel examine the number three so as to introduce its importance in both the European-Canadians’ lives and the Cree’s. It’s hard to say what will happen as the book ends because of the way things happen so fast in their journey.