Three Day Road

Throughout the novel, people are concerned with their own safety, and with the safety of those entrusted to their care. For the Cree Indians, this means keeping their traditions intact and respecting nature. When issues arise, such as the killing of the bear, usually a sacred animal, for food, every effort must be made to ensure that no one acted greedily or against the rules of the group, or of nature. The bear is given every respect when being prepared for cooking, and even while being eaten. Otherwise, the bear’s spirit might bring doom onto the Indians, thus compromising their safety. Likewise, the desire to stick to the old ways often seems a double-edge sword, especially during the hard winters. An example of this is the couple who leaves the camp on their own with their child. They imagine their safety will be easier to defend as a smaller unit than with a large group, and so leave to find provisions. Instead, the husband dies in the cold and his wife eats his flesh, turning her into a windigo who must be killed for the protection of the others.

The safety sought by homeguard Indians on the reservation in Moose Factory is also ambivalent. Niska sees this firsthand when she returns to look for the French trapper she is in love with. She is viewed by the Indians as a wildling, and they want nothing to do with her. Some even view her as evil, as she keeps to the old ways. Niska, however, notices that the Indians seem lazier, and have forgotten their traditions. They dress like the whites, and drink a lot and have grown fat. Though the Indians are safe from starvation and the whims of nature, they have lost their traditions, and have lost their connection to nature.

Safety in the trenches is also a troubling concept. Xavier and Elijah know that they aren’t safe anywhere. Even when in their own trenches, where soldiers might expect to feel safe, they are subject to bombings, enemy raids, sniper fire, cold, and malnutrition, just to name a few of the setbacks they face. Xavier and Elijah are hunters, and are thus used to being in control. In the trenches, however, when their lives are in the hands of incompetent superiors and fellow soldiers, it is hard to say who is the hunter and who is being hunted. Moreover, their skill as snipers—a skill that keeps their fellow soldiers safe from enemy sniper fire—also makes them targets of the enemy.

Dehumanization is a theme at the heart of Three Day Road. Both the Cree Indians and white people are forced into dehumanizing circumstances. For the Indians, this dehumanization takes several forms. The first is seen in the guise of windigos, people who have eaten human flesh and who subsequently become beasts that constantly crave human flesh. These creatures, though seemingly human, must be killed by skilled windigo killers, like Niska and her father. A more ubiquitous threat lies in the dehumanization brought about by colonization and racism. White people’s contempt for Indian traditions and beliefs is evident throughout the novel and this attitude is even accepted an internalized by many of those Indians who choose to live among white people.  

In war, dehumanization becomes a good thing. For the soldiers on the battlefield, being more of an animal than a human is often the only way to survive. Those who are unable to stomach the stench of death all around them are viewed as weak, while those who can endure the sight of death--even exist side by side with the dead for days on end, such as the famed German sniper that Xavier kills--are viewed as good soldiers. For Xavier and Elijah, the battlefield is a peculiar place in that, for many, they are already considered less than human because they are Indians. Ironically, it is their success in warfare that gains them the respect of white soldiers and elevates them to human status. 

For all the death and misery that is seen on the battlefield, Xavier often notes in the narrative how, even when in no man’s land, the birds still flit about, unconcerned by the war that man is engaged in below. Also, despite the carnage, the flowers grow back, covering the damage done to the earth in a blanket of red. Similarly, the forest which burned around Xavier and Elijah on their way to enlist has begun to grow back by the time Xavier returns home. In this sense, nature is viewed as the final victor in the “eternal battle” between man and nature. No matter what nature must endure because of man, it bounces back.