Thesis Statement: War completely changes soldiers who participate in it. The experiences during war directly affect the mental, physical and emotional behavior of particular individuals who fight in it more so when loss of close friends is involved. Permanent and lasting scars occur to the personality of any soldier which may be relived through nightmares or worse still lose of limbs, faculty of speech or mental trauma. In the Three Day Road, this is exhibited when Xavier and Elijah who are best friends from childhood are separated by the cruelty of war with Elijah consumed as collateral damage in the war. As a result, the behavior of Xavier changes dramatically, such that he is unable to speak after the war, remains shaken by the loss of his friend, has to deal with the loss of a leg, has sleepless nights dreading horrible images or memories of war and has an addiction to morphine a powerful painkiller. This demonstrates that the negative effects of participating of war regardless of being on the winning side.
The storyline of the Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden narrates of two Northern Ontario Cree who enrolled with the army and rose to become famous snipers during World War I. The two friends Xavier and Elijah from extremely different backgrounds find themselves on the war front in Belgium and France. They fight within trenches against their fierce enemies and their struggle is evident in the story as they are described as soaked and full of mud making it a dreadful place to exist. However, due to their upbringing the two boys are complete opposites that complement each other. Xavier raised by his native Indian aunt is silent and keeps to himself while Elijah who was raised in town but who escapes to join Xavier and the aunt embraces the European culture and has a pinch of boastfulness in himself. While on duty, both Elijah and Xavier are convinced of taking morphine which slowly traps them into an addiction.
In his pride, Elijah learns to keep his record kills by scalping his victims something that disgusts Xavier. It is at this point that Elijah’s madness begins and the loss of guard encroaches upon him such that he consumes more and more morphine. The two were completely rotting away in the battle field with Elijah’s addiction turning him into a human cannibal referred to as a windigo while Xavier had complicated hearing problems. Eventually, Xavier realizes this such that during a raid, he becomes the Windigo killer and executes Elijah who had transformed into a human eating monster. Though Xavier escapes the battle field he loses a limb and a best friend. Niska who comes to pick Xavier at the train station is involved in a vivid development of an analysis into the whole outcome while they travel three days on a canoe ride home.
A famous saying states that “War, is not a game, it is real life. Real guns, real casualties, real victory and real scars accompany it. For this is life and not a game.” Developing on this it is very easy therefore to identify the effects multiple effects of war either positive or negative. It is prudent and noteworthy that no one who is actively involved in a war returns the same. To some people something within them starts dying within as brought about by a conscience of guilt at butchering others. While the society may embrace one for their heroic survival during the war, scars occurring either physically, mentally or emotionally act as a constant reminder of the war experiences. According to the author of Three Day Road Joseph Boyden, while at war the fighting occurs on two fronts; the first being facing the enemy while the second being facing what one does to the enemy. Therefore, this brings into focus the adversity of involvement in war. War can lead to lose of life as well as transformation of personality in the battle field in a manner to ensure continued survival.
The use of drugs to tackle pain or bring about temporary pleasure often results into addiction which becomes a destroying factor to the personality as it deludes them to act in a superhuman manner which exposes them to risk against their opponents. At some point when Elijah is high on morphine he claims that his head feels like ready to explode (Boyden 148). On the other hand, Xavier admits that the morphine addiction only hastened his moral dissipation (Boyden 147) while he admits that “the deafness would come and go, followed by ringing which was enough to drive him mad” (Boyden 277). Moreover, indulgence into drug or substance use interferes with the mental ability to make reasonable choices that enhance self preservation and inhibit by slowing down the response of one during adversity. Continued use results into personal negligence especially in hygiene which may result in diseases. Moreover, the adversity of war may cause participants to go through pain, insanity and emotional damage during and after war. This is evident in the story as both Xavier and Elijah portray harm both to their physical and psychological health. As depicted by the novel themes of death, broken relationships, suffering and pain as well as recovery take the center stage with the characters vividly made to play their roles in a manner that shows the impacts of war.
The novel does little to praise the heroic achievements of the two soldiers but focus entirely on their meltdown after a successful entry into the military and through their expertise in hunting skills since both have an aboriginal upbringing. Though Xavier survives the war, the loss of a leg incapacitates him and will eventually take its toll making him unable to lead a normal life, feeling alienated from the community and above all it will act as a constant reminder of occurrences he would rather push behind his mind to never think about again. However, reality is unforgiving as his thoughts will forever be in constant reminder of the images he possesses about war and most specifically about his departed friend Elijah. Settling into the society and finding something meaningful to do with his life will also prove to be a challenge due to his current state and his current society who he boldly volunteered to fight in their honor will turn against him and treat him only as an object of sympathy making him have self pity on himself which will crush his hopes and self worth wishing to die.
Therefore, in conclusion, the adversity of war can have varying effects on its participants. The war front which is full of horrifying realities of dead bodies tends to stick to one’s mind and these images tend to cause mental, spiritual and psychological scars that last forever. Indulgence in alcohol, drug or substance use can lead into addiction as soldiers tend to seek temporary escape from reality only to fall into a deeper snare. The loss of friends in war also destabilizes one’s emotional balance and may act as a permanent scar against progressive recovery if proper care is not taken. Hence, war is better avoided and other conflict resolution methods adopted.
Reference
Boyden, Joseph. “Three Day Road.” Toronto: Penguin Canada. 2005. Print.
