Three Day Road Character Analysis

War changes men. In 2008, Creed Cascade, an author, once commented about war and its effects on men. He replied with, “...that [war] strips them of their humanity.” His words outline the forgotten repercussions of war on the men and woman that fight and are left to suffer. When they first joined the war, they are happy and ready for adventure and when they leave, they are left broken and transformed. In this example, Elijah Weesageechak slowly was stripped of his humanity the longer he served in the war. Therefore, throughout the novel, Three Day Road, written by Joseph Boyden, Elijah transformed himself from a respectful and calm Cree man into a fame seeking, identity losing, drug abusing, and overall killing maniac. First of all, Elijah transformed because he was constantly seeking fame and pounced on all instances where he …show more content…
When Elijah got more comfortable in the war, he started to talk in a British accent and used British words instead of speaking in Cree. When near some of the soldiers, he said, “would you be a kind chap and make me a cup of tea?” (Boyden 144). Elijah developed this accent over time to blend in more with the rest of the Allied soldiers, which pushed him further away from his real identity. Elijah did this more often as the novel progressed, which clearly showed his transformation into a different person. Elijah has also lost and forgotten who he really was after missions. After a successful mission with Thompson, Thompson later asks how Elijah liked the mission and Elijah responded with, “it’s in my blood,” (Boyden 75). Loss of identity is clear in this example, as Elijah is going against all of Xavier’s and Niska’s teaching about hunting and killing. Instead, he has chosen to accept war and grown to enjoy killing, which further shows his transformation. Elijah’s loss of identity is overall a clear factor in his transformation to