It is hard to pick just one scene in this novel because so many are important to a clear understanding of the characters and their actions. However, there are two I marked while reading - the first occurs on page 71, when Xavier comments on Elijah's adoption of a British accent, saying "It's like he wants to become something he's not." We see here that much of Elijah's motivation stems from a need to fit in with those around him - a need to be accepted, which can be traced back through his entire life and the ostricization he feels as a Native and the alienation he feels as an orphan. He is at once dangerously independent and entirely insecure about his place in the world and this fuels his desire to go out and kill, and then to be congratulated for it.

The second scene is on page 141, though it is from his childhood. Xavier and Elijah are being beaten by Sister Magdalene in residential school as she chants over and over, "I will strike the heathen from thee," and this becomes further fuel for Elijah's later ability to kill without remorse.

The juxtaposition of these scenes give us insight into why Elijah acts the way he does in war; he has been hurt, in fact has been the recipient of nothing but pain from the wemistikoshiw world and his lashings out at the German troops is a way for his to exact a sort of revenge. But because he is, at heart, a native and, like Xavier, harbors a certain respect for all things living, he must have the acceptance of his peers in the Canadian ranks. His dependence on morphine is never a mere escape from physical pain, but a way for him to quiet a conscience that knows he is turning into a windigo.

There are many different key scenes in Three Day Road that illustrate changes within each character. The one that I felt was very important was the scene in which Elijah murders Grey Eyes and Lieutenant Breech. It appears on page 313 and describes how Elijah methodically uses his war club to smash the heads of his fellow solider and Lieutenant. Elijah is afraid of facing up to the atrocities he has committed on the battlefield thus far. Elijah's cold demeanor in this scene shows how easy it is for him to murder two people in order to get himself out of trouble. This scene is important because it horrifies Xavier and truly demonstrates to him that Elijah has gone mad beyond any repair. It is this scene that really drives Xavier to take the life of his best friend, a decision that was certainly not easy for Xavier to make. This scene is very important and a true turning point in the story.

A key scene in Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road is the scene where Xavier is forced to kill Elijah. This scene begins on p. 338 where Elijah and Xavier are attempting to take out a machine gunner. Many of the key themes of the novel play out in this scene, especially the notion of Elijah as a Windigo and Xavier as a Windogo killer. The theme of jealousy is also prevalent in this scene beginning when Elijah says, “You were always the better shot,” to Xavier as he passes him a cigarette. And, that same line is muttered by Elijah as Xavier tries to strangle him. As the struggle progresses, Xavier remembers the letter he received from his Aunt, and by doing so, internalizes the power to kill Windigo. The theme of jealousy concludes when Xavier lays his Mauser, the one Elijah coveted the entire time, on top of Elijah’s dead body. The strength of Boyden’s writing shows itself in this scene because he is able to capture the raw intensity and emotion this scene demands.

One of the scenes that sticks out to me in Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road happens when Elijah offers Xavier meat after his second meeting with the Frenchmen because this interaction connects many of the key elements of the story, including the horrors of war, Elijah and Xavier’s relationship, the desire for recognition, and cannibalism along with foreshadowing the end of the novel, which makes us more aware of the effects war has on a person. This scene begins with Elijah explaining his second run-in with the Frenchmen, where he believes that “[his] reputation is sealed” because they “acted nervously” after he presumably shows them the hundreds of scalps that he has taken (287). Not only does this instance illustrate Elijah’s need for recognition and the horrors of war, but it also serves as a reminder of Xavier invisibility (though his skill is greater than Elijah’s), making us aware of the discrimination faced even when war requires all men to offer (and risk) the same great gift: their life. In addition to drawing attention to the inhumanity of war, when Elijah offers Xavier meat, he comments that “it is human. German, to be exact;” this harkens back to Xavier’s role as a windigo (cannibal) killer, connecting him to his Auntie’s role in her traditional community. Even though Elijah claims that he is joking about the meat, Xavier’s immediate actions to “reach for his knife,” “gag,” and “stick his finger down his throat,” demonstrate the growing separation between them where they were once like brothers and now exhibit meanness and distrust (287). Xavier’s instinct to reach for his knife contrasts Elijah’s mass amount of murder, which functions to show the proper reason and seriousness of killing someone, erasing the triviality of the act that war seems to suggest. Along with displaying this distance between the two, this scene also depicts Elijah as a “trickster,” bearing “his wicked little-boy smile” and while he jokes that he is not “crazy,” his manner suggests precisely that he is. Elijah’s strange behavior and connection with a trickster figure reminds us of his traditional name; and the way he appears to take it to a new poisonous level, hints at the effect that morphine has on him, moving him away from a sense of reality and humanity. This scene also foreshadows the end of the novel where Xavier kills Elijah and says, “I have become what you are, Niska,” meaning a windigo killer, associating Elijah’s behavior with that of a person who has gone mad. The connections that we can draw from this one instance illustrate the richness of Boyden’s text and give voice to the effects of war on an individual, boosting are awareness (especially today) and pushing us to reconsider war itself.

I believe a key scene in the book would be when Xavier kills Elijah. Right before he dies Elijah says, "It has gone to far, hasn't it" (339). Xavier finally has his friend back, but at this point it is to late, Elijah has lost his sanity. This scene shows the affects of war on people and how much it can mess with their heads. Everything Xavier is mad at Elijah for doing, Elijah realizes when he knows he must/ will die. Only one can make it back and it shows that for all the bad Elijah did he was genuinely good at heart and loves his friend. Xavier having already thrown away his own ID tags grabs Elijah's and because of this is treated like a hero. I think this is important to keeping the memory of Elijah alive. It puts the Cree on board as equals in my mind. If the roles were reversed they would not have said a word about Xavier. For all the bad he did he made the white people believe that they were good soldiers, not just Indians.

I believe that a key scene in this book is when Elijah tries the morphine for the first time. I think that this is significant because it is truly the beginning of the end for both Elijah and Xavier. It is the first time that Xavier discovers the fact that Elijah has actually kept something from him for some time. Xavier thought that Elijah told him everything. I also feel that this is the start to Xavier finding out who he is and that he realizes he is not like Elijah. It begins a separation between the two that were so close for so long. The rest of the novel really is based on the addiction to morphine after this is out in the open. After this point, the book truly digs into Elijah and how crazy he has gone. It allows the book to really take off and tell the story that is meant to be told.

In Three Day Road, the most important part of the whole book is the struggle of power between Xavier and Elijah. Elijah is the obvious obtainer of the power. He is liked by his fellow soldiers, he is admired and seen as somewhat of a hero and an excellent shot. But, his power right as he takes his first dose of morphine is dwindling, because it is this medicine that is what eventually takes his life because the morphine caused him to do crazed things like killing Grey Eyes and Breech and forced Xavier to take his life. It is interesting to see how much more powerful Niska and Xavier seem from all the other characters. They have been taken from residential school and have not learned much English. Many people, especially the residential school Indians and the white people, see them as being powerless in the fact that they do not have any say in society and cannot communicate with society, but they do not need to and obviously in the case of Xavier can survive on traditional ways and instinct. Niska and Xavier almost seem to be the last people on earth in the end of the book and it is their strength that will carry on more people that will follow in their footsteps. Xavier continued throughout the novel to have the power, because he saw through Elijah and didn't try to fit in like him. He saw the path that Elijah followed and saw how he liked to kill for the thrill of it. Xavier had the true control because Elijah knew that he himself was getting all the credit but Xavier was the better shot, he even says this in his dying words. Elijah even knew that his control was only surface deep. Xavier took final control as he killed Elijah and even took Elijah's fame (his surface type of control), that should have been his all along.

I believe a key scene in the book would be when Xavier kills Elijah. Right before he dies Elijah says, "It has gone to far, hasn't it" (339). Xavier finally has his friend back, but at this point it is too late, Elijah has lost his sanity. This scene shows the affects of war on people and how much it can mess with their heads. Everything that Xavier was mad at Elijah for doing, Elijah realizes when he knows he must/ will die. Only one can make it back and it shows that for all the bad Elijah did he was genuinely good at heart and loves his friend. Xavier having already thrown away his own ID tags grabs Elijah's and because of this is treated like a hero. I think this is important to keeping the memory of Elijah alive. It puts the Cree on board as equals in my mind. If the roles were reversed they would not have said a word about Xavier. For all the bad he did he made the white people believe that they were good soldiers, not just Indians.

I think a key scene(s) is where Boyden describes the accident where Xavier loses his leg. This is where the collision between cultures, Non Native and Native, is most prominent. Xavier, at this point, moves over completely to the side of the Non Native- he becomes addicted to the morphine. Throughout the whole novel- Xavier watched as the morphine took down Grey Eyes knowing that it was not accepted in his world.

"They gave me medicine for the pain, and I learned how to fly in a new way. The cost this time is that i can no longer live without the medicine, and in a few days there will be none left. Their morphine eats men" (10).

Xavier's description is that of a Native- "morphine eats men". It is like the morphine is a living thing and it is eating him and he is letting it. This is Xavier's slow admission into giving up. By taking the medicine, which he worked so hard during the war to avoid, is like giving into the ways of the Non-Native.

The fact that Xavier also tries to hide the medicine from Auntie shows that he is ashamed of his failure. This puts a wall between their relationship creating one more challenge for both Xavier and Auntie to hurdle.

Picking a key scene in three day road is not very hard, it is just narrowing down which one to chose. So the scene that I think is one of the most important and key is on page 237 when Xavier is using his Cree language to insult Breech and by using Elijah as a translator. It shows the importance that Xavier places on his language and it shows the disconnect he has for the war and for the ways of the army, unlike Elijah. Because he is not invested he can say whatever he feels, he is not considered equal in Breeches eyes and thus does not speak to him in English (although he could). It also shows how much importance Elijah puts on not getting into trouble with the army, since it has become his life. He says that Xavier is “lucky” to have him there to get him out of trouble, when really Elijah is the one who is in the most trouble because he has completely lost himself to the habits and evils that are universally accepted in the army and in the white mans world. Xavier essentially saves himself by keeping close to his heritage and in a way foreshadows why he can get better at the end of the novel. His personal self and spirit are not fully consumed by what the army thinks of him.

Although I agree with those above me who believe that scenes such as Xavier killing Elijah, Elijah killing Breech and Grey Eyes, and the many references to language throughout the book are important to the story, the most important scene to me is found on page 262. Xavier and Elijah are trying to make sense of what is changing in them, what has hardened. "In the end, the answer that comes is simple. Elijah has learned to take pleasure in killing." This is the first time that this has been directly pointed out, although it has been alluded to a number of times leading up to this point in the book. A few lines down it also refers to the difference between killing in times of war and killing out of a necessity such as hunting. It is interesting to note that he refers to this war time killing as the "freedom" to kill, almost as if Elijah has been wanting to kill but has never been "allowed" to do so. This scene ties together our classroom discussions about this wartime mindset of killing, as well as our discussions of Elijah becoming war crazed. It is the first time that the two friends really realize what is happening to them because of this war, and everything that happens after this point is an uphill struggle for Xavier because of it.

I suppose the most important scene in the book, or one of the most important scenes at least, would have to be the translation, exchange and reading of Niska's letter that she sent to her nephew Xavier. The importance of this scene is hard to over look for many reasons.
First, the scene in the bar where Niska goes to find out information about her nephew displays the unkind reception the white characters give the Native aunt. This not only expresses a separation of cultural spheres (i.e. White vs. Native) but it also shows the prejudices associated with Niska, as a medicine woman, by white society. They not only dislike her but also fear her which indicates a level of ignorance, or i would argue even stupidity regarding their neighboring culture.
Second, the white characters in the bar look down upon Niska's and Joseph's conversations in Cree which expresses the theme of not only separation of languages but also how negatively Cree is regarded by the English speaking bar patrons.
Niska's lack of knowledge regarding how a letter would be sent overseas also carries importance because it displays her isolation and perhaps more broadly the isolation of true native American's who live in the olden ways.
Third, Xavier's reception of the letter in France conveys a sense a separation that has amassed between Xavier and Elijah. Xavier's decision to have Fat read the letter to him, instead of Elijah, suggests at this point in the story that all of Xavier's trust in his former friend has been lost. This further indicates the severity of Elijah's drug problem, and his progressing insanity.
Fourth, and lastly, the illegibility of the letter shows not only once again the separation of languages but also foreshadows Xavier's killing of Elijah. Joseph's translation of Giche Manitou into God displays the effects and influence of residential schools on native children. And finally Niska's concern for Xavier coming back alive to carry on his bloodline's important Windigo-killer-heritage once again foreshadows his killing of the now crazed Elijah, and also his safe return home to fulfill his families legacy.

I was also interested in the scene where Xavier first uses morphine. Not only did this medicine effectively make a slave to it as it ate him away, something more important and symbolic had happened. To take morphine makes Xavier lose touch with himself as well as his heritage. It not only eats him, but it seems to eat away at his native identity also. I drew a comparison between the way morphine destroyed the characters in One Day Road, to the role of alcohol in the other novels we have read. The way Xavier describes the awful nature of morphine is the same way alcohol is described throughout many of the other novels. Both morphine and alcohol are products of non-native culture and their introduction to the native world proves both disastrous and sad.

Although it is very difficult to choose just one key scene in 'Three Day Road', there is one scene that especially stands out, separate from all of the other pieces of war and life in the 'bush'. About midway after Elijah has begun to go mad and when he is killed, Elijah and Xavier wind up having a conversation about life and their position in the war. In this conversation the real Elijah comes out and for just a second seems to acknowledge his changing personality and problem with staying sane. I think that this is so key because it showed Xavier and the reader that the real Elijah was still in that body, somewhere, and despite such a complete change he was struggling just like everyone else with the war- just in a different way. However this momentary lapse obviously was not enough to save him. I think that this novel is such a strong piece of writing because of how many important scenes it has.

"When Elijah comes back a couple of days later, he tells me of finding some of the Frenchmen who'd taught him to scalp his enemies last year. He has brought some meat with him, a gift from the Frenchmen, he says (287)." As a joke, Elijah tells Xavier it is human, German flesh. This scene represents a common theme throughout the novel. The theme of the windigo. I really enjoyed Boyden's ability to infiltrate the story with this cannibalistic, human man-eat-man theme. Whether Auntie is discussing true cannibalism, or Elijah and Xavier are killing Germans right and left- this is a man-eat-man world. I like the link between Auntie's windigo story and the boys fighting in the war. The parallels are human, neither Native or white. I think this scene is also especially important in conveying the dramatic and important change that has come over Elijah and Xavier's friendship. Xavier distrusts Elijah. Xavier is sickened by the blade Elijah uses to scalp his kills and cut the meat. Xavier believes Elijah capable of eating human flesh; a sure sign of Elijah's change into a windigo.
This scene also draws attention to the reputation and treatment of Elijah in comparison to Xavier. Xavier asks for rum and receives the response, " 'You're a drunk Injun, is what you are...' 'Works with a fella called Whiskeyjack. Quite the reputation! You can have a drink on me any day!' (286)". Xavier is respected by the other soldiers due to his relationship with the infamous Whiskeyjack Elijah. Xavier knows that they have forgotten that he is the one who is the best sharpshooter. Xavier also notes, "I wonder how it is that I go missing for a day or two and am put under guard, but Elijah does so without punishment (287)." Combined with the interaction over the meat, these statements and Xavier's observations form a pinnacle to the break in Elijah and Xavier's friendship.

I think the key scene in “Three Day Road” by Joseph Boyden, is when Elijah first starts talking with a British accent. I not sure of the page number, but it was in the chapter entitled Learning. In this scene Elijah refuses to talk normal and talks like a British man. I think this is a key scene, because it shows that Elijah never really accepts himself as a native though out the entire book. Elijah does this because he wants to be accepted by the others and when he talks like that, he makes them laugh and the attention draws to Elijah. Xavier doesn’t like when Elijah asks this was and doesn’t know why he won’t accept just being who he is a native.

I think a key scene in Three Day Road is when Xavier uses morphine for the first time. I think this scene is key because not only does it allow Xavier into the world of everyone around him who is consumed by it, but it also seems that it becomes a symbol of a continuous struggle that Xavier has and the struggle of alcohol addiction and abuse in the Native culture. Although Xavier has to deal with the trauma the war and fighting has brought him, his struggle with morphine is a symbol of just how deep these struggles run and how not only is morphine a battle with addiction, but a battle with himself and all the harsh realities he has to come to terms with.

A key scene in Three day Road is on page l41 when we first learn of the abuse Elijah and Xavier underwent at residential school. The violence Elijah exhibits at war, his ability to kill without remorse can be traced back to his desire to survive and to be accepted. At residential school Elijah’s ability to adapt to his surroundings was paramount to his survival. Elijah sought the approval of his superiors to lessen his abuse, which was important for his survival. At war, Elijah is very good at adapting to his surroundings, and continues to seek approval from the other soldiers by killing without remorse.

The scene that left the most impact on me was when Xavier was forced to kill Elijah. The importance of this scene does not necessarily lie in the graphic ending of a friendship, but in the family aspect of Three Day Road. When Xavier's Aunt told him the story about her father making her watch him kill the woman in the tribe that had gone insane, it foreshadowed what Xavier had to do to his best friend. The family aspect of this is not just blood relations, but family meaning the tribe as family, and the soldiers as family. Xavier's aunt watched for the good of her tribe, and Xavier killed for the good of his fellow soldiers.

It is hard for me to pick a key scene in this book due to the fact that alot of things are important and many things happen over the course of the novel. I would have to say though that the scene where Xavier and Elijah are getting beat in the residential school is very key because for the first time for a split second in the novel you can see the violence in Elijah's life and for that split second he likes the pain. This scene sets up for the way Elijah treats his victims during the war. Just as the sister was unmerciful towards him. Elijah is in turn unmerciful towards his victims during the war as he brutally slays them.

The other key scene that is important is when Xavier kills Elijah. It is almost a freeing moment for Elijah. He finally gets released from the awful detached, world full of violence he had been living in. His spirit is freed and can go on to the next world in solitude.

I felt that the most important scene in Three Day road was the scene in which Elijah brings back "German Meat" after disappearing for several days. This is the point in which I think Xavier realizes that Elijah is truly gone, and that he must become the wetigo killer he is destined to be. This scene hearkens back to both the first time that Niska saw a woman in her tribe go wetigo, as well as the first time that Xavier saw Niska kill a wetigo. The seed had already been planted in Xaviers head that he should kill Elijah if he must, so when Elijah goes wetigo, he has no other choice.

Funnily enough, I think one of the most important scenes in this book is a scene where neither Xavier nor Elijah are present. The scene from Niska's past where her father kills the windigo woman and her child is a scene that resonates throughout the book. Here we are first introduced to the idea of desperate times making people do inhuman things, and how their inhuman acts change them and create a thirst for more violence. Later on in the book we see this thirst of destruction in Elijah, both in his obvious enjoyment in killing and in the self-destruction inherent in his heroin abuse. My very favorite line in the book is about the windigo; it's a thought of Niska's as she paddles down the river. It reads, "I realized then that sadness was at the heart of the windigo, a sadness so pure that it shrivelled the human heart and let something else grow in its place" (242). The windigo of Niska's past were created by the desperate living conditions created by European colinization. Elijah's windigo was created by the war.

I fell that a very poignant and key scene in this book is when Xavier kills his first soldier, the German sniper who was hiding in no man's land shooting at allied snipers and soldiers. This scene is important because it is when Xavier truly enters the way. up until that point he had not killed, he had helped Elijah kill, but he himself had not killed anyone. This is when he goes all in, after killing there is no going back there is no retreat, he is in the war until the bitter end.

One parallel that I noticed is that both Xavier's first and last kills were out of dire need and necessity. His first kill was when an enemy sniper had them in his sights, he had to be calm and collected to shoot accurately before he got shot in return. His last kill, Elijah, was another kill or be killed situation. He could either kill Elijah, a man who had gone too far and was beyond help, or he could let himself, a man who still had a chance, be killed instead. Most of the kills in between these two were not out of necessity, they were from behind cover and when he was not under direct fire, they were strategic kills, not necessary kills. I just thought it was fitting that necessity brought him into the war, and necessity also served as his release from it. Both of these scenes are loaded with imagery and significance that make them very important to not only the plot of the book, but the moral and meaning of the novel as well.

I think that one of the key scenes is when Elijah is talking to the Frenchmen and he gets the idea to start taking "trophies". A rational person would never consider scalping the men that he has killed and so this shows how he is beginning to spiral out of control. The reader sees how influential these Frenchmen are on him and then when they say it was they who originally showed the Indians how to scalp, the reader is able to pull from the idea that it is in fact these white men who cause the Indians to do such barbaric acts. The Indians, and specifically Elijah, are driven to do these things not because they want to but because of the influences on them and their desire to be accepted and respected within the white culture. I also think that a key scene for Xavier is when he tries to kill Elijah by overdosing him with morphine. This is the first part of the book where Xavier acts out in a purely murderous way, showing his emerging acceptance and knowledge of what is to come.

I really think that the key scene in this book is what happens in the end, when Xavier kills Elijah. To me, although the book is full of all different themes, the one that kept coming up again and again was the theme of identity and all that came with it, such as trying to fit in. Throughout the book, as the two characters get buried deeper and deeper in war, that is a battle with two sides, both culturally and emotionally they are pulled in directions and made into something that there weren't when the novel first started. Over time, they not only start to forget who they are but they start to forget who the other one is.

All throughout the novel I felt like Xavier and Elijah were like brothers, which made betrayal like Elijah trying to fit in with the white soldiers that much more unbearable. Since Xavier and Elijah were both native, in a way, since a lot of natives consider everyone in their culture closely tied and part of one cycle, they kind of were brothers. This final scene has Xavier being called Elijah by a nurse and then saying that he wished the mistake was right, so that he could erase his own mistakes. In conclusion, this ending scene speaks toward identity and guilt and for me, really made the whole novel make a lot of since. All of the little things that happened along the way, after you read the end, you then realize all happened for a reason to slowly build these two characters up toward the climax at the end.

A key scene for me in this novel was when we see Xavier and Elijah go hunting for one of the first times. Elijah is new to everything and does not understand that he needs to be quite and does not really know how to be. As a result Xavier does not get his kill and they go back to their tent hungry. We soon find out that Elijah has been circling the tent all night practicing to be quite, and only once does he wake up Xavier, in the morning the next day. This scene is so important because Elijah seems to have more white aspects that native ones and only when he really tries is he allowed to become more native. Xavier on the other hand does not think about what he needs to do he just does it. It foreshadows, later in their lives, how that connection to their native roots helps or hinders them at the war. Xavier stays very connected and comes home alive, while Elijah gives into temptations, white temptations, and does not come home.

As has been mentioned, it isn't easy to choose just one key scene, but one stands out from the others to me for its image alone (a close second to the scene where Xavier finds Elijah gutting the German, the man's blood smeared over his face); after Xavier refuses to divine the bone for him, "Elijah goes quiet. Small tremors begin to shake him. His fists are clenched and his face contorts in a sneer. My fear of him returns stronger than before. I do not want any part of this. As if he realizes this, he unclenches his fists and a mask of calm falls over his face" (296). Elsewhere in the book the madness of the windigos is described as changing their bodies, their eyes; Xavier describes dying men as becoming like animals in their desperation to live, and we soldiers during a raid as rats that scurry through the trenches with their souvenirs and prisoners. Elijah, normally so adept at masking his madness in front of others, forgets himself in this scene with Xavier in a way that disturbs and frightens his friend more than it ever has, I think because he realizes its strength when he sees it on Elijah's face; madness has a face and that makes it all the more real and all the more threatening. Xavier last saw a windigo as a child, but now the windigo is no longer in a story that his aunt finds in his memory, or that she supplies from her own memory of her childhood; it is a monster that resurfaces over and over again, and not even someone he has known for most of his life is invulnerable to it.

Also, I just flipped to this: Niska is talking about how, though Elijah wanted to keep his hair short when he came to live with her and Xavier, he lets it grow; "over the months of summer I watched it grow longer as he became a wild thing of the forest again" (270). There are at least two and maybe more references to Elijah's increasingly long and dirty hair; "His dirty hair is longer now than I've seen it in years. It sticks out from his head in clumps" (337). Maybe it's not the author's intent and I'm reading into something that's not there, but it seems like Elijah is returning to the bush--truly becoming a "wild thing"--as if he has learned so well how to hunt and track that he has become an animal. I'm not sure how that is significant to the story except that maybe it sort of shows the circle of existence--how all life is at the same level, and maybe the boundary between one form and another is not as impenetrable as we might imagine.