The setting of the first World War was significant because it put the two main characters, Elijah and Xavier, in a situation where they constantly got discredited and faced brutal racism. The setting also represented a dark mood and also made it possible to clearly identify when different characters were speaking and sharing their point of views. The dark mood also shows the gruesome truth and reality of the World War in great detail. Giving the readers an insight of the characters thoughts during a war also proved how such traumatic events drove people insane and changed their lives forever. Choosing Ontario as a setting was important to add a light and calmer tone to the novel. It also gave a feeling of the aftermath …show more content…
I found it confusing how Xavier decided to turn on Elijah and tried to get him to overdose. Elijah was going mad seemed to be mentally unstable, thus he started to lie to Xavier about the smallest things. The whole thing put Xavier into a complex dilemma and I understand the justification for his actions. Elijah also almost always got complete credit for things Xavier and that in a way took Xavier’s identity from him which was also a recurring theme. Overall, Xavier had a decision to make and blindly chose to kill which in ways was both the right and wrong decision, but that opinion depends on people's …show more content…
Elijah was amused by the sight of blood and the author pointed that out by saying, “Elijah watches in fascination at the skin separating, red blossoming out against the silver of his blade” (Pg. 125). This quote directly shows the insanity of Elijah because he is fascinated by someone in pain and bleeding out. It may just be the only way of injecting morphine at the time, but getting a rush from something so gruesome is still very inhumane. Overall, the sight of blood and skin being torn off is very fun for Elijah which is direct proof of his