Identity In Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road

War lights the barrel keg within everyone reveling their true identity, by abandoning their past beliefs. Joseph Boyden illustrates the importance of cultural identity, throughout the novel Three Day Road. Xavier shows devotion towards his culture, by constantly trying to hold onto whatever reminded himself of it. Another character, Niska, betrays herself by abandoning her culture as a result of losing her identity. Elijah also completely strips of his cultural identity when he turns windgo. Elijah was heavily influenced by war, to stray along the wrong path. The characters change throughout the story, however many of them remain true to their cultural identity. Boyden shows that being true to one’s identity allows one to have self-discipline, and therefore they should treasure it. Boyden repeatedly demonstrates how the conflict between

Boyden shows that being true to one’s identity allows one to have self-control. Xavier, unwilling to give up his cultural identity in the madness of war, holds whatever part of himself that still reminds him of his culture. Boyden portrayed how Elijah was losing his cultural identity, by showing many signs throughout the war including: the scalping, morphine and his killings. Niska was betrayed not only by the Frenchman, but also herself by giving her powers to the wemistikoshiw. The characters are given a choice of how they want to use their powers and abilities. Lee Sin from the creators of League of Legends said “Master yourself, master the enemy” which implicates that one must have full control of their lives before they want anything from anyone else. However Elijah was blinded by the madness that consumed him at war. Elijah sought to kill for pure self-satisfaction, and once Xavier realizes this, he decides to do what is right by killing his best friend, for the greater good of what he believes