Through Black Spruce
Through Black Spruce is a novel by Canadian writer Joseph Boyden, published in 2008 by Viking Press. It is Boyden's second novel and third published book. This novel was well written and shows complexity through the use of dual narrators. The chapters were narrated by Annie & Will, Annie being one of Will’s nieces. She narrates her story throughout the book as she speaks to her uncle, Will, who is in a coma. Will is the uncle of Annie and Suzanne. He tells his story from a hospital bed as he lies in a coma. As far as unique narration goes, the author used the Ojjibway native language throughout the novel. It gave the book a sense of nationality and patriotism.
The genre of the novel can be classified as Mystery. The book starts of with two major mysteries. As the novel
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He also exploited two sides to every story, having told both sides of the protagonist and the antagonist. Boyden was able to portray what both the former and the latter are willing to do in order to defend their own. Having lost so much in the war, he reminisces about his father him and gives the girl insight about life.
“Your grandfather was a hero in a war, girls. He wasn't a bad man or a weak man. Maybe he was too old to have a second family, a second wife and your mother and me, so many years after he lost his first. Maybe he was too old to fight anymore, and that's why he let me be taken away. I've thought about this for years and years. All I know is there are no heroes in this world. Not really. Just men and women who become old and tired and lose the strength to fight for what they love any longer.”
The central theme of the novel was mainly focused on community and family.
Will loses everyone he had after returning from the war. Although the having traumatic issues, it showed how he coped with his loses and how brave he emerged, choosing to protect his own once