Micah’s Wife Character Analysis in Three Day Road

Micah’s wife goes into the bush to survive with her husband and baby during a harsh winter, but game is scarce everywhere, and Micah can’t feed them. As they slowly stave in the Canadian bush, Micah’s wife finds the tracks of the windigo circling their lodge, and after Micah freezes to death trying to catch a fish, the windigo comes to visit Micah’s wife. The windigo threatens to eat the woman’s baby if she does not feed the child by the next day. Micah’s wife resorts to cannibalism, and she eats Micah’s flesh and feeds it to the baby to save her child from the windigo, effectively “going windigo” in the process. She goes mad and returns to her village with Micah’s flesh in her pack, and Niska’s father, the clan’s hookimaw (spiritual leader), is forced to kill her and her child to prevent the evil spirit of the windigo from spreading to the rest of the clan. The character of Micah’s wife reflects the importance of community in Anishnabe culture and the dangers of isolation. Micah and his family turn their backs on their tribe and go into the bush alone, leaving themselves wide open for the evil spirit of the windigo to enter. Micah’s wife also illustrates the lesson that Niska tries to teach Xavier from the time he is a little boy, the same lesson Xavier must remember when he is forced to kill Elijah: “Sometimes one must be sacrificed if all are to survive.”

Micah’s Wife Character Timeline in Three Day Road

The timeline below shows where the character Micah’s Wife appears in Three Day Road. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...to lead his family into the bush. Micah travelled west through deep snow with his wife and baby daughter and set up a small camp. He saw many tracks but no... (full context)

Micah’s wife heard “strange sounds” at night, like “groaning and shrieking,” and in the morning she found... (full context)

The next morning, after Micah failed to return to the lodge, his wife found him frozen dead by the river. Micah’s wife promised herself that if she and... (full context)

The next day, after the hunters had already left, Micah’s wife came in from the bush. She was “flushed and healthy-looking,” and she claimed Micah was... (full context)

...tree for the manitous to watch over.” In the passing days, Niska listened as Micah’s wife “fell into madness.” In a moment of lucidity, she confessed what she had done. She... (full context)

...it,” Niska tells Xavier. Niska hid under an animal pelt as her father approached Micah’s wife. He whispered something in her ear, and she became calm. He put a blanker over... (full context)

...that the Hudson’s Bay Company men were looking for him to question him about Micah’s wife and baby. They said that he had “murdered” them. Niska’s father laughed and ignored the... (full context)