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Mamishihiwewin: Betrayal
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Three Day Road, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Isolation vs. Community
Racism and Assimilation
Language and Storytelling
Nature, War, and Survival
Summary
Analysis
“If I am to take all of it at once and in this way end my pain for good, I will have to do it soon,” Xavier thinks as he injects himself with morphine. He doesn’t even try to hide anymore, and he takes it right in front of Niska. The medicine is almost gone, and when it is, Xavier doesn’t know what he will do. He wants to talk to Niska and tell her everything, but he doesn’t. He sits back in the canoe and lets himself “drift back to the comfort of old friends.”
Xavier considers taking all his morphine and killing himself because he worries that the withdrawal will kill him. Xavier won’t die from the withdrawal of morphine itself, but his symptoms will definitely make him feel like he is dying, and it is possible that certain symptoms, like vomiting and diarrhea leading to dehydration, could result in death. His desperation shows that, rather than communicating with Niska to cope with his suffering, the trauma of war has caused him to want to numb his pain rather than work through it.
Themes
In the trenches, McCaan approaches Elijah. He says Thompson won’t be back for a while, and in the meantime, Elijah has been promoted to “acting corporal.” There is no talk of promoting Xavier. He is “invisible to the officers.”
The other officers ignore Xavier because he refuses to assimilate to their ways, which is opposite of Niska’s experience. Xavier is essentially being punished for not assimilating, and his heroic are efforts ignored.
Themes
They move to a village called Albert, and Elijah and Xavier are ordered to “move out in an advance position and do what damage [they] can.” The Canadians will be attacking a place called Candy Trench in the morning, which supposedly is named for an old candy factory nearby. Xavier and Elijah find an old abandoned farmhouse that gives perfect cover for sniping, and they move in to set up before the sun rises.
Again, Elijah and Xavier are sent in before the other soldiers to clear a path, which suggests that the officers believe Elijah and Xavier are more expendable than the other white soldiers. This is likely a reference to the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, a battle fought in the offensives near the Somme. This battle occurred between September 15-22, 1916, when tanks were used for the first time in battle.
Themes
“Tell me a story, X,” Elijah says to Xavier as they settle in the old farmhouse. Elijah thinks back to the boat ride over to England from Canada on their way to fight in the war. Xavier had decided to sleep with the horses on the ship. He “felt comfortable with animals,” and they made him “feel closer to land.” While he was sleeping, the horses were tossed with the waves, and two of them broke their legs. Elijah had just come in, and he quickly ran to find an officer with a gun.
Xavier is drawn to the horses on the ship, and this too is evidence of his cultural connection to nature and animals as a Native Cree Indian. Xavier would rather sleep with the animals then in the ship’s hold full of hundreds of stinking soldiers and no ventilation. To Xavier, that many men crammed into one place is “uncivilized.”
Themes
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By the time Elijah returns with Breech and McCaan, Xavier is smeared with blood and the horses are dead. “My God!” Breech yells. “I’ll have you up on charges!” he screams at Xavier. “Now, now,” says a colonel standing behind Breech. “It was no mean feat to dispatch two powerful animals with only a knife. What choice did the private have?” The colonel looks at Xavier. “I suggest we commend him for valor,” the colonel says. Breech orders McCaan to throw the horses overboard. “You will never become an officer,” Breech says to Xavier as he leaves.
This too is evidence of Breech’s obvious racism against Xavier because he is an Indian. Like usual, Xavier doesn’t want to kill the horses, but he obviously can’t bear to see them suffer. Xavier should be commended, but Breech only insults him. Breech doesn’t even care about the horses or respect them in any way (he casually tells McCaan to throw them overboard) but he relishes any excuse to treat Xavier badly.
Themes
