After reviewing my past posts about Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden, I realized that I learned most about the book from the Feminist Literary Theory. I personally have an appreciation for this particular theory and so I learn best when reading from that point of view, and I found that Niska was the one who was easiest for me to read from.
When reading Three Day Road there are a lot of obvious issues, but one I think really stands out is that Aboriginal's especially aboriginal women are most often portrayed as bold women who don't follow any social construct, and have magical powers. I have yet to hear a story or read anything about an aboriginal woman who was just that: an aboriginal woman.
Another thing that is always thought up about aboriginal women is that they are very sexual creatures. Several times throughout the novel, Boyden tells stories from Niska's narrative about her and the Frenchman having sex, and her emotional attachment to him. He's suggesting that she had sex with him and now she believes that he is going to be faithful to her, which is a fair suggestion, however when she goes to find him and finds out that he has lots of "half-French, half-Indian children running around." (169) she gets mad, and when she finds him he gets her drunk and convinces her that he's done nothing wrong. He then takes her to a church, has intercourse with her inside and then says: "You are nothing special, just another squaw whore. I took your power away in this place and sent it to burn in hell where it belongs." (174). That brings the common portrayal of women in general and her aboriginal origination into play as well.
I feel like women don't really get a fair shot in stories such as this one. Boyden used the same general plot for Niska's love story as a lot of fictional stories go: a woman trusts a man enough to have sex with him, they have a relationship based off of sex with little trust, although she thinks there is and that she can have faith in him, he goes off and does his own thing (most often cheating), she finds out and gets mad, then trashes his things. In Boyden's case he made Niska send animal spirits after the man, which brings me back to how he brought the aboriginal origin into an unoriginal idea.
When examining Three Day Road from a Feminist Literary Criticism point of view, it becomes clear that Joseph Boyden is depicting the mixing of feminine stereotypes and suggesting that women will fall for the same trap every time.
(this is a working thesis, don't judge too hard.)
Friday, May 22, 2015
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Blog Post #5: Feminism Literary Criticism in Three Day Road
During the time that this novel was set in (1914-1918) women didn't have a say in anything, whether that be politics, or what was happening in their own home. They were expected to listen to their men whether it be their father, brother, or husband. A women was meant to follow the lead of a man. Joseph Boyden does an excellent job of showing how women were discriminated against and were controlled by men during this time. Throughout the novel he only spoke of three female characters: Niska, Lisette, and "the nurse with the pretty mouth" (376). Although Lisette and the nurse were only spoken about a few times throughout the novel, Niska gets her own point of view through which we see her grow into a strong, capable woman.
Boyden had Niska take Xavier from the residential school and didn't have her really think of what people were going to say about that behind her back, or think when they saw her with a child. "I knew that the old man we walked with wondered about the little boy accompanying me. He knew I was not a mother, but the old man kept his stare straight ahead, his wizened eyes not giving a hint as to what he was thinking." (260) I believe Boyden took a risk with Niska's character then, showing that she doesn't really care what anyone thinks of her as long as she's helping her family.
Earlier on before Niska had Xavier to look after she met a Frenchman who she had chosen for a mate "I realized that this is how I thought of his now, as my mate." (165) who you come to find was really only using her for sexual relations. She didn't want to believe that that was true despite what the Kokum told her about him, that he had "half-French, half-Indian children running around." (169), Niska needed to know for her self which shows her persistence. Once she finds him, he takes her into a church and has intercourse with her saying "You are nothing special, just another squaw whore. I took your power away in this place and sent it to burn in hell where it belongs." (174). It turned out that the only reason he was having relations with her was so that he could take her powers away, making her powerless against him. Boyden wanted to make his point about women in that time by showing that a man would do anything to a woman to make her suffer in the end. It seems quite ridiculous that the Frenchman would waste so much time trying to purify her in a way, he wasted months trying to get to her only to try and take her powers even though that really had nothing to do with him.
It wasn't just Niska who was taken advantage of though. We find that Lisette was actually a prostitute to whom Elijah "paid a lot money for"(257). In her defense she was only trying to make money for herself as their weren't many jobs for women at that time, and since there was a war going on lots of men would be looking for a quick relationship such as that.
Joseph Boyden did a surprisingly well job at showing how women were treated around this time, showing how they suffered in the hands of men and what they did to support themselves.
Friday, May 1, 2015
Blog Post #4: Archetypal Literary Critisism in Three Day Road
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden does in fact have examples of the archetypal literary criticism in it, yes they were harder to find than some other literary theories, however if you dig far enough into the text you can pull some out. Since the main characters are Aboriginals from around the time of 1914-1918, they do in fact have the qualities of the original Indian, meaning that they believe in the spirit animals and herbs having healing powers beyond the wemistokishiw's understanding. Boyden included some common archetypal figures in his novel, including The Great Mother, and the Trickster. He also included the fundamental plot archetype: the journey.
I would first like to talk about The Great Mother: Niska. By definition, the Great Mother comes in many forms, "The symbols are of this archetype are the Virgin Mary; sometimes one’s own mother; a divine female; an old or ageless woman; the Earth; a blue grotto; the sea; a whale; a cave, a tree. Whatever the image it often contains great religious feeling or spiritual uplift." In this case, the Great Mother takes the form of Xavier's aunt. Boyden somewhat hid the role of the Great Mother within Niska as she grows into the role over time.
The Great Mother is said to have the people around her bring her peace, however in Three Day Road, Boyden has her bring herself her own peace by reaching out to the spirit animals and asking them to do her dirty work for her. After the Frenchman had "took your power away in this place and sent it to burn in hell where it belongs." (174), Niska later finds out that by her wishes, the Frenchman had "flung himself through the window" (176) of a hotel, and died. Thus she gave herself her own peace of mind, knowing that he wouldn't come back to find her, for he was dead.
"The trickster is an alchemist, a magician, creating realities in the duality of time and illusion." I believe that Elijah is the perfect example of a trickster. Throughout the novel Boyden gives Elijah a few traits that suggest is, such as having Elijah give himself a fake English accent to fit in and make the other soldiers laugh.
One quote stood out to me and it literally stated that he was a trickster: "Weesageechak is the trickster, the one who takes different forms at will. Hudson's Bay Company traders could never pronounce it with their thick tongues. But they saw the trickster is the whiskeyjack, the grey jay that loves to hear his own voice, is bold enough to steal food from their hands when they were not watching." (154). Boyden quite accurately sums up the character of Elijah within that one quote.
Joseph Boyden's novel also fallows the archetypal plot. Following from the time when Xavier is young, he grows from being innocent at the residential school, to a sniper in the first world war. His story also begins in a familiar place: his home, and develops to him leaving for war and what his life is like there, the descent into danger comes quickly as the war begins and he starts to fight the Fritz. The battling between the Canadians and the Fritz is considered the battle against monsters. I haven't reached the end of the novel yet, however he is already on his way home throughout the novel, and whether him and Niska make it or not, at least he is no longer in battle.
Sources:
http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/archetype-of-the-great-mother/
http://www.crystalinks.com/trickster.html
I would first like to talk about The Great Mother: Niska. By definition, the Great Mother comes in many forms, "The symbols are of this archetype are the Virgin Mary; sometimes one’s own mother; a divine female; an old or ageless woman; the Earth; a blue grotto; the sea; a whale; a cave, a tree. Whatever the image it often contains great religious feeling or spiritual uplift." In this case, the Great Mother takes the form of Xavier's aunt. Boyden somewhat hid the role of the Great Mother within Niska as she grows into the role over time.
The Great Mother is said to have the people around her bring her peace, however in Three Day Road, Boyden has her bring herself her own peace by reaching out to the spirit animals and asking them to do her dirty work for her. After the Frenchman had "took your power away in this place and sent it to burn in hell where it belongs." (174), Niska later finds out that by her wishes, the Frenchman had "flung himself through the window" (176) of a hotel, and died. Thus she gave herself her own peace of mind, knowing that he wouldn't come back to find her, for he was dead.
"The trickster is an alchemist, a magician, creating realities in the duality of time and illusion." I believe that Elijah is the perfect example of a trickster. Throughout the novel Boyden gives Elijah a few traits that suggest is, such as having Elijah give himself a fake English accent to fit in and make the other soldiers laugh.
One quote stood out to me and it literally stated that he was a trickster: "Weesageechak is the trickster, the one who takes different forms at will. Hudson's Bay Company traders could never pronounce it with their thick tongues. But they saw the trickster is the whiskeyjack, the grey jay that loves to hear his own voice, is bold enough to steal food from their hands when they were not watching." (154). Boyden quite accurately sums up the character of Elijah within that one quote.
Joseph Boyden's novel also fallows the archetypal plot. Following from the time when Xavier is young, he grows from being innocent at the residential school, to a sniper in the first world war. His story also begins in a familiar place: his home, and develops to him leaving for war and what his life is like there, the descent into danger comes quickly as the war begins and he starts to fight the Fritz. The battling between the Canadians and the Fritz is considered the battle against monsters. I haven't reached the end of the novel yet, however he is already on his way home throughout the novel, and whether him and Niska make it or not, at least he is no longer in battle.
Sources:
http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/archetype-of-the-great-mother/
http://www.crystalinks.com/trickster.html
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