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
On the battlefield, Elijah and Xavier fight two wars— “the one facing the enemy” and “the one facing what they do to the enemy.” Elijah is in his glory. He “runs his tally higher” when he returns from “no man’s land,” “but his word is enough now.” Word reaches them that Thompson has died of his injuries sustained in the last raid. “He was a good man,” Elijah says. “I hope that he died peacefully.”
Ironically, when Elijah was telling the truth about his kills, he was accused of lying. Now that he exaggerates his numbers, his officers believe him. Elijah’s response to Thompson’s death is a little more than his response to McCaan’s death, but he is still rather distant and flippant despite have gone through so much with Thompson.
Themes
They are stationed near an airfield, and Elijah watches the planes as much as he can. The pilots “become a part of the machine” as they fly into the air, and Elijah envies them. On their last day near the airfield, one of the pilots asks Elijah if he wants to go up in a plane. He has heard of the “Indian sniper” and would be “honored” to fly him. “I would be delighted,” Elijah says, excited that his “dream” is about to be “realized.”
Boyden draws a parallel between birds and airplanes, and Elijah equates airplanes with the freedom of birds. The pilot is “honored” to fly with such a hero, but there is nothing honorable about the way that Elijah fights. Boyden implies that there is little honor in the war at all, least of all with Elijah.
Themes
“We’ll keep you well behind the lines,” the pilot says to Elijah, “but keep your eyes peeled still.” They fly high above the battlefields and Elijah can see miles of trenches dug into the earth. He suddenly “panics” that he will fall out as the plane banks sharply, and his arms “wave frantically.” Elijah “has no control” and he begins to feel nauseous. The pilot can see that Elijah doesn’t feel well and begins to land. As he does, a sharp pain erupts in Elijah’s head. He swallows to relieve the pressure, but the pain remains. Elijah vomits as they finally reach the ground. “I am meant to walk on the ground and not fly?” he asks Xavier.
Elijah isn’t free. He wants the freedom to kill in the war without remorse or consequence, but in order to do that, he must be fearless. Elijah is terrified in the airplane and realizes that he isn’t invincible. Elijah can’t think only of killing if he is afraid of dying himself. Elijah’s question is rhetorical; he knows the answer. Just as Xavier says earlier in the novel, “men aren’t meant to fly.”
Themes
