Three Day Road Chapter Notes free essay sample

How? -It is the summer of what year? (1919) -She feels conspicuous and unwelcome in the white man’s town. -What is the great surprise awaiting Niska? (Xavier returns alive, not E) -On p. 7, we learn of Xavier’s addiction. How do we learn this? -Niska is taking X home from the white man’s town, into the bush where she lives. It will be a â€Å"three-day paddle home† down river towards Hudson’s Bay (8). -Style: Niska speaks to us in English, but Boyden makes her speak in an informal but more natural-sounding dialect that is characterized by short sentences, comma splices, â€Å"me† instead of â€Å"I†, and figurative language (see below). Figurative language: â€Å"†¦ the iron nose that sniffs the track† (4) â€Å"It whistles like a giant eagle screaming†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (4) â€Å"†¦ [his eyes] are like the dark river in the sun† (7) Conclusion: Xavier has â€Å"come home only to die† (9). Chapter 2: Arrival (10-24) -Xavier is the speaker in this chapter. He stays outside his aunt’s teepee, still basking in the warmth of his morphine, and begins telling his story of first arriving on the front lines in Flanders (near Saint-Eloi, probably in 1916). We meet members of his section, including Lieutenant Breech, Sergeant McCann, Fats, Sean Patrick and Grey Eyes. E and X distinguish themselves by helping their platoon find their way to the Canadian frontline camp. We understand quickly that they are the best soldiers in their section, and respected by McCaan. -In turn, how do we know that X respects Sgt. McCaan? (18/19) -How do we know X’s childhood has prepared him well for battle? (Listens to shells/hunts w/ E/moccasins) -X is a keen judge of character and his situation (14,16) -Now in the Canadian camp, the new soldiers sure shunned by the veterans. Nevertheless, X meets Smithy, a sniper, who shows respect for the newcomer and is unfazed by X’s aboriginal status. We see that war can erode (though not entirely remove) social stratification and racism. -Reference is made to Peggy (Francis Pegahmagabow), the great Ojibwa sniper of WW1. Being solitary is Peggy’s asset, and his problem. We’ll see this with X and E, too (24). Chapter 3: Trenches (25-33) -Xavier continues to be the speaker in this chapter. He continues his story of his first weeks up at the frontline†¦. -We are introduced to two more members of the section, Graves and Gilberto (the latter has as many problems speaking English as Xavier). We also meet Corporal Thompson, who has become the section’s newest NCO. He trains his new soldiers – esp. an observant X – about how to survive in the trenches. They learn about recognizing different kinds of shells, how to keep one eye closed against night flares, and where to run to during a bombardment (the freshest craters). -We are introduced to periscopes, the Ross rifles amp; shields used by snipers, and the duckboards at the bottom of the trenches. -On their first night mission into No Man’s Land, E and X hear something â€Å"like mice chewing† (31). It’s the sound of Canadian engineers digging tunnels underground. X is almost shot before his return: â€Å"It is real. All of this is suddenly very real. The other side wants to kill me, and I’ve never even seen their faces† (33). Chapter 4: My Father (34-49) -Niska speaks in this chapter. Xavier is struggling with his morphine addiction and memories of war, so she begins to tell him (and us) a story from her youth. It focuses on her last winter with her father, just as she enters puberty. -There is a focus on storytelling as a means of healing: It is the story of my childhood. Now I tell it to you, Xavier, to keep you alive. (35) -We are introduced to Rabbit [The nickname of Niskas sister (Xaviers mother)], as well as Niskas mother. -They live in conical lodges called askinkans, which we call teepees. -Niska has inherited her fathers ability to foretell the future, usually through epileptic fits that isolate her from the rest of her community. -The central story is of Niskas early adolescence. It is the winter during which she enters puberty. Her Oji-Cree Anishnabe clan of roughly 30 people still live near Hudsons Bay, in the wilderness. The winter is a harsh one, with few animals to trap and eat. They are reluctantly forced to consume a young hibernating bear, who they regard as a spiritual brother (38). Niskas father, a medicine man and a spiritual leader of the clan, argues that they have no choice but to eat or starve (37). Nothing it should be added, is to be wasted. A young man named Micah leaves with his wife and child for better hunting. Their expedition proves disastrous, as Micah ends up freezing to death while fishing. His wife is forced into cannibalism (42) on behalf of herself and her child. -The wife returns to her clan, but she and her child slip into madness. This madness is personified as the windigo, a mythical wild beast 20 feet tall (44). Niskas father is forced to kill them (45). Niska is made to watch; she will eventually inherit her fathers gifts, social role and must understand the responsibilities of leadership. This event coincides and intertwines- with Niskas first menstruation. A symbol of maturity is inextricably linked with the sorrow and responsibility of adulthood. -Niska desperately wants to possess her father gifts (46); she also realizes her gifts and responsibilities will be shared by one more. We see an example of foreshadowing: I am the second to last in a long time of windigo killers. There is still one more (48). -However, at the end of the chapter, her father is taken away by the HBC men for the murder of the mother and child; he dies soon after in prison. -Niska notes the bitter irony of the Cree helping the White Men (wemisikoshiw), who eventually take over the Cree land. Chapter 5: Fire (50-61) We return to Xaviers point of view. Xavier asks his aunt to stop paddling, he remembers the spot on the river and begins telling us his story of how Elijah and himself paddled southward (upriver) to volunteer for the Canadian army a few years earlier. Much of the chapter explains their experience paddling through the forest fire; the fire is an obvious portent or omen of what awaits the two young men. -We learn more about Elijah: -He lives for what the day will bring (52). -Elijah has spent much more time with the White Man, and is much more adept at the English language than Xavier (59) -At the same time, he is less experienced in the brush that Xavier; he often looks to Xavier for re-assurance (57). Xavier must look out for Elijah: I will protect him. It is what I do, what I have always tried to do (58). -Elijah has a strained relationship with Xavier; his esteem is based in large part on his competitiveness with Xavier. -The language and competiveness are brought together on page 58 amp;59. -We learn more about Xavier, and his horrific though brief experience in residential school (56) -Xavier says, I made the decision to do t his (58). What decision is he taking responsibility for? (Enlisting) -There are multiple references to dreams, as if Xavier is not quite sure he is awake or asleep. 52,60,61) Chapter 6: Raiding Party (62-75) We continue with Xavier’s point of view, but we return to the story of X and E’s experience on the Western Front. The central part of the this chapter is their first raiding party in the craters of No Man’s Land. * A young soldier, Gerald, is court-martialled and executed for falling asleep at his sentry post. The execution is botched and an officer must shoot Gerald in the head with his revolver (63-64). * We read about new weapons of war: * poison gas and gas masks (64). * German â€Å"potato masher† grenades (65) * Lewis guns and Mills bombs (grenades) (67) X and E are part of a raiding party, aiming to avenge an earlier German trench raid and scout out the control of large craters in the middle of No Man’s Land. * Thompson continues to teac h by example (with charcoal for camouflage); Thompson, according to X, is â€Å"very much an Indian this way† (67). * X, E, Thompson and Graves (an older veteran of the Boer War) spend a night in a crater close to German lines. In the morning, waiting at the top of the crater, X and E kill German soldiers by lobbing grenades back into the crater. Xavier realizes what has happened: â€Å"I have killed someone now† (75). X and E appear to be gaining respect from Thompson for their soldiering abilities, but we also see an important distinction between the two Cree friends at the end of the chapter. Thompson asks E about the fighting (and if E likes the killing), and E responds that it’s in his blood. But X feels left out of the discussion in front of him: â€Å"He didn’t ask me the same question. Does he sense something? How am I different? A strange sensation, one I do not recognize, surges up my spine† (75). Chapter 7: Learning (76-88) For the third chapter in a row, the story is told from Xavier’s point of view. The central part of this chapter is their life in the trenches, including behind the lines. X and E also  begin their training as snipers. Thompson likes working with X and E after the raiding party, and admires their calm under fire. He says to McCann, â€Å"[Y]our two Indians are blessed. They’ve got the charm about them† (79). * Our understanding of the tension between X and E continues to grow. We learn about another incident during basic training where E uses his skill with English to get X in trouble with Breech (78). * X  dreams  of home (79). * Grey Eyes tries to tempt E with morphine (80). E turns him down, but X observes that â€Å"Elijah’s eyes told me all I needed to know†. * Target practice (81): Sean Patrick is a good shot and a northern Ontario boy himself a white man who knows the ways of the Ojibwe (81-82). * X is an observant and hard working soldier who knows how to survive: â€Å"I keep my head attached to my body by doing the simple things that it knows to do† (84). * Thompson teaches X and E how to be snipers (85-88). * They learn how to use a scope (85). * X realizes that this is like hunting back home: â€Å"I am made for this, I think to myself† (86). * They learn the art of concealment. X reflects on the superior approach of the Germans (87): they keep their defences irregular, to make it harder to detect their positions. The Canadians, like the British, are all too predictable. Their â€Å"orderly† fortifications make it easy for German snipers to detect differences – and targets. * X spots for  E, who gets his first sniper kill  at the end of the chapter (88). Chapter 8: Captive (89-95) We return to Niska’s story of her adolescence. She and her family are eventually forced to move into Moose Factory, and become dependent on the White Man (in the form of the Hudson’s Bay Company and their soldiers). Niska continues to tell Xavier her story. Talk is all she has; it is her way to help Xavier. Talk and stories and the recovery of identity through storytelling will hopefully release some of â€Å"the poison that courses through him† (89). * Niska’s anger over her father’s premature death runs deep, like a â€Å"hard and bitter seed lodged in the pit of my stomach† (90). * We read about the destruction of aboriginal families because of the residential schools (91). * Rabbit asks to go to the residential school, and Niska is later forced to go. * Niska’s experience at the school is brief but brutal. We learn of her horrible treatment at the hands of the nuns, but Niska maintains her dignity and composure (93). She plots and chooses her â€Å"battles carefully† and then completely shears her hair in defiance of the nuns. * She is confined in the basement, and has visions before she passes out. She foresees her trip with Xavier (94). * At the end of the chapter, her Mom rescues her from a basement cell. Niska’s sister, now named Anne, is lost to them. Niska and her mother – Xavier’s grandmother return to live in the bush. Chapter 9: Competition (96-109) We move back to Xavier’s story. The first part of the chapter shows us that X and E are becoming accomplished snipers, though X is the spotter and E is the actual sniper. In the second half of the chapter, X explains his basic training in Ontario, where he wins a shooting completion. He’s thus a better shot than Elijah, but not necessarily a better killer. * X and E’s exploits are drawing fire from German artillery, and now many men in their company don’t want them near. This isolation is to Xavier’s liking: â€Å"I like it out here away from the trenches anyway. There’s no boredom, no officers to answer to, no stand-to† (97). We see another reference to a â€Å"three-day road† as a path to the one’s death and afterlife (98). In this context, * Elijah kills a wounded German soldier in No Man’s land. * Boche/Fritz/Hun†¦. Tommy? * P. 100: we move back to Basic Training * We learn about poison gas and pissing in handkerchiefs (101). * X is competitive and yearns for respect (pp. 103, 109). * Elijah, according to Xavier, is a â€Å"trickster† (107); â€Å"I am the only one who knows, though, that Elijah has not always gotten by in the world so easily†. * We finally start learning about X and E’s background together. X starts teaching E about surviving in the bush after E leaves residential school. E is clumsy and loud, and causes X to miss killing a fox. E is, nevertheless, eager to learn how to live in the bush (108). * Xavier wins the shooting competition against E and a soldier who’s returned from the front. He’s the only one to light a match with a bullet. He finally gains some respect from the other soldiers and McCaan nicknames Xavier â€Å"X†, as in â€Å"X marks the spot! † (109) * â€Å"None of those who are here today can call me a useless bush Indian ever again. They may not say it out loud, but they know now that I have something special† (109). Chapter 10: Sniper (110-118) We continue with Xavier’s story in this chapter. X and E continue as snipers. Sean Patrick is killed, and X and E are tasked with revenge. * Sean Patrick is killed while sniping behind a steel plate. X feels badly that he didn’t warn them to keep moving around. Grey Eyes is also responsible, since he was â€Å"operating the slot so slowly† (112). * X would prefer to leave Sean Patrick’s body in a tree â€Å"so that the soul can leave it without hindrance†, but the absence of trees makes burial a necessity. X and E’s Cree heritage is shown (Gitchi Manitou, burial prayers, sweet grass, prayers in Cree) (112). A particular German sniper is wreaking havoc on the British and Canadian lines, and sapping â€Å"morale† (113). He becomes the focus of this chapter. We are given details about the sniper (113-114). * The Germans dig deep, and do not suffer from artillery (114). * There is a brief flashback to a hunting expedition by X and E when they are 16. E is the shooter, but X is the wise one who forces the caribou towards E (115-116). * In the final two pages, both X and E take up positions to kill German snipers who use their own steel plates. As they fire, X is not sure if he’s hit anything, but is sure that E has. We see more glimpses of X’s personality: * A desire to be liked: â€Å"I don’t want to offend them† (111) * Guilt: â€Å"I am to blame too† (112) * Self-doubt: â€Å"I wonder about myself, though† (118). * He is, at times, respectful of E’s sniper skills (113). Chapter 11: Revenge (119-129) We continue with Xavier’s story. X and E have shot at least one sniper, and the sniping has diminished. But the infamous â€Å"Hun sniper† who killed Sean Patrick is still out there. * Both X and E are both shooting, but E warns their section about X’s shooting (119). Xavier does not share the humour. While E’s fame and vanity grow, X knows that the â€Å"real job still lies ahead of us† (119). * Their section returns to the rear for rest. E builds a structure similar to an  askinkans,  and renews his suspicious friendship with Grey Eyes (120-121). * X goes in one night and wakes up E. X has had an epiphany; he realizes that Sean Patrick was shot upwards, so the Hun sniper must be in No Man’s Land very close to the Canadian trenches. * X and E return to the front lines and resume their hunt. During this time, E recounts his story of how he experienced morphine with Grey Eyes(123-127), while on the ship crossing the Atlantic. E claims this is the only time he’s tried it (127). * Why does Grey Eyes ask Elijah to cut him on the arm (125)? [So Grey eyes can steal a needle while in the infirmary. ] * They continue their patient hunt. E decides to shoot at a bloated dead horse. The Hun sniper, just yards away from the horse, returns fire, almost hitting E. Xavier sees the smoke of his German adversary, and fires back. * â€Å"As the smoke clears, I see that the rifle I aimed above is now lying on the ground at an angle. The knowledge slowly sinks in† (129). * Elijah’s eyes are burning from the debris of the near miss, and he asks X what happened. Xavier does not answer, but he has killed the â€Å"phantom sniper† (129). Chapter 12: Seducing (130-135) We return to Niska’s story. In this relatively short chapter, she continues to tell us the story of her adolescence, and of her first sexual experience. * Niska has inherited her father’s role as a seer of the future and adviser. The other Cree who live in the wilderness, the awawatuk, now accept her powers and now come to her for advice (131) Niska is also fascinated by a white trapper. She is at first incensed by his â€Å"insolence† (132), and tries to sabotage his trap lines. She then desires to trap him and keep him â€Å"like a pet† (132). Finally, she wants to seduce him. * When the trapper is finally lured into Niska’s  askinkans, she wonders who is the hunter actually is (134). * The final part of the chapter describes her first sexual experience. Even though Niska doesn’t speak French like the trapper, she understands him nevertheless. It is a brief but passionate encounter. Chapter 13: Rifle (136-146) We return to Xavier’s story. X and E and Thompson go out to find the dead German sniper. * Elijah says he is surprised that X killed the sniper (136). * We hear of E’s wooden war club, complete with â€Å"hobnails† (137). It’s similar to Thompson’s. * X and E charcoal their faces before the journey into No Man’s Land. They share a joke that it’s a White Man’s smudging ceremony. X notes something important about Elijah: â€Å"No Indian religion for him. The only Indian Elijah wants to be is the Indian that knows to hide and hunt† (137). * Though he accorded more respect, Xavier is still aware that his reputation is not like Elijah’s: â€Å"According to the others, he is the resident expert, although I am a fine shot too. As fine as Elijah. But I don’t have the killing instinct for men† (138). * The 3 go out and find the sniper. Xavier brings backs a prized Mauser sniper rifle, angering Elijah. They also observe a German machine gun nest under construction. * After returning and receiving double rum rations from Breech (141), Xavier remembers selling their canoe before enlisting. E convinced X that they should buy new clothes. * E explains to X how a motor car works. When X worries about the fire burning down the town, E responds, ‘ â€Å"Can you imagine anything more glorious? †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (142). * Breech wants to send out a large raiding party to destroy the machine gun nest, but X and E would rather go just with Corporal Thompson. X tells us that E tells him everything, and has â€Å"never been able to† keep anything from Xavier (144). * This allows us to see into the thoughts of E,  without officially changing perspective. * For the first time, Elijah is fearful about going into No Man’s Land. He fails in his attempt to get morphine from the medic, Driscoll. Chapter 14: Raid (14 7-163) * This is a busy chapter! * The raid is successful but costly. A new soldier is killed and Thompson is badly wounded. Elijah is wounded, too, but not as badly as first thought. * E rushes the machine gun nest, but is injured before he could finish the job. X not only brings E back to their trench, but also finishes off the enemy placement. * However, there is talk of a medal for Elijah, not Xavier (150). Gilberto is also a hero for dragging Thompson back, long after Grey Eyes returns. * E helps Gilberto write a letter to his wife. It is full of bravado that embarrasses Gilberto. * We also start to learn some important information about X’s childhood: * He barely remembers his mother, Rabbit. * As a young boy, he was taken in by the nuns at the residential school. * Elijah became his â€Å"only friend† (151). * Even then, E was getting X in trouble†¦ with language. X can see that E wants morphine: â€Å"I know that it is much more than medicine. Much more† (153). * What exactly is it? A temptation? A test of E’s strength and courage? * There is another reference to Elijah’s character being a trickster. It’s also related to his name (154). * At a local estaminet (a local cafe that also acts as a brothel), Xavier becomes enamoured with the bartender’s daughter. After their first meeting, Xavier and Lisette meet the following evening. Xavier and Lisette make love (159). * Two days later, X’s section is sent away from Saint-Eloi. There is a discussion of the new Lee-Enfield rifle and the Ross rifle (160). Xavier elects to keep his Mauser, and E keeps his Ross rifle. * The chapter ends with a discussion of the train trip before enlistment. * They face discrimination and must go to the back of the train (161). Elijah is clowning around, but an older aboriginal man tells him he dreamt of a whiskey jack jay â€Å"pecking at something dead† (163). Chapter 15: Betrayal (163-176) * Niska continues to tell Xavier (and us) her story. In this chapter we hear more about her relationship with the French trapper, and his eventual betrayal of Niska. We also see that her power is perhaps greater than we first realized. * She starts by saying, â€Å"Like the frozen rivers that gave way to the warmth, something inside me broke and flooded so that all I wanted was him† (163). * She is practical: â€Å"[I]n this world of hardship we must grasp the moments that are offered to us† (163). * She is at first worried, then relieved, by the sense that her â€Å"divining† powers are lost because of her relationship with the white man. * But she asks the trapper to leave after an elder comes to her for help. The trapper is â€Å"sullen† as a result (166) and no longer visits. Niska’s mother suggests Niska pursue him. Niska goes into town (Moose Factory) to find him. Niska is received coldly by the â€Å"homeguard Indians† (168) who stare at her. Niska notices their â€Å"fullness† and realizes how lonely she is in the wild. They start to talk about Niska behind her back: â€Å"The other talent the Cree have to rival their hunting ability is their ability to gossip† (168). * She is rescued a kindly elderly native woman. The woman – who Niska respectfully addresses as  Kokum  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ tells Niska that they know who she is. She also reveals that everyone knows about Niska’s relationship with the trapper. The old woman warns Niska about him: â€Å"Be careful of that one. They say he has a taste for red meat that he can’t satisfy†¦ You are ahookimaw, from a strong family. Happiness is not yours to have. You are a  windigo  killer† (168). * Niska finds the trapper. He eventually brings her to a church , where they have sex. But it’s a trap. He believes he has destroyed her spirit. He says, â€Å"I took your power away in this place and sent it to burn in hell where it belongs† (174). * Niska escapes the town in horror and returns to her camp. In a purification sweat ceremony, she asks for the animal spirits to help. She asks her strongest spirit, the lynx, to â€Å"go out and find the source of my hurt and extinguish it† ( 176). * Later, her mother visits and tells Niska that â€Å"the Frenchman had gone mad in that town and taken to running up and down the streets trying to escape pursuing demons† (176). He commits suicide, and is refused a Christian burial. Chapter 16: Horses (177-191) The foreground story, of Niska taking Xavier back home, has been a relatively minor part of the narrative. In this chapter, however, the opening highlights the crisis that Xavier is facing as he returns. Only a few needlefish are left†, and Xavier does not even bother hiding his injections of morphine from Niska (177). * Nevertheless, we return to the story of the war. We will learn later (205) that X and E’s unit has moved south and joined in the Battle of the Somme. * Xavier remains mystified by his unequal treatment, and leads to a potentially fateful conclusion: â€Å"Me, Iâ€℠¢m clearly invisible to the officers. How is it that Breech refuses to recognize that it isn’t only Elijah out there killing Fritz? We are a team. If nobody will recognize this, maybe I will force them to† (178). A leaning statue of the Virgin Mary looks on with â€Å"serene disapproval† (178) of the carnage below; she is also a symbol of Allied survival and refuses to topple over from German bombardment. * We learn of the Canadian strategy of the â€Å"creeping barrage† (179), something that X and V will have to avoid when they venture into No Man’s Land. * X and V spot a bombed-out farmhouse in No Man’s Land. They set up a long-term sniping post, bringing with them many day’s supplies. * E gets X to tell him a story; X repeats a story that E already knows: the story of the horses while coming across the Atlantic. Two horses break their legs in the middle of a violent storm. * E asks the officers for help, and they reluctantly go down to the stalls. * X has already killed the horses out of mercy. * Breech wants to lay charges (190), but a colonel congratulates X on his decisiveness and valour. He even suggests X would make a good officer, but Breech later says, â€Å"You will never become an officer† (190). Both X and E wonder why. * The two horses are dropped into the sea after the storm abates. * Interesting technique (or cheat) by Boyden to overcome  1st person point of view: We see inside the inner feelings of Elijah on p. 182. This is just like p. 144. Chapter 17: Collector (192-200) The battlefield story continues. Elijah has finally yielded to temptation: â€Å"Since being wounded in our raid, he has given up fighting the morphine† (192). * The creeping barrage tactic initially works, but it stops too soon, and the German machine guns are quickly firing upon the advancing Canadians. Surprisingly, Xavier starts firing on the German machine gun nests first, and then Elijah joins in. They fire rapidly and continentally, and believe they have killed dozens (194). * Within the hour, the Canadians have taken the German line called Candy Trench. X and E move to another rise in on the landscape, and use canvas and branches to create a camouflaged position. They can see clearly into the town of Courcelette. * Spotting a new German machine gun position â€Å"seven or eight hundred yards away† (195), X and E begin firing again. However, X has run out of rounds for his Mauser, and works as a spotter fo r E. * E’s shooting is excellent, and he kills three of four Germans. He exclaims it’s the â€Å"best shooting I’ve done† (195) * Xavier has trouble hearing – perhaps this will further distance Xavier from the rest, and make him even more dependent on Elijah. Breech doesn’t believe X and E’s claims, angering Elijah (196). * For the next two weeks, X and E â€Å"concentrate on harassment fire† (197). * Elijah tells Xavier of a night in the French town of Albert: â€Å"He has no choice but to tell me. I am his listener† (197). Elijah climbs up a bell tower and a statue, and fires a single shot towards the front lines. * X and E’s moccasins are irregular, but help them fight â€Å"trench foot† (199). Why do they help? [They dry quickly and allow their feet to breathe. ] * In the last part of the chapter, Xavier tells us that Elijah volunteers for burial duty. He looks into the eyes of the dead, â€Å"letting a strange spark of warmth accumulate deep in his gut each time that he does it† (200). Chapter 18: Skinning (201-212) X and E’s section are sent behind the lines during Christmas, 1916. In a village pub, X and E encounter French troops. These troops, and their violent games with knives, fascinate the two Cree snipers. * The French have heard of X and E, but also of the Cree sniper named â€Å"Peggy†. E wants to learn more about this sniper. * A French soldier, Francis, advises E to take the scalps of his victims. That way, he will â€Å" ‘[a]void what happens to Peggy’ † (204). Such evidence will bring apparently bring honour to Elijah. * X and E’s unit are soon sent to Vimy Ridge, near the town of Arras. It is relatively peaceful (205). * Many French and British soldiers have died in earlier fighting around the ridge. * Sean Patrick’s replacements keep dying. * Both E and X are allowed to go â€Å"hunting† again. * The Canadians seem inspired by the winter weather, and start raiding the German lines until the latter are â€Å"jittery and afraid† (206). Elijah goes out on a raid that Xavier declines to volunteer for, but Elijah nevertheless tells X all the details. It’s a brutal attack on a German trench, filled with hand to hand combat. E kills many soldiers, and is lucky that a certain German soldier’s gun has jammed. E kills the soldier and calmly claims his scalp (210). The â€Å"possession in his kit bag almost pulsates† (211). * Elijah doesn’t want to be on morphine anymore, but struggles to ignore its allure (212). Chapter 19: Stealing (213-220) In this chapter, we hear how Niska rescues Xavier from the residential school. Before she begins this part of her story, she prepares bannock. Niska also resolves to force feed Xavier if he refuses to eat (213). * Niska begins by introducing us to her mother – Xavier’s grandmother. She was Ojibwe, unlike her Cree husband. Niska explains that the Cree and Ojibwe share a common language, but did not always get along (213). Niska’s mother died after the incident with the French trapper. * Her sister, Rabbit, had become an alcoholic and had given up her child, Xavier, to the nuns: â€Å"The thought of my blood left in that place to fend for himself gave me no nd of misery, but I had little choice in the matter† (213). * Niska’s seizures and visions are becoming more intense, as is her loneliness. She has many premoni tions of the future war (214). * She keeps seeing visions of a boy (of â€Å"four or five winters† old) she knows must be her nephew. She resolves to rescue him, but only if he wishes to leave. * In the summer, she hides by the playground. She signals him over with the call of the grouse; he instinctually finds the source. Niska asks him if he wants to come with her and he says yes, without hesitation. The next day, Niska surprises the nun who is in a canoe with Xavier. Niska knocks the nun into the water – revenge for Niska’s past – and rescues Xavier. * She notes that the â€Å"months that followed were the happiest of my life† (219). * She teaches Xavier everything she knows about living in the wilderness, and he learns quickly and deeply. The only mystery that remains is his aunt’s continued seizures, but she always manages to â€Å"come back from that other place† (220). * The chapter closes with an unsettling vision: â€Å"a vi sitor would come to us, a visitor with a request I could not ignore† (220). Chapter 20: Fighter (221-239) In this long chapter, we read about E and X’s plan to escape from their residential school. We also read about their exploits at Vimy Ridge in 1917. * E plans to steal a little bit of food every day, until they have enough to escape with. * E mentions a rifle kept by one of the nuns. There is a hint of sexual abuse of E by the nun. * Now at Vimy Ridge, X and E are working together again as snipers. X is coming to terms with the death and killing. He says, â€Å"[W]hat I do is for survival, as long as I pray to  Gitchi Manitou. He understands† (224). There is another reference to â€Å"three-day road† as the road to death, like crossing the river Styx (224). * X is short of Mauser bullets. He wants to go out alone and find some in no man’s land, but he eventually calls it off. He thinks E would have been much more decisive and â€Å"would have just gone† (225). * X and E are ordered back into no man’s land. They need to take out German machine gun nests in anticipation of a major Canadian operation. * E surprises X with 2 Mauser magazines. X reaches into E’s knapsack and finds scalps (228) before finding the magazines. * X was right (224). The latest tunnels are not for explosives; the Canadians will use them to get troops into no man’s land for a surprise attack. E is angry that X was right (229). * The Germans are now aware of the Canadians. The Germans know â€Å"their opponent is worthy† (229). * X and E wait in no man’s land. E goes out alone to raid, and comes back with 3 more kills. X says that E â€Å"is beautiful, like an animal† (231). * After the initial shelling, X realizes that â€Å"the Hun have been digging down deep to hide from the shelling† (233). X and E will need to take out the machine gun nests. The creeping barrage is accurate, but X and E start to engage the enemy. X is particularly successful in taking out machine gun nests (234, 236). * Canadian soldiers rush past their position. Gilberto  helps up X, but is then killed: â€Å"his face blooms into a red flower† (236). * X joins the attack uphill. It’s a bloody battle. He is hit but continues o n and kills two Germans with his bayonet. * The second German, a big man with red hair, tries to strangle X to death, but McCaan turns up and calmly shoots the German in the head with his revolver (239). X lives.