ISP Blog Post 6

The literary theory that gave me the most insight on my novel Three Day Road was Post-Colonial. Colonialism was a very influential force in the setting and time period of the novel. Three Day Road is a historical fiction novel; therefore post-colonial literary criticism provides more information about the history that occurred before all the consequences that Boyden describes. I believe that it is essential to have background knowledge on European and First Nation relations to fully comprehend the aftermath of colonialism. The Europeans started to explore to the Americas and brought back riches in raw materials. The valuable raw materials brought back to Europe from North America were lumber, fish, furs and minerals. The French and the British claimed most of the territory in North America.  Other developed countries caught on to the idea of expanding their empires. Royalty would even fund expeditions once they realized how much money they could generate from obtaining colonies.

Readers must understand that the European countries were more technologically advanced then the Aboriginals. Europeans built large ships capable of long voyages across the ocean while the Aboriginals only had two-man canoes. Europeans brought steel tools that revolutionized Aboriginal life. But the Europeans brought a lot more negative materials than positive. This includes rum “a sly and powerful weapon” (46) and foreign disease that wiped out entire tribes. Since the Europeans were more technologically advanced they labeled themselves better than the barbaric Indians. The “useless bush Indians” (109) were claimed to have no connection with their Christian God by the Europeans who found it their duty to God to convert the Aboriginals. They would trick tribes to hand over their land creating an imbalance of power. Cultural genocide was committed when the Europeans attempted to erase all fragments of Aboriginal culture, language and religion.

            Canada’s history before World War One must be known to fully appreciate Canada’s dark and secretive history that Boyden attempts to uncover. Colonialism created several consequences that most Canadians don’t realize was a direct result of colonialism. Viewing Three Day Road from a post-colonial literary criticism point has allowed me to develop an effective thesis statement…. Joseph Boyden describes several negative ways Aboriginals were affected by the arrival of the wemistikoshiw in Three Day Road. Colonialism created several consequences due to the parent-child relationship between the Aboriginals and the Europeans. The actions of the Europeans aren’t well known in Canadian history due to their cruelty. Boyden successfully uncovers Canada’s dark history and provides a voice for the oppressed Aboriginals.