Topic > Applying feminist theory to Three Day Road

Three Day Road is a novel that takes place during and is about the First World War and the local Canadians who fought in the war, the role of women in this time period, which in 1914 to 1917 is still particularly clear. It is evident that women's liberation in the cutting edge world offered the writer the motivation to incorporate these specific parts of the novel as it was composed after much of the developments in women's activism, which occurred in the 1960s. During the time of war, local Canadians were disowned and oppressed while women were not treated like men. The heroes, Niska and Xavier, knew what was happening. It is good to remember that Niska is both a woman and a local Canadian, so she was separated because she is both a woman and Cree. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First, I would like to express how Niska has been treated by European Canadians. When she walked around the European-ruled town called Moose Factory, the townspeople would point fingers at her and parents would pull their children closer to them as if Niska was a monster to them. In the story Niska says in a quote, “Parents called to their children when I approached… Young people pointed and stared at me when they thought I wasn't looking” (Boyden 145). It's clear that because Niska was native, European parents saw her as a threat, but it's important to realize that only men pointed out her and spread gossip about her appearance because she was a woman. In those days, women were only accepted into society if they met society's expectations of a woman. These standards include specific clothing and a beautiful face, as well as being possessed and obedient to men. Because Niska ignored ignorance and rules, she was an outcast from European society. In a similar section, there was an important point about women in the 1910s that the author was trying to make. While Niska was walking through the city, an old woman asked her to come into her house. This woman was Cree, like Niska, and she knew Niska's father, who was massacred in this town by Europeans, which is the key reason she helped Niska. Since this woman lived in this place, she knew the desires of how a woman is expected to dress in this city and gave Niska clothes to hide from the Europeans by giving her, "...the clothes of wemistikoshiw [white European] women, a long cotton skirt, a white cotton shirt, a brightly colored bandana to tie around her head” (Boyden 146) wears these garments and no one in town focuses on her or says anything about her that women must abide by these strict rules to meet the standards of a woman in society, the purpose of Niska's trip to the city was to discover her accomplice at the time, a Frenchman, taking care of business, exploited the Niska's feelings towards her and sold her out by ignoring her in a church. Since Niska was her father's daughter, she holds her father's strengths within her reason why the Frenchman took her to the church his soul contaminating it under the god of the European. Next, the man says, “'I got your ahcahk'” (Boyden 149) (ahcahk means spirit in Cree) and “'You're nothing special, just another squaw whore'” (Boyden 149). The Frenchman encountered man's basic contempt for a woman and even dares to call Niska a prostitute since she adored him. Furthermore, since Niska is a woman, she is believed to have no strength whatsoever. This is what drives the Frenchman to cheat on her and try to take her away,.