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Neo-Pagan Features in Boyden's "Three Day Road"
Bohal, Vít ; Kolinská, Klára (advisor) ; Jindra, Miroslav (referee)
In the thesis for my upcoming bachelor's paper I aim to analyze the topic of religion in Joseph Boyden's novel Three Day Road (2005). More specifically, I aim to defend the hypothesis that within the spectrum of religious dialogue present within the novel, there is an overwhelming undertone of neo-pagan ideals. These ideals are presented as being positive, in the sense that they are life-supporting, rather than life-hindering. The main contention that I will draw will deal with the aspect of taboo, and how it is adressed throughout the novel. Contrary to Sigmund Freud's ideas (Freud's book Totem and Taboo will serve as the basis for my arguments) of taboo being a life-hindering, neurotic framework of belief, the views expressed by the two main narrators of the novel are in favor of taboo, and the narration itself draws a tragic end for the character who consistently defies these taboos. There is a moral aspect to the story expressed within the relationship of the two main characters, Xavier Bird and Elijah Whiskeyjack, and is based on this very adherence, or lack thereof, to taboos. The main taboo consistently appears to be that of cannibalism associated with the infamous Algonquin mythological figure of the windigo, which is the most frequent metaphor used within the narrtaive and is the most productive...
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