Do I Believe that Xavier's Actions in Dying are Justified?

In the chapter Justified of Three Day Road, Xavier, after a long period of mentally struggling in a sense against his friend Elijah, has to make a hard decision. As they attempt to take a fortified line, their squad is slowly cut down by machine guns. Elijah, the highest ranking soldier, takes command of the squad, and orders the rest to provide covering fire for himself and Xavier and then retreat. Xavier immediately sees trouble in the near future, and as two heavy bombardments rage around them, they pick off Germans until Elijah turns to him, states while smiling that he "has gone too far" and then proceed to viciously attack and almost kill Xavier. Xavier, at this point is forced to kill him by choking him to death. This, I feel is justified seeing as it was self-defence, and though it may have been scarring, Xavier can at least know that he was forced to kill his best friend by circumstance, not choice.

K&E HWOL Number 1

            When the Canadians first appear at Vimy Ridge, they come under intense shell and sniper fire. I feel that Elijah and Xavier, arriving in France, would have been like those new recruits, naive and likely to be picked off by the waiting Germans. The new recruits would have to learn extremely fast, or else they would simply become another statistic in the killing fields. I feel the artillery would be the deadliest weapon, as it could do anything. You can fill a shell with explosives, cluster warheads, shrapnel, gas or anything deadly and nasty. Ergo, the artillery would be the harshest thing the Canadians face.

Mulders Indian Horse Blog Post

1) Choose what you think to be a key scene in Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse and explain why you think this scene is so important and how it connects with the rest of the book in terms of character development, plot and theme. (8-10 sentences)

I feel that the scene, which begins on page 198 of Indian Horse, is a great indication of the true literary value of this novel. Here, Saul, returning to St. Jerome’s during his attempt at sobering up, stands beside the rink that he learned to skate upon near the barn. Whilst he is standing there remembering and contemplating, a memory, long repressed, strikes him hard. He remembers Father Leboutilier, his original mentor in ice hockey, watching a Canadians game with him in his quarters. Saul, only wanting love at the academy, thinks nothing of the awkward situation that follows. He also chooses to also repress and ignore the sexual abuse that follows, as the Father takes advantage of Saul’s deep love and trust in him to exploit his own perverted desires. Once Saul realizes his falsehood of a childhood, he flies into a rage. This scene really drives some nails into the coffin of St. Jerome’s. We see that Father Leboutilier, who we may have assumed to be the “wise old man” of most works of fiction, is in reality a dark and sick character that used a boy’s love of a game to his sexual advantage. This scene also takes a major place in the plot, as Saul, after coming to terms with this point in his childhood, resolves to move on, and does so. This dark and depressing scene really contributes to the overall depressing plot of this novel, and does so exceptionally well.

2) Provide an excerpt from the scene that you copy directly and write in italics as well as the page number in parenthesis. (3-5 sentences)

“‘You are a glory, Saul.’ That’s what he always told me.  It’s what he whispered to me in the dim light of his quarters, what he said to me those nights he snuck into the dormitory and put his head beneath the covers. The words he used in the back of the barn when he slipped his trousers down. That was the phrase that began the groping, the tugging, the pulling and the sucking, and those were always the last words he said to me as he left, arranging his priestly clothes. ‘You are a glory, Saul.’” (199)

3) Select 2-3 images that you include that you believe enhance the content of your post. Write one sentence for each image, explaining why you selected it.

I feel this image really conveys the issue of these pedophilia cases in the Catholic Church; soiling almost two thousand years of glorious history by dithering around and refusing to change anything in their nature.

This image conveys the setting of the realization; beside an old, weathered, hockey rink near a barn in the middle of the Canadian wilderness.

This image of Graham James goes to show that it isn't just in the Church that sexual abuse exists; Mr. James got away with it coaching junior leagues as well.