In Joseph Boyden’s novel, Three Day Road, there is a key scene in which Elijah, one of the main characters, starts to become a bloodthirsty killing machine. One night, when Xavier and Elijah are having a peaceful evening of drinking and relaxing, they meet a group of intriguing Frenchmen. At first they pay no attention to either Elijah or Xavier, but later ask if they would like to join them for a drink. Both Elijah and Xavier are interested in these Frenchmen, as they do tricks with knives and brass knuckles. When they begin to talk about a hunter who has killed many men, Elijah is ready to accept thanks, when they say it was a man named Peggy who killed all these Hun. You can tell right away that Elijah envies Peggy’s recognition and longs for people to respect him in this way. It is who Elijah is deep down to want to be the best and not being able to accept the “second place ribbon.” I am the same way competitively and I fully understand Elijah’s jealousy for this, “Peggy.” “And I can see he grows angry thinking about this Peggy…His whole arm is tender. Elijah practices self-control, knowing as he floods his vein that he is using the medicine right now out of anger.” (P. 203-204) Out of anger, Elijah resorts to morphine to take his anger away. Avoiding his problems by taking drugs is obviously a very irresponsible way of handling his anger, which will lead to his losing control later. When Elijah goes back inside, he is provided with a way of overcoming Peggy in respect and honour. At this point, Elijah is very vulnerable being so jealous of Peggy’s respect, and will accept anyway to gain this kind of respect. Since Peggy doesn’t collect evidence of his kills, one of the Frenchman tells Elijah he could gain honour by collecting this kind of evidence. “Do what we do. Collect evidence of your kills. Do what my people taught your people a long time ago. Take the scalp of your enemy as proof. Take a bit of him to feed you.” (P. 204). Considering the place Elijah is in, you know he will start to try to prove himself by skinning the heads of the men he kills. This is essentially the scene where Elijah’s former morals go out the window and he begins to lose all self-control. It is in this scene where the events to follow are foreshadowed, like Elijah starting to skin the heads of men, eating human flesh, and killing an innocent boy.