Essays

Analisis if House Made of Dawn

2021

The expression of native American culture in House Made of Dawn 

The novel House Made of Dawn was published in 1968 by N. Scott Momaday, and it has received batch credit for its way of expressing Native American literature. The novel was first conceived into a series of poems, then as a story, but the author shaped it into a novel. Momaday used his first-hand knowledge while writing the novel, using the world he knew himself in the American way, giving sincere acknowledgment of an African Indian. He uses more than one viewpoint and distinguishes Indian morals and spiritual visions, different from the Americans, with a sense of responsibility towards nature and their humanitarian principles. The rich Indian culture has been part of the USA for centuries, and it is based on the Indian beliefs, language, and traditions that have been passed down for generations; it is one of the central theses in the novel House Made of Dawn. In this paper, I chose to discuss the expression of the American Indian culture in the novel House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday.

The author wrote about the world he knew well and was a prominent promoter of Indian literature in the USA. He paved the way too many young authors from his novel, including S. Ortiz and L. Silko (Ortiz, Simon J., et al.). He brings the western culture's views on the Indian culture. As a writer, he keeps hoping that the Indians will have a bright future, as they had been at the bottom for many years due to diseases and persecutions, but they managed to keep most of their heritage fascinating (Momaday). He shows how Indian literature contributed to the breakthrough in the development of American literature. Momaday refers to actual events in the novel, for instance, the murder motive in the first part of the novel and what happened to Jemez (Momaday). The customs, real places, and events were a source of inspiration for the novel. The central theme is loss of identity, which later changes to the logic of the ethical connection of young Indians in contemporary American culture.

The Indian moral and spiritual visions differ from the American, with the sense of responsibility toward nature and the community's tradition obtaining their energy. According to Indian principles, human life is reflected in nature, and nature is reflected in human life. Separating the Indians from nature is expressed to make their economic and social life unachievable. Peace with their spiritual life from their unity between land and the land's spirit is essential (Douglas). A relationship between the Indian's lives and the land represents close and endless mutuality, as the land is reflected in people's lives. In the first part, Abel, the protagonist, participated in the second world war, gained recognition due to his courage, and later returned to New Mexico, where he had grown up, totally ruined emotionally by the war (Momaday). He was extremely drunk on getting home, such that he never recognized Francisco, his grandfather, who was now very old with a limp leg. Francisco had passed the mythical values and community traditions to Abel at a young age. The physical unity, and spiritual bonds between land and people, had been broken during the war.

He was expected to live an everyday life after returning home, but the situation was different. Father Olguin finds Abel a job in the village where he would work for a rich white woman. However, he killed albino Indian Juan Reyes and was sentenced to prison (Momaday). This act was the opposite of his impressive lessons in his childhood, the unity with nature, and Momaday describes that this sense of being lost in the world could not survive the limited frames. His healing would be an aspect of healing a separation of nature.

Abel's role in the novel was to discover the faint faith in people for the reward in their spiritual strength as a community. To achieve the goal, he had to reunite with nature and identify himself with the land. An event from the Indian tradition, 'Abel runs in winter, making him a dawn runner,' is described in the novel. He completed the life circle, which symbolized the never-ending return to the beginning in nature—the return to birth as an unavoidable return to birth and acts such as harmony (Allison). In the introduction part of the novel, the running took place in a mythical time when the author instills the spirit of Indian traditions. Apart from the introductory part, Indian myths and stories are introduced in different parts of the novel. 'Dypaloh. There was a house made of dawn. It was made of pollen and rain, and the land was ancient and everlasting' (Momaday, 1). The main character's relationship with nature was reachable in the novel's first part, emphasized by his naked body. He grew from nature which shaped the land and also the man. Abel became peaceful the first time he understood the link between his soul and nature and all powers that were in the relationship. He realized that the central power to all events was the Great Spirit which renewed each individual's energy.

Francisco embodies the traditional way of Indian life, and his role was to pass the knowledge to Abel, which made it possible for people to live proudly for centuries. Francisco's limping also showed his lost bond with traditions that he tried to regain with Abel, his grandson. In part entitled August 2, in the first part of the last chapter, the scent of the censer and the rhythmic sound of the drums is related to the representation of the age-long value. The dancers coming out of the kiva in the afternoon fulfill the promise of man's harmony with nature, which was given in ancient times (Momaday 85). While Francisco lay to die, he remembered his life in Jamez and the people who were in the land. In the first part of the story, Francisco passed the old wisdom and knowledge of the Indians to Abel, and they were deeply attached in a specific place where he would return and become their part; therefore, he first had to become a dawn runner.

Animal figures deeply rooted in the Indian religion appear in the novel. The snake and the eagle represent Abel's life. 'That night, while the others ate by the fire, he stole away to look at the great bird...the bird shivered...bound and helpless, his eagle seemed drab and shapeless in the moonlight, too large and ungainly for flight. The sight of it filled him with shame and disgust. He took hold of its throat in the darkness and cut off its breath' (Momaday, 22). The eagle symbolizes pride in the Indian culture (Nagel), and Abel suffered from his pride and the spiritual disease he had due to the loss of his mother, brother and fear of losing his land. He identifies his life as that of an eagle, which cannot succeed on earth. Abel admires the eagles due to their heavenly freedom and the lack of connection with the earth, while the snake has contact with only one place, the Walatowa (Momaday 169). The second part of the novel is when Abel was in Los Angles. Ben Benally and Tosamah had also been separated from their primary physical land, which comprised their cultural and individual identity. A complete understanding of the three characters shows three people separated from their original environment gaining peace and security.

All these facts are not chronologically represented in the novel as they took place. It portrayed the importance of the circulation movement when it comes to traditional beliefs. Using original words from the Navajo and Jemez languages emphasized the idea of the tribe and the individual's life identity. The Indian words have emphasized the oral tradition of the Indians. The author was very creative and used different writing styles to make the reading attractive to his audience. The novel is essential for anyone who wishes to learn about Native Americans and their culture. It is recommended for all Americans to recognize the importance of the Indian culture in their land.