Interpretation of Momaday's 'House Made of Dawn'

This essay explores the theme of suffering and renewal in Navarre Scott Momaday's novel 'House Made of Dawn' and its connection to T.S. Eliot's 'Little Gidding'. The essay discusses the narrative structure, character development, and the significance of nature in the novel. It also highlights the importance of cultural roots and the concept of salvation.

Running head: INTERPRETATION OF MOMADAY'S 'HOUSE MADE OF DAWN'
INTERPRETATION OF MOMADAY'S 'HOUSE MADE OF DAWN'
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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INTERPRETATION OF MOMADAY'S 'HOUSE MADE OF DAWN'
The novel ‘House made of Dawn’, which is considered the first major work of the
Native American Renaissance (Lincoln), is what Navarre Scott Momaday, a novelist of
Kiowa origin is famous for. The main theme of the text resonates with T.S. Eliot’s ‘Little
Gidding’, the last entry in the ‘Four Quartets’ series. The main idea behind the poem revolves
around understanding the present through the past and salvation as the fruit of suffering. This
essay revolves around the theme of suffering from past and brings forward the sense of
‘renewal’.
Eliot believed that suffering precedes beginning of new life in the modern age. The
community of Little Gidding which was originally built for a monastic livelihood, was
damaged by the Puritan forces during the 1646 English Civil war (“A Short Analysis of T. S.
Eliot’s ‘Little Gidding”). The centre of the community, the church, was rebuilt in 1714 and
again in 1853. The image of a world ridden with war is pieced together with that of religious
renewal and is used to discuss the link between the Holy Spirit and holy locations, the holy
day of Pentecost, communion and the recurrence of history.
Similar to the other poems in ‘Four Quartets’, past, present and future helps in uniting
humanity’s place within them. This is exemplified in the second section by the appearance of
the ghost who is a compilation of various poets from over the course of history. The narrator
states the ghost joining the poet as knowing oneself while being someone else, suggesting a
merging of different times and personalities with the current allowing a communication
between the human and the non-human (Penny).
The actions of the novel happen between 20th of July 1945 and 8th of February 1952.
The narrative is broken down into a prologue and four dated sections. The prologue along
with first and the last sections are set in Jemez Pueblo, currently a Census Designated Place

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in New Mexico and well known amongst its members as Walatowa. The second along with
the third sections are set within the ambit of the Los Angeles area.
When old Francisco finds his drunk, orphaned grandson Abel back in Walatowa after
serving in the war, disorganized and estranged by the traumas, he finds reintegrating Abel
into the life of the village impossible as suggested by the lines -
“Abel walked into the canyon. His return to the town had been a failure, for all his
looking forward” (58)
However, there are brief instances where Abel reaches a satisfactory state of mind
where from it can be derived that renewal is not an absolute impossibility -
“He began almost to be at peace” (59)
But for most of the part, his temporary job as a wood cutter, his brief affair with
Angela, even murdering the albino man and being jailed for it, does not add in any way to his
renewal. The section ends with Francisco, alone, hoeing in his fields.
“He knew only that he was alone again” (86)
This line at the end of the first section signifies Francisco’s situation as a lonely old
man. If Abel’s journey to renewal is a complete circle, this line perfectly sums up a miniature
version of Francisco’s life in the same way. He has been alone for most part, briefly
accompanied by his grandson, only to lose him and be alone again. Francisco’s life is the
small circle inside Abel’s larger circle of life.
The initial section aptly describes Abel’s condition as a war ravaged drunkard,
destroyed internally by the horrors of war, death and loss, unable to fit in and find a sense of
belonging. The sections that follow finds Abel in Los Angeles, more drunk and in a more
pathetic condition.

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INTERPRETATION OF MOMADAY'S 'HOUSE MADE OF DAWN'
“It was beyond his power to name and assimilate” (120)
A broken Abel is a crucial input in the phases of his character growth. First his mind
breaks because of the war, then his body afterwards. This line does not conclude his situation
but acts as a precursor for his evolution. This comes in the section where he is romantically
involved with Milly, a character stronger in resolve than Abel and willing to aid him as the
following lines signify -
“And at such times she was very lonely and afraid, and she wanted to cry. But she did
not cry.” (121)
While he is recovering, Angela visits Abel on Ben’s call and helps him recover his
spirit just the way he helped her recover her spirits many years ago. Nature has also been
intricately linked with creation and rebirth in the novel. Angela for instance, wished to find
therapy in nature and ends up being therapy for Abel himself. Nevertheless, keeping in
consideration that the novel is primarily Native American in its taste, nature holds great
power over the narrative’s analysis as suggested by the following two lines -
“To look upon that landscape in the early morning, with the sun at your back, is to
lose the sense of proportion. Your imagination comes to life, and this, you think, is where
Creation was begun.” (127)
“There the Kiowas paused on their way; they had come to the place where they must
change their lives.” (130)
As mentioned earlier, Eliot believed in suffering as a precursor of new beginnings. It
was Abel’s suffering that crippled most of his life. His pain, agony and trauma alienated him
from his life in Walatowa, not allowing him to successfully incorporate himself in the
lifestyle of his past. In other words, Abel was detached from where he began. It seemed

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impossible that his life would take a complete circular turn and go back to where it started.
The post war life of Abel can be correlated with Eliot’s lines from ‘Little Gidding’ –
‘We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started” (Elliot)
Abel’s life has been nothing short of an exploration. The final section of the narrative
finds Abel in the reservation taking care of his dying grandfather thus recalling the prologue
and bringing the story back to its starting point (“About House Made of Dawn”). Here we
find Abel’s renewal adopting a structured growth where his grandfather, through reciting
stories he heard and experienced in his youth, tries to impart the importance being together
with one’s own people, thereby signifying the value of one’s roots. After Francisco’s death,
Abel prepares him for burial, smears himself with ash and at the break of the dawn begins to
run – a ritual called ‘the race of the dead’ told to him by his grandfather. Ash here is an
important imagery as it is a possible reference to Ash Wednesday, which according to
Christian beliefs, marks the beginning of Jesus’ resurrection period. Abel sings for himself
and his grandfather as he prepares himself for returning to his people and reclaiming his place
in the village. It is here in the end of the narrative that Abel’s renewal is fully justified.
Quoting Eliot again –
“And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.” (Elliot)
For Abel, his grandfather was his only direct connection to his own people and
traditions. It is here in this section that Eliot’s views coincide with the underlying theme of

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renewal in Momaday’s novel – how sacrifice is a necessity in order to allow an individual to
suffer death in life and be reborn and how salvation should be humankind’s goal.
References
Penny, William Kevin. “Dialect of the Tribe: Modes of Communication and the Epiphanic
Role of Nonhuman Imagery in T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets.” Harvard Theological Review, vol.
108, no. 1, 2015, pp. 98–112., doi:10.1017/S001781601500005X.
Lincoln, Kenneth. Native American Renaissance. Berkeley, London: University of California
Press, 1992. Print.
Velie, Alan R, and A R. Lee. The Native American Renaissance: Literary Imagination and
Achievement. , 2013. Print.
"About House Made Of Dawn." Cliffsnotes.com. N.p., 2019. Web. 19 June 2019.
Eliot, T. S. "Little Gidding." Eliot, T. S. Four Quartets. New York: Harcourt, 1943. Print.
Momaday, N. Scott. House Made of Dawn. New York: Harper & Row, 1968. Print.