Final Exam: Interpretation of Momaday's 'House Made of Dawn' Essay

This essay provides an in-depth interpretation of N. Scott Momaday's novel, 'House Made of Dawn,' focusing on the themes of renewal and suffering. The analysis draws parallels with T.S. Eliot's poem 'Little Gidding' to explore the structure of the novel, particularly how the events and character development of Abel evoke a sense of growth and closure. The essay examines Abel's experiences, from his traumatic return from war to his struggles with identity and belonging, and how these experiences relate to Eliot's concept of renewal through suffering. The structure of the novel, with its four distinct sections set in Jemez Pueblo and Los Angeles, is discussed in relation to Abel's journey of self-discovery. The essay concludes by highlighting how Abel's ultimate return to his roots and his grandfather's death signify the end of his hardships and the beginning of renewal, aligning with Eliot's ideas on sacrifice and salvation. The essay uses textual evidence and references to support its claims.

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’ considered the first major work of the Native
American Renaissance (Lincoln) is what Kiowa author Navarre Scott Momaday is known
for. The narrative is focused around the main character’s salvation after terrible suffering,
drawing forth relations with Eliot’s poem ‘Little Gidding’ which too, in its essence talks
about the core of this essay – Renewal.
The concept of renewal plays quite a significant role in attracting critical afterthought.
Eliot believed that every new beginning is the aftermath of terrible suffering – the calm after
the storm. Built for housing monks, the Little Gidding community suffered terrible damage
due to the English civil war (“A Short Analysis of T. S. Eliot’s ‘Little Gidding”). Herein the
imagery imports a world that is torn because of war waiting to be rebuilt again. The centre of
the community is the church, which has been rebuilt twice highlighting that after terrible loss,
there is hope of rebuilding and resurrection. The concepts of past, present and future
illustrated in Eliot’s poem unites humanity’s place within them. This is illustrated in the
second section by the ghost – a conglomerate of numerous historically significant poets
including, Yeats, Dante, Swift and others. The ghost being with the poet is identified as
understanding one’s own self through someone else, suggesting a connection between the
history and the current and allowing a communication between the non-human and the
human (Penny). Even in the fourth section, humankind is seen being provided a choice
between purgation through fire and salvation, bringing in direct reference from Dante’s
Inferno and emphasizing the importance of salvation.
The events of ‘House Made of Dawn’ are broken down into four dated sections with a
prologue. The first and the last sections are set in Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico, also known as
Walatowa while the second and the third sections are set in the Los Angeles area.

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INTERPRETATION OF MOMADAY'S 'HOUSE MADE OF DAWN'
The prologue talks about a man named Abel, running in the countryside – a vital
imagery as we find when renewal as a theme is focused in the analysis. The story begins on
the 20th of July, 1945 when a drunk Abel returns to Walatowa after serving in the war,
stumbling off the bus into his gradfather Francisco’s arms. Traumatized by the horrors of
war, Abel finds it impossible to fit himself into the life of the village. He takes up a
temporary job, cutting wood for Angela St. John, a sensuous and troubled pregnant woman
visiting the locality for treating some sort of chronic fatigue through mineral bath. Abel
engages in a brief romance with Angela and participates in a village festival where he is
targeted by an albino man whom he stabs to death in a cornfield later. The section ends with
Francisco, working in his fields all by himself. This section describes Abel’s condition as a
drunk, lost soul, destroyed by war, death and terrible suffering, unable to belong anywhere.
The following sections find Abel in Los Angeles in a more pathetic condition. Nothing
improves his condition, not even his friend Ben or his affair with Milly. His health
deteriorates owing to overdrinking and getting into physical brawls that usually end with him
breaking bones. Abel’s attempts at taking revenge on a corrupt policeman backfires and he
almost gets beaten to death. His is where Angela makes a return, attempting to recover Abel’s
lost spirit. This section successfully connects the story with the concept of renewal. Looking
back a bit, Eliot believed that suffering brings forth new beginnings. Abel’s suffering affected
his life in the most terrible way possible. His trauma alienated him from his roots detaching
him from what should have been a circle and it seemed impossible that his life would go back
to the way it began. Abel’s life post war can be connected with Eliot’s lines from ‘Little
Gidding’ –
‘We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring

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INTERPRETATION OF MOMADAY'S 'HOUSE MADE OF DAWN'
Will be to arrive where we started” (T.S. Eliot’s Little Gidding); (Elliot)’
War projects its traumas on an individual, making him lose a part of his soul. For
Abel, life after war was not jolly and he wasn’t able to find peace with his past, until years
later when Angela brings him back from the darkness, his journey of renewal begins.
The final section of the narrative puts Abel back in the reservation where he is seen
caring for his dying grandfather, thus pointing back to the prologue and bringing the story to
its origin (About House Made of Dawn). We find Abel adopting a mature and methodical
journey towards renewal with his grandfather, who, by reciting stories from his youth
attempts to instill the value of staying true to one’s own people. Quoting Eliot once again,
“……. arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time. (Elliot)”
After his grandfather’s death, Abel dresses him for burial, covers himself with ash and at
dawn embarks on a ritualistic run called the race of the dead. As he runs, he finds the resolve
to come back to his people and start over where he left. Here at the end of the story, Abel’s
renewal is ultimately justified
Abel’s grandfather was his only direct connection to his true past and his traditions.
Francisco’s death thus signifies the end of the hardships Abel faced and the renewal of that
aspect of his life which was lost to him - his Native American roots (Velie and Lee).
“And he held on to the shadow and ran beyond his pain.” (Momaday)
It is here in this junction that Eliot’s ideas correlate with the undertone of renewal in
Momaday’s narrative – how sacrifice is a requirement that allows an individual to suffer in
life and to start anew, and how salvation is the one goal humankind should thrive to achieve.

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INTERPRETATION OF MOMADAY'S 'HOUSE MADE OF DAWN'
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.