House Made of DawnThe use of Language

A detailed Summary of House Made of DawnThe use of Language

Throughout House Made of Dawn Momaday forces the reader to see a clear distinction between how white people and Native Americans use language. Momaday calls it the written word, the white people's word, and the spoken word, the Native American word. The white people's spoken word is so rigidly focused on the fundamental meaning of each word that is lacks the imagery of the Native American word. It is like listening to a contact being read aloud.

Momaday clearly shows how the Native American word speaks beyond its sound through Tosamah speaking of his Grandmother. Tosamah says,

"You see, for her words were medicine; they were

magic and invisible. They came from nothing into

sound and meaning. They were beyond price; they

could neither be bought nor sold. And she never

Momaday forces upon the reader the idea of language as a remedy for sickness; not only of the mind, but of the heart, also. If a speaker can reach a listener and show the listener what she means, then that is the most honorable achievement. Momaday wants the reader to know the importance of word weaving, of weaving the words to form a beautiful picture that can heal souls if spoken correctl

divides and multiples the Word. And in all of this he

suffixes and hyphens and accents. He adds and

"...old John was a white man, and the white man has

Momaday wants the reader to see how superficial and trivial their words can be. Everything is stressed to be grammatically correct instead of alive. The white man's words break everything down until there is nothing left, nothing more to imagine and connect with. This is what Momaday shows the reader by putting in Abel's questionnaire when he leaves prison and enters relocation. Every part of Abel will be filed into a category, denying Abel to be viewed as a whole and have his words heard by unbiased ears. Through this Momaday shows the reader that there comes a point when there can be too many words, when perfection has been attained and one more word ruins it. This is what John has done. He tries to explain what he does not totally understand, filling in the blanks with "prefixes and suffixes" until there is no more meaning for the listener. The second time Momaday contrasts the white men's language use with Native Americans' is at Abel's trial. The white men at the trial refuse to listen to Abel's story, to open up their mind's eye and see his words with all their animation and zeal. This is where Momaday wants the reader to see that listening is as much a part of language as is speaking. The white men refuse to even try and understand his culture, closing their mind's eye and only hearing the words spoken for their sound. They cannot picture his religion and belief because they do not let the words show them. And so the dispose "of him in language, their language..." T

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1115
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English