N. Scott Momaday, in House Made of Dawn, tells the story of Abel, a young American-Indian who is trying to find his identity in the midst of two cultures, the Indian and American. In part, the story of Abel parallels the experiences of the author himself, who is a Kiowa Indian, has lived on several Southwest Indian reservations, and teaches in the English Department at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
The story of Abel is a compelling and troubling account, although it seems to end with hope. The book begins with Abel running, but there is a clear suggestion that he is unhappy and lost: "Abel was running. Against the winter sky and the long, light landscape of the valley at dawn, he seemed almost to be standing still, very little and alone" (2). This is a quick portrait of a young man who does not know his place in the world, stuck between two worlds, and overwhelmed by internal and external conflicts which seem beyond his control.
However, again, the book ends of a note of clear hope, when we find Abel running once again:
He was alone and running on. . . . He was running, and under his breath he began to sing. There was no sound, and he had no voice; he had only the words of a song. And he went running on the rise of the song. House made of Pollen, house made of dawn (212).
The "song," of course, is the song of his self, of his individual identity, which he has finally begun to discover and to carve out of the cultural conflicts in which he lives.
In between the two running episodes, Abel undergoes much suffering. He is still a part of the Indian culture, including the peyote ceremony, but he is also being corrupted by the white culture, which leads him to drink heavily and deteriorate morally and spiritually. Despite Abel's many cultural, emotional, psychological and spiritual troubles, however, Momaday lets the reader know that there is a guiding hand at work leading the young man toward salvation....