Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, there lived the lively summer people who called themselves the Kiowas. They were at the height of their time, thriving in a prosperous age — that is, until the unexpected arrival of the fearsome United States. These invaders divided the Kiowas and took their homeland. But this is no fairy tale; there would be no hero to save them from these dark times. N. Scott Momaday’s autobiography, “The Way to the Rainy Mountain” asserts and informs the audience of the negative impact the U.S. had on the Kiowa people. Momaday executes his purpose by using the experiences of the Kiowa people, his grandmother, and himself. The author wants to educate the audience on the negative consequences the loss of culture
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took all and left only what could be remembered of the culture. Momaday stresses the word “memory” whenever he refers to the many cultural ideas of the Kiowas. By exclaiming how “[he] can have [his grandmother] only in…memory”, he generates ambiguous diction, as this brief remark to the audience can be interpreted in many ways (Paragraph 12). From a direct perspective, Momaday is perceived to have made an obvious observance, however, due to the placement of the remark in the passage, as well as its contrasting syntax, Momaday’s simple point could imply a sense of accusation to the audience. Indirectly, he has informed the audience of the fact that “the immense landscape of the continental interior”, representing the culture of the Kiowas, “lay like memory in [his grandmother’s] blood”, and only in her blood (Paragraph 6). This leaves the audience with the thought of how U.S. interference has caused the failure to secure the cultural ideas of the Kiowas, having the ideas die with the past, and live as very little memory amongst people today. Such a fact frustrates Momaday, hearing “a warm wind [rise] up and [purl] like the longing within [him]”, expressing his yearn through comparative language, in order to convey to his audience how badly he wishes to know more about his grandmother’s people (Paragraph 14). Alas, it seems whatever else there is to know will be forgotten — it will die with the
took all and left only what could be remembered of the culture. Momaday stresses the word “memory” whenever he refers to the many cultural ideas of the Kiowas. By exclaiming how “[he] can have [his grandmother] only in…memory”, he generates ambiguous diction, as this brief remark to the audience can be interpreted in many ways (Paragraph 12). From a direct perspective, Momaday is perceived to have made an obvious observance, however, due to the placement of the remark in the passage, as well as its contrasting syntax, Momaday’s simple point could imply a sense of accusation to the audience. Indirectly, he has informed the audience of the fact that “the immense landscape of the continental interior”, representing the culture of the Kiowas, “lay like memory in [his grandmother’s] blood”, and only in her blood (Paragraph 6). This leaves the audience with the thought of how U.S. interference has caused the failure to secure the cultural ideas of the Kiowas, having the ideas die with the past, and live as very little memory amongst people today. Such a fact frustrates Momaday, hearing “a warm wind [rise] up and [purl] like the longing within [him]”, expressing his yearn through comparative language, in order to convey to his audience how badly he wishes to know more about his grandmother’s people (Paragraph 14). Alas, it seems whatever else there is to know will be forgotten — it will die with the