The Man To Send Rain Clouds Analysis

The story "The Man to Send Rain Clouds," demonstrates two elements of cultures between Father Paul and Native American protagonists. In the Christian world, only God can cause rain, but for the Pueblo world, it is a task to every man to communicate to the cloud people to initiate rain. The characters in this short story show the power struggle between the white world made of Christians and the Pueblo community. There is the struggle between integration of the two cultures. The central theme here is death and burial culture. The Native American rituals concerning death are different to those in the Christian world. When his grandchildren find him dead, they prepare him for death as per their culture by tying a feather on his long white hair and doing some …show more content…
One of this man's wives, Louise believes that the priest should come and sprinkle holy water on the blanket before they bury him so that he might not feel thirst in his journey. It is clear that though they haven't accepted the Catholic burial rights, they still value the holy water to convince them that the old man will send them rain. Priest Paul, on the other hand, gets disappointed when he learns that he has not participated in the ritual of the burial but still agrees to go and sprinkle the holy water on the blanket wrapping the dead old man. There is a cultural diversity demonstrated between Leon and Father Paul's conversation it is so ironical that though in the Christianity world rain comes from God, Father Paul is also an agent of innovation in this Pueblo community, though he does not understand the significance of his actions in this burial. The people are happy that he has come and they are now sure that the old man will cause rain.
Multiculturalism is evident in the "Half and Half" story by Amy Tan, elements of two cultures are apparent. All the instances