Beginning of Essay
Throughout N. Scott Momaday's novel House Made of Dawn, there are many religious references, mostly Catholic names. One must wonder why the story of a Native American's struggle to return to his cultural roots would be laced throughout with Catholic references, ....

Middle of Essay
.... character as well. First, it is interesting to note the altercation between Cain and Abel in comparison to Abel's killing of the white man. While the Bible portrays Abel as the sympathetic victim of a vicious crime of jealousy, in Momaday's story, Abel seems at first to have taken the position of the aggressor in killing the white man. However, despite Abel's violent crime, he still seems to mirror his Biblical namesake more so than the violent image of Cain. However, unlike Cain, Momaday's Abel has valid personal reasons for slaying the white man. We first see him as the victim of the white man. At the feast of Santiago, we see the white m ....